C70: Weird Leakage from Coolant Bottle.

[aegeandestiny]

Evening all, i proudly own a 2000 reg (W) C70 Coupe 2.0T that i only ever use in dry weather etc really looked after it, i hadnt used it in just over a year until i re-mot'd her and tax'd her just recently and she has been back in service approximately 3 weeks now after i put her away for like i say just over a year.
She runs like a dream like always etc but when i got home tonight to polish the engine bay after polishing the exterior i noticed this very weird fluid coming out the top of the water coolant bottle (See Pic) any help etc would be appreciated as this has never happened before. Thanks

[OvlovS70]

Hello,
Surely the fluid is coolant?
It could be as simple as the coolant cap is not sealing anymore or the expansion tank has a split.
Perhaps the system has been overfilled with coolant and it needs to escape.
If it is a build up of pressure it could be something more that someone may be able to advise on further.
Cheers

[OvlovS70]

You also have the power steering fluid reservoir adjacent so it may be a split In this tank and it is seeping over, that's assuming it is not coolant/anti freeze.
Cheers

[aegeandestiny]

It is a pretty thick oily kind of fluid but saying that i noticed when checking the water last week as it had been put away for the last year that the water that was obviously over a year old had gone sludgy and thick in the coolant bottle.
If this helps with any ideas?

[MikeS100]

As OvlovS70 said I would imagine it's coolant. The cap on the reservoir is designed to release excess pressure if it gets too high in the system. Overfilling the coolant can result in too much pressure when it gets hot, have you filled the system recently? If not, what's the level like now, has it dropped? If the system wasn't overfilled and the coolant level has dropped then it's probably just a faulty cap and it's releasing the pressure lower than it should. In that case a replacement cap should solve the problem.

[aegeandestiny]

Yes i religiously do my oil and water and tyre pressures every Sunday so perhaps i must of over filled it slightly yesterday.
Thanks chaps for your help.

[MikeS100]

Glad we could help, hope that's all it is.

On a side note, the coolant doesn't look like it's in very good condition, and with your description of it being think and oily I would flush the system and get some fresh coolant in there as soon as you can.

[OvlovS70]

Originally Posted by aegeandestiny

It is a pretty thick oily kind of fluid but saying that i noticed when checking the water last week as it had been put away for the last year that the water that was obviously over a year old had gone sludgy and thick in the coolant bottle.
If this helps with any ideas?

Hello,
As that's the case I suggest a system flush and re-fill, sounds like the original mixture may not have been diluted correctly, too much coolant to water. Should be 50/50 which is good for down to minus 37 Centigrade.
Should never be more than 55% coolant.
Cheers
Just noticed MikeS100 had already commented on this.

[RiPsTa33]

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