thirsty for engine coolant, beep beep bloomin beep!!!!!!

Greetings c3ers, I have a 2003 petrol c3, 65000 on the clock. love it, it's called nelson.

A couple of weeks ago the temp gauge went mad when the wife was driving, had a look and the coolant was completely gone,(I had checked before a run to Devon 2 weeks previous, it was fine) concerned about a leak or some such,I took it to a local garage to get it checked. He said no leak no problem refilled with coolant away you go 40 quid!!!! I have been checking regularly and it is drinking a lot, I have topped it off three times to keep it between the min/max level.Any ideas where I go from here???? Also in the past ten days when we slow down to stop or turn off a road we have this beeping, three beeps, no lights just the beeps it never used to happen so I am clueless??? Any help or advice would be great.


Many thanks in advance of any reply.

One easy thing you can check is the oil. Have a look at the dipstick, if the oil looks milky or cloudy or the level has risen then it could be that the coolant is leaking into the oil system.

Thanks for the fast response, I don't really know what I'm looking at......
but the dipstick is completely covered with oil after redipping but as to wether it is milky or cloudy I just don't know what it's supposed to look like in the first place!
thanks again for the response.

I just don't know what it's supposed to look like in the first place!

The oil is supposed to be a black, thick liquid. Dark brown is also found if the oil is relatively new (recently changed). This is the engine oil, its a liquid and is found on the last 2" or so of the dipstick.

If you have 'mayonnaise' or anything that is white in colour on the end of the dip stick, then the oil is contaminated, probably with your missing coolant.

It's dark brown know mayo colour, so I really don't have a clue could the coolant loss be the reason for beeping sound?

three beeps, no lights just the beeps

Three beeps is 'look at the dashboard' warning, there should then be a warning or an information for the driver.

We looked at the dash nothing, nowt ,nada, just the beeps no warning lights or anything.

Missing Lincs has found your problem!

It's dark brown know mayo colour,

As he said,

milky or cloudy or the level has risen then it could be that the coolant is leaking into the oil system.

Head Gasket failure or something as bad.

Please don't freak me out arfur, I meant NO mayo colour!!

I meant NO mayo colour!!

sorry.

Well, the coolant is going somewhere, maybe even a pin prick of a leak in a radiator pipe or the radiator itself, even filling up the passenger footwell.

You could spend an afternoon with the bonnet up, engine running and looking for a leak after getting the engine up to 3 bars on the temperature gauge.

If you could post a picture of the dip stick end and one of the underside of the oil filler cap, when it gets light, it would be nice to see them.