Cooling system question

[Anton]

Thanks for the replies. Okay I've found it lost some coolant after a little drive today so topped up again maybe I shouldn't have topped it up at all.

I find that after emptying and refilling the system, I'll "lose" coolant every time I drive. That's not what's happening, but that's what it seems like.

What's actually happening is the air trapped in the system bleeds out via the expansion bottle when hot, and then as it cools down it sucks the expansion bottle dry, making me think I've lost coolant somewhere.

I still can't understand this system, I'm used to an expansion bottle which never moves, yet the Jimny is up and down like a whore's knickers!

All substances (including water) expand when hot. If you have a coolant system that doesn't use it's expansion bottle, then more than likely there's an air bubble in it somewhere or it's simply not full, and the coolant is expanding into the air bubble (because liquids don't compress easily/at all, whereas air compresses very easily).

[ScottieJ]

little update for you all, replaced the thermostat and the radiator cap to no avail. What is happening is, it's dumping its water out of the rad and into the expansion tank - and then its p***ing out of the overflow pipe of that on to the floor. Replaced the thermostat like I said and it still done it. Thought the rad cap might have lost it's strength in the spring so replaced that and it's doing it again.
looks like there's exhaust gasses pressurising in the system - so I can't really afford to throw money into it anymore to replace the head gasket so regrettably it's going to a new home.

maybe one day in the future i'll come back to another Suzuki

Swapping a headgasket is easy. You should have a go yourself, you just need a torque wrench and basic tools. Head gasket kits are cheap.

[r-nottz]

You could have a airlock heater matrix hoses can play a big part