Coolant thirst

[Primera2.0SEGT]

Hi guys,
My car (98 Primera 2.0SE UK) seems to be going through coolant at a fast rate. I'm having to top it up every couple of weeks. Is this normal for this car? My previous car never required topups? If this isn't normal then can anyone offer any explaination as to why it is doing this?

The car has justy passed 70k and has never really had any big problems (short of ones caused by my stupidity )

Thanks

[ales]

That doesn't sound normal at all. It's either a leak somewhere or a problem in the engine. Any puddles under the car after it's been parked for a while? The best news would be if it's just a hose somewhere. A worse part is if it's a water pump that's gone bad (it has a little hole in it and if the seal inside the pump goes bad coolant will be coming out if the engine's running), and the last thing is a gasket in the engine. What kind of smoke comes out of the exhaust? If it's white, then it's a headgasket. Also check your oil and see if there are traces of coolant mixed with oil on your dipstick. At the moment it seems like there's a small leak somewhere because the coolant doesn't seem to be leaking at too quick a rate. So check for coolant under the car. Of course if you don't find anything under the car, it could still be leaking from the heater pipes, and accumulating in the footwell(s). sounds like fun yet?

[Jealousie]

Any luck?
I have the same prob now.
1998 SE TD.
Drinks about 1.5l of coolant per 3 weeks (~1500km).
Bad sign is... no puddles under the car...