Can you answer a question about the coolant system?

Question

The warning light for the coolant level came on. I checked the level and it was very low. Valvoline performed a radiator flush. A radiator flush is a cleaning of the system, and an evacuation of the old coolant, and refilling to correct level w/ new coolant, or am I mistaken? Was I ripped off, or is this indicative of a leak? Shouldn't they have spotted the leak? What should I do?

Answer 1

I work in a garage and I have done many coolant flushes. Every so often one comes back with this problem, what it is about 90% of the time is air in the system that wasn't pushes out when letting the car idol with the cap off when topping off afterword. this air will be moved through out the system and has been let out, causing the coolant from the resivor to enter the system. The other thing i have seen, uncommon though, is that the dirt inside the engine is plugging a leak, and when the coolant is flushed it disrupts the contaminant and causes a leak. Take the car back to the shop and explain this. Its not uncommon for this to happen after a flush, but its uncommon for people to take it back and explain to the shop what is happening and have that shop look at it. Take it back, and calmly explain to them what has happened. Yelling and screaming will get you no where. Drive the car to the shop, have it towed if nessicary, but do not top off the coolany yourself, if it does need to be towed (as in nearly overheating) they will cover the cost of the tow bill. Anything you do to it, may void any warranty, depending on the shop. Call and ask them what to do, and explain to them over the phone, then they will be expecting you, and they will be faster on solveing your problem. Good luck, cheers.

Answer 2

You might have a coolant leak, or not. You would have to see coolant leaking from some hoses to be sure that it was due to a leak.

There are a couple other possibilities: a blown head gasket which is causing coolant to get pulled into a cylinder and converted to steam during the combustion cycle. If you see steam vapor coming from your exhaust pipe, that's the reason why. This should be a very rare scenario.

Another cause is due to trapped air inside your cooling system, between the engine block and thermostat. When refilling the system, the technician might have topped off the coolant, but neglected to run the engine until it was hot enough to open the thermostat and evacuate the trapped air. Then, he should have shut off the car, let it cool down a bit and top off the coolant level. This is probably the situation with your car.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

maybe there was an air trapped inside the system during refilling. When you start the engine, the trapped air will escape and will make the level low. Try to refill the cooling system slowly so no much air could get trapped. Then start the engine and observe if the alarm will activate again. Also, carefully check for possible external leak which you can easily observe especially if the leak is strong. An internal leak is also possible and is more complicated. Sometime internal water leak go to the combustion chamber or into the crankcase. Try to observe very well on the exhaust smoke. If it too white, a steam(or water) in leaking internally and should be evaluated properly for the origin of the leak. If it go into the lubrication, your oil level will get higher.

Answer 4

I never allow anyone to work on my vehicle anymore for this reason. People who work in these fast change stores tend to be untrained on the vehicle except for a specific job. They are not certified mechanics, usually. Go out to your car and check all the places they touched. There should be a relief valve on the bottom of the radiator facing the engine. Check to make sure that it is closed. The best way to check this is to fill your radiator up with coolant and then start the engine. If this valve is open, there should be coolant pouring all over the ground. During this time, look around the engine compartment at hoses, the radiator itself, and also check the carpet for wetness on the front passenger side floorboard. If the valve on the radiator is open, shut off the engine and close it. If a hose is leaking at a connection, try tighting. If, it is a hole in the hose, replace the hose. The engine may need to warm up to operating temperature to show a tiny leak. If the floorboard is wet on the front passenger side, you will need your heater core replaced. you will need to pay a mechanic to do this one.

If, there is a leak in the radiator itself, there is radiator repair shops in most cities that can save you a lot of money on a new one. But, that may ultimately be the problem, replacement.

Check all caps, they should have put an access into one of the heater hoses to flush your system, make sure they capped it and tightened all clamps. And, Good Luck.

Answer 5

Simple: Take it back! You paid for a service they probably just didnt get it right. Most people make the mistake of filling it up when the car is off. If you do your only filling it up half ways. You need keep adding colloan and water until you run the car for about 10 minutes until you see most the "Air Bubbles" go away. Insist to get the job done right. Check your houses too if there kinda old spend the extra dollars and just have them changed.

Answer 6

Did you ask them to check for a leak or did you just request a flush? If ya just told them you needed a flush, they wouldn't have known to look for a leak.