After a freezing night/morning I awoke to find my 5 with a pool of what looks like frozen oily water underneath the car and the coolant level very low. I figure that it’s leaked and passed through the gunk in the undertray on to my drive.
I’m at work now but have topped it up just to get me to work. It appears not to be gushing out but will check it later at lunchtime.
Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed the heating has only been working when the car is actually moving i.e. when I come to standstill the output is a lot cooler. Could this be related to whatever has now started leaking?
I noticed that the reservoir looked empty so I topped that and the radiator up at lunchtime. It hasn’t lost any since and I can’t see where it might be leaking, however, if I look at the water in the radiator, where it used to be clear liquid it’s now a milkey/orangey colour and sort of resembles what is on my drive as a result of the overnight leak.
As I thought this might be a blown gasket leading to emulsified water, I’ve checked the dipstick and that appears clear as when I changed it this weekend. I’m assuming that if water were getting into the engine then it would be evident in the oil and on the dipstick?
So, my thoughts are that maybe the gunk/corrosion in the radiator has been disturbed and is now showing., although the look of the coolant is suspicious!
I guess I could drain the whole system this weekend and see what happens to brand new water/coolant.