Fiat panda dropping coolant

[ChefWifeLife]

We bought a runaround fiat panda in the last 3 months. My husband noticed it dropping coolant to the minimum level and has topped it up by about a litre since we've had it.

We paid for a 3 month warranty and took it to get checked. They did a pressure test and said it was fine and to monitor.

Four weeks later and it's still dropping coolant. No damp inside the car. No residue to suggest head gasket.

I'm taking it back tomorrow and they are going to do a UV dye test.

Neither my husband or I are car savvy. I'd like to understand how a pressure test could be fine but coolant is being lost somewhere.

As we live in a little village it's a right faff taking it back to the city be bought it (lesson learnt) and bus routes home are difficult. I want to go armed with as much information as I can (and a 7 year old on school holidays in tow).

Thanks for any help and feel free to talk to me like an absolute idiot when it comes to cars!

What's the milage and what year is the car?
Definitely sounds like the head gasket may have gone or the very least the radiator or water pump.

@Arsehooooole it's 2012 and just under 60,000.miles.

Have you checked the oil for contamination, you should be able to tell by looking at the dip stick.?
If the coolant is mixing with the oil, it will look like cream or mayonnaise if it's really bad.

@Dbank yes have checked this and the garage checked it when they did the initial pressure test.

Presumably it was okay?

how about drips on the drive from when it's been parked or left the engine running?.

No drips that we've spotted on the drive and the garage said no signs of residue to suggest contamination. They had it running for over half an hour in the garage when they did the pressure test.

Sorry I'm a bit stumped then!

We had similar with a fiat 500 petrol 1.2 which shares an engine with the panda - it was a leaky thermostat housing that needed replacing.
The first sign was a bubbling sound that we could hear from inside the car - the sound emanates from around the glove compartment area, after that we noticed a drop in level.
From the front of the engine, the housing is on the right of the engine block and quite low down - we could see dried/crusty coolant around the seal where the thermostat is bolted to the engine - you don't get any evidence of the leak on the floor because the coolant is very hot when it leaks and it just evaporates away.

@Simplegazette I'll have a listen out tomorrow when I drive it to the garage. I've not noticed anything so far. Did you guys figure this out yourself or was it the garage? Did you have to rule out lots of other things before finding this?

We worked it out. The water bubbling sound was very intermittent and only lasted for a few moments, it was probably air in the system working it's way around but it was a niggling thought that something was up but we didn't know what as everything else was working just fine.
When we spotted the coolant level had dropped and then had to keep topping it up we knew there was something going on - so we looked on the fiat forums. We discovered the leaking thermostat housing is a common thing and we found it with a torch after going in search of it.

I think it leaks more when the engine is up to full temperature and the thermostat then starts to do it's thing - about 85 degrees C - so you may not see any leaking but you should be able to see some evidence of previous leaking around or underneath the housing.

@Simplegazette that's impressive! I wish we hadn't bothered with the warranty and just took it to our local garage who we trust.

I'll get my husband to have a look before he leaves for work tomorrow and see if there is anything obvious.

Hopefully I can put a list of questions together to take tomorrow.

Son, who is a motor mechanic with a fiat dealership, says the following:
If a 1.2 l fire engine - if timing belt and water pump have been changed recently, water pump might not seal and leak behind the timing cover
If 0.9l twin air ( perhaps too early) could be from water pump area, normally too expensive to fully diag as full engine strip down needed.

Good luck!

@socialdilemmawhattodo that's really kind of you to ask him, and he also sounds handy to know! We don't think that the water pump and timing belt have been done on it before. I think they will do this as part of the warranty.

Just boosting this for morning traffic (excuse the pub) before I head to the garage.

Excuse the pun even! I'd never excuse the pub 😂

Could be the hose? Are your heaters working?

@GCAcademic yep heaters seem to be working fine.

Is the coolant only leaking when the engine is running? Ive just had similar on car and it was the water pump. Get the timing belt done while they're in there as its in the same place, will need done after 13 years if it hasn't been already.

Mine (not a fiat though) was doing this, along with smoking from the bonnet and smelling of burning as the coolant evaporated off, and it was a seal that had disintegrated, so it was all dripping out of that. Seal replaced and so far (fingers crossed) it seems to have rectified the problem!

@BleeBlahBlue and @bunnyapple4 thanks for your replies.

We don't think the water pump or timing belt have been done before due to the low mileage or the previous owner just not bothering.

When we took it in last time we were told that the pressure test was fine so no leaks, but clearly it is.

That's good advice about getting the timing belt done. It's just not knowing what they will include in the warranty.

We haven't noticed any leaks so far but the drive is old and a mix of gravel and concrete so perhaps not easy to see?

Car has been up on the ramp. Looks like the coolant is leaking at the radiator side tank. There is residue the whole length of it. They are replacing the whole radiator as no other signs of leaks.

The cynical bit of me is wondering whether it's just normal age related changes or we should be worried about the cause for the failure at this point ? Head gasket?

It's not unusual to replace a radiator for a car that age, especially the fiats which has plastic parts that degrade / lose their flexibility and ability to keep a seal over time.

My mechanic's attitude is just to tackle the problem at hand for an old car and not to spend money on things that aren't broken yet!

For that reason I haven't bothered to replace a fan/serpentine belt that is well overdue for replacement according to the manufacturers recommendations but is in tiptop condition, and also the timing belt and water pump haven't been replaced (our fiat is a non interference engine so sudden failure won't be catastrophic) - but it's a state of mind thing, and having knowledge of how well the car has been maintained that determines how proactive you want to be with maintenance on an old car! Perhaps I'm too nonchalant tho!!

@Simplegazette is your a panda too? This was a replacement runaround for my husband as his old.volvo was about to likely explode and take the world with it 😂

I get what you're saying though. It's a 13 year old car with low mileage so definitely don't think it's had much done to it. It's been serviced regularly otherwise.

Will now look up what non interference is and whether ours is the same.

Thanks for your helpful messages. Currently trying to keep the eldest entertained while the hopefully get the car sorted in time to get back for nursery pick up! Rock and roll annual leave and half term!

Removed radiator.