Tales from the workshop

NISSAN QASHQAI

Steady coolant loss

► After having to top-up the cooling system a couple of weeks in a row the owner of this 2010 Nissan Qashqai Acenta +2 dCi decided to have a look around the 1.5 diesel engine to see if he could see where the coolant was escaping from. Spotting a trace of dried-up coolant down the back of the engine he thought the worst and was concerned that the problem may be the head gasket.

Asking me to have a look I intended to put the system under a pressure test in the hope of seeing the coolant escaping. The leak had developed slightly and with the warm engine and the owners directions of where he had seen the leak, I managed to spot the problem without the need of the pressure tester. The leak was from a failed rubber seal on the thermostat housing.

As these housings do tend to distort and as they come complete with the thermostat and the coolant temperature sensor as well as the sealing rubber, the best option was to replace the whole unit.

This was quickly done and then the cooling system was refilled with fresh coolant and bled out. On this model the bleeding out process is nice and easy with a bleed point built into the top of the thermostat housing.

MERCEDES-BENZ C-CLASS

Lighting problems

► Other than the issue the owner was having with the rear lights on his 2009 Mercedes C220 CDi, the 200,000-mile motor was running as smoothly as ever. The owner had tried replacing the bulb in the