Used car fault - do I approach dealer or warranty provider to rectify fault

forgotmyname

Mildly_Miffed said:

Usually because the filter is empty once first started...

Sometimes but it also depends how long they left the oil to drain and whether the oil
drained from the top of the engine so they filled to max briefly and left it at that.

Same with the coolant, topped upto max but not run the engine upto temperature and used
all the heater settings. Start the engine and the oil light goes out so they are happy and feel
warmth from the heater and park it up as done. Buyer then cycles the heater through all the settings
and small air pockets escape and it drops a little.

Expansion tank on my car holds about a teacup worth of coolant and it's not a worry if that is empty
when cold as long as the radiator is full.

Ella_fella

Just to serve as an update after appreciating all of the feedback over the last page or so, I took the car back this morning for them to investigate the drop in coolant level - I topped up the coolant yesterday to the maximum mark on the expansion tank then drove it for about an 8 mile round trip. This morning upon inspection the coolant level had dropped by about a quarter of an inch.

I've also asked about the brakes making the binding noise too and why that is still apparent. 

Ayr_Rage

Ella_fella said:

Just to serve as an update after appreciating all of the feedback over the last page or so, I took the car back this morning for them to investigate the drop in coolant level - I topped up the coolant yesterday to the maximum mark on the expansion tank then drove it for about an 8 mile round trip. This morning upon inspection the coolant level had dropped by about a quarter of an inch.

I've also asked about the brakes making the binding noise too and why that is still apparent. 

Did you check for emulsion under the oil filler cap and the colour of the oil on a clean white rag?

Ella_fella

Ayr_Rage said:

Ella_fella said:

Just to serve as an update after appreciating all of the feedback over the last page or so, I took the car back this morning for them to investigate the drop in coolant level - I topped up the coolant yesterday to the maximum mark on the expansion tank then drove it for about an 8 mile round trip. This morning upon inspection the coolant level had dropped by about a quarter of an inch.

I've also asked about the brakes making the binding noise too and why that is still apparent. 

Did you check for emulsion under the oil filler cap and the colour of the oil on a clean white rag?

Yes couldn't see any on either, did it at the same time I checked the coolant level again.

The coolant shouldn't be going down at all overnight, hoping it's something trivial like a pinhole in a coolant pipe but would point to something large if the coolant is dropping by about 100ml after driving the car for literally 8 miles. 

Mildly_Miffed

Ella_fella said:

Ayr_Rage said:

Ella_fella said:

Just to serve as an update after appreciating all of the feedback over the last page or so, I took the car back this morning for them to investigate the drop in coolant level - I topped up the coolant yesterday to the maximum mark on the expansion tank then drove it for about an 8 mile round trip. This morning upon inspection the coolant level had dropped by about a quarter of an inch.

I've also asked about the brakes making the binding noise too and why that is still apparent. 

Did you check for emulsion under the oil filler cap and the colour of the oil on a clean white rag?

Yes couldn't see any on either, did it at the same time I checked the coolant level again.

The coolant shouldn't be going down at all overnight, hoping it's something trivial like a pinhole in a coolant pipe but would point to something large if the coolant is dropping by about 100ml after driving the car for literally 8 miles. 

Did you check the level BEFORE that 8 miles? Or are you assuming where it was?

Ella_fella

Mildly_Miffed said:

Ella_fella said:

Ayr_Rage said:

Ella_fella said:

Just to serve as an update after appreciating all of the feedback over the last page or so, I took the car back this morning for them to investigate the drop in coolant level - I topped up the coolant yesterday to the maximum mark on the expansion tank then drove it for about an 8 mile round trip. This morning upon inspection the coolant level had dropped by about a quarter of an inch.

I've also asked about the brakes making the binding noise too and why that is still apparent. 

Did you check for emulsion under the oil filler cap and the colour of the oil on a clean white rag?

Yes couldn't see any on either, did it at the same time I checked the coolant level again.

The coolant shouldn't be going down at all overnight, hoping it's something trivial like a pinhole in a coolant pipe but would point to something large if the coolant is dropping by about 100ml after driving the car for literally 8 miles. 

Did you check the level BEFORE that 8 miles? Or are you assuming where it was?

Yes absolutely, topped up the coolant to the max mark when cold, drove the car a couple of hours later, checked the coolant level when cold again and it had dropped by a quarter of an inch. 

