Loss of coolant

[the_yellow_dart]

Ses light went off today and heat was not working properly. So I checked the coolant and it was quite low. Took it straight to the dealership but service was already closed.

Any idea what could have caused sudden coolant loss?

Also, would a problem like this be covered under the power train portion of the warranty? I'm just over the 60,000 km bumper to bumper portion.

[vonVeezelsnider]

If I'm correct the heat wouldn't be at full strength as a direct result of the car being low on coolant... Depends on where the leak is I guess if its covered. Many cooling hoses and the heater core aren't covered under the powertrain warranty but the water pump, head gasket, intake, etc... are covered under the powertrain warranty. Are there any other symptoms- is it down on power? Any sign of the coolant leaking out under the car? What does the oil look like? Is it milky? Check the inside of the oil cap.

Edited February 8, 2012 by vonVeezelsnider

[the_yellow_dart]

Oil looked fine when I checked it.

I park on the street so seeing coolant under the car is unlikely

[the_yellow_dart]

Service advisor just called. It's the water pump, and he's going to do it under the warranty despite it being over 60,000 km. Makes me feel a bit better.. but its still troubling that a pump failed so fast.

I'm a bit confused as to how a water pump failing causes loss of coolant...

[vonVeezelsnider]

The water pump is responsible for moving coolant through the system; there's coolant running through it all the time so it's a common point to look to when you have coolant loss. The Dealership wasn't doing any favours by covering it now, according to the warranty sleeve I referred to in my car, it should be covered to 160km, unless they cheaped out on what they cover between 2007 and now (entirely possible).

These things sometimes fail, the water pump in my old Cavalier failed at 80'000km although realistically it should last twice as long as that.

[Intrepidation]

The water pump has something called a weep hole, which is designed to leak coolant out when the pump begins to fail so (theoretically) you can see the coolant leak and more easily determine the problem.