If you're insinuating that the coolant level could have dropped again before even getting in the car then again it's a closed system so still would suggest a leak. 

Effician

Ella_fella said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

Ella_fella said:

Ayr_Rage said:

Ella_fella said:

Just to serve as an update after appreciating all of the feedback over the last page or so, I took the car back this morning for them to investigate the drop in coolant level - I topped up the coolant yesterday to the maximum mark on the expansion tank then drove it for about an 8 mile round trip. This morning upon inspection the coolant level had dropped by about a quarter of an inch.

I've also asked about the brakes making the binding noise too and why that is still apparent. 

Did you check for emulsion under the oil filler cap and the colour of the oil on a clean white rag?

Yes couldn't see any on either, did it at the same time I checked the coolant level again.

The coolant shouldn't be going down at all overnight, hoping it's something trivial like a pinhole in a coolant pipe but would point to something large if the coolant is dropping by about 100ml after driving the car for literally 8 miles. 

Did you check the level BEFORE that 8 miles? Or are you assuming where it was?

Yes absolutely, topped up the coolant to the max mark when cold, drove the car a couple of hours later, checked the coolant level when cold again and it had dropped by a quarter of an inch. 

If you're insinuating that the coolant level could have dropped again before even getting in the car then again it's a closed system so still would suggest a leak. 

You seem to be confusing max & min warning levels with fill levels,  filling to max when cold in the expansion tank is not a good thing .  My guess is that the coolant system has got up to temp & become over pressurized in the 8 mile trip & dumped some fluid through pressure relief valve.

Sounds like you've topped up the engine oil to the max warning level too, again not best practice in most situations.

Ella_fella

Effician said:

Ella_fella said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

Ella_fella said:

Ayr_Rage said:

Ella_fella said:

Just to serve as an update after appreciating all of the feedback over the last page or so, I took the car back this morning for them to investigate the drop in coolant level - I topped up the coolant yesterday to the maximum mark on the expansion tank then drove it for about an 8 mile round trip. This morning upon inspection the coolant level had dropped by about a quarter of an inch.

I've also asked about the brakes making the binding noise too and why that is still apparent. 

Did you check for emulsion under the oil filler cap and the colour of the oil on a clean white rag?

Yes couldn't see any on either, did it at the same time I checked the coolant level again.

The coolant shouldn't be going down at all overnight, hoping it's something trivial like a pinhole in a coolant pipe but would point to something large if the coolant is dropping by about 100ml after driving the car for literally 8 miles. 

Did you check the level BEFORE that 8 miles? Or are you assuming where it was?

Yes absolutely, topped up the coolant to the max mark when cold, drove the car a couple of hours later, checked the coolant level when cold again and it had dropped by a quarter of an inch. 

If you're insinuating that the coolant level could have dropped again before even getting in the car then again it's a closed system so still would suggest a leak. 

You seem to be confusing max & min warning levels with fill levels,  filling to max when cold in the expansion tank is not a good thing .  My guess is that the coolant system has got up to temp & become over pressurized in the 8 mile trip & dumped some fluid through pressure relief valve.

Sounds like you've topped up the engine oil to the max warning level too, again not best practice in most situations.

Didn't do anything with the oil level. 

As a point of reference, I've had cars previously where the coolant level has been on the maximum mark when bought and x thousands of miles and years later had not dropped one iota. My previous car was an example of this; owned for three years, did 20 odd thousand miles, coolant level never dropped by one millilitre from max.

I do however remember one car I owned where the coolant in the expansion tank virtually emptied after a hundred mile road trip, was advised it was a water pump/egr leak and both needed replacing.

So hopefully you can appreciate how wary I am now especially with a new car with the coolant level apparently dropping over an extremely short space of time. 

Effician

Ella_fella said:

So hopefully you can appreciate how wary I am now especially with a new car with the coolant level apparently dropping over an extremely short space of time. 

Maybe try & put some meaningful miles on it to see if it keeps dropping or if it stabalises , alternatively get the coolant system pressure tested.

Ella_fella

Effician said:

Ella_fella said:

So hopefully you can appreciate how wary I am now especially with a new car with the coolant level apparently dropping over an extremely short space of time. 

Maybe try & put some meaningful miles on it to see if it keeps dropping or if it stabalises , alternatively get the coolant system pressure tested.

I took it back to car dealer I bought it from yesterday to investigate