[Reaver]

Hey guys,

I'm in the middle of an absolute nightmare.

A week and a half ago, i was driving home, only doing around 30mph completely off boost, when my temp needle started to rise. Luckilly i can pull into a BP garage before it hits the 11 o'clock position!

i got out and noticed the expansion tank is empty, and when i could get near it, the rad cap came off to reveal steam and no water! Both pipes from the rad were red hot and the car had seemed to boil all the water away!! I filled it up and went home to check for leaks.

Couldnt find any cracks in hoses or leaks, so i left it on the drive overnight. Next day...no leaks on driveway ?!?! expansion tank was full, so was radiator, so i assumed i must have tightened up a loose hose when checking and prob was gone. (hahahaha how naieve)

a week and a half later and 200 miles around town and along motorways.....the temp needle creeps past the halfway point. I'm again by a garage so i pull in and again the expansion tank is empty. Having had a REALLY bad day so far, i fill up the expansion tank with water, drive the mile home again and while in a state of extreme annoyance pop the hood and twist off the rad cap without waiting for it too cool down DOH

I've no idea why i did this, its like walking out the house forgetting to put trousers on!!
but my stupidity was welcomed by a volcano of slightly rusty water spraying up into the bonnet and all over my engine bay. hoorah.

WHAT THE BEJESUS IS GOING ON !!

Its not a standard rad, its a 1 or 2 year old re-cored GTR rad that i only bought from gordon on the gtroc last october, and doesnt appear to be blocked despite the shitty water colour, and i don;t have a cold bottom pipe.

The car is running perfectly fine, apart from the clutch starting to go, and there is no oil in the water or water in the oil so i'm ruling out Head gasket, or at least i really want to be.

any ideas folks?? any help would be appreciated but saying "go to abbey" or "buy a new rad" doesnt really help as i've got a mortgage and a baby on the way so i have NO money. I couldnt afford abbey's prices before and i certainly cant now and i don't have money to splash on new parts that might not need replacing. unfortunately

 

[Bigchief]

these are prone to air locks, its not just a case of filling it up you have to get all the air out and it takes a bit of time. when was the rad fitted. is there any sign of water out of the overflow.....rust or stains etc

 

[cossiedave]

have a sniff in the header tank while its running and see if it smell off exhaust gases, mind you dont burn your face thou....check all pipes to make sure they are all hot and check all over rad to see if there are any cold areas...

 

[Reaver]

the rad was fitted last november when i got it, but i left the cowl off as it didnt fit with the new rad being a whole lot thicker, but everything was fine.

In July i think it was, i trimmed the cowl down so it fitted back in place and whacked it in. i refilled, and bled the bleed valve til water came out, but only the once. reading today, i should have done it a few times

Do ya think this might be a contender for the cause of the problem keith ?
the expansion tank is totally empty mate.

I just popped the thermostat out and half of the rubber seal is missing too! it still opens and closes fine and didnt stick in 5 tests, but it obviously needs replacing.
The stat housing and the inlet pipe on the block have a nice orange finish on the insides too despite this the water is still clear but it needs a bloody good flushing out!

 

[katiered]

water loss

make up a fairly strong anti-freeze/water mix top up the system
and leave it overnight with the radiator cap removed, place a clean
piece of cardboard underneath the engine compartment then
in the morning check carefuly for external leaks,paying particular
attention to the water pump and all hose connections, look for
signs of water staining. also check the carpets arent wet from
a leaking hose or heater matrix, after that you are into more
serious stuff.

 

[blitzer]

Have a look at your water pump around the edges i.e. the seal and around eth front of the water pump.

 

[jimbzx9]

I would have thought that it was your rad cap not holding the pressure. Its a cheap item to replace and see if that cures the problem.

 

[Bigchief]

i would start with checking for leaks, then air lock, then water pump leaking, and rad cap as the guys have said, at least it wont cost you anything to do these checks. let us know the outcome,

 

[Reaver]

Will do, have some results so far but will get all the facts first, dragnet stylee.

 

[koh]

rusty coolant normaly means its had a water leak for ages and has been topped up with water a lot so the mix of collant to water is off,rusting the water jacket

 

[Poirot]

air lock imo

also i would check jubilee clips as bonnet temps often increase after you switch off so the water can leak out when you are away from car

so jack car up and get the nose as high as possible, check jubilees (all of them...) waterpump for signs of rusty water, carpets for wetness and fill with water, open bleed screw and keep topping up with engine running unil you can get no more air out

if it does it again after that refer to plan b lol

 

[blitzer]

rusty coolant normaly means its had a water leak for ages and has been topped up with water a lot so the mix of collant to water is off,rusting the water jacket

Koh, what the **** is that in your avatar, nearly ****ing brought up me breakfast!

 

[Reaver]

rusty coolant normaly means its had a water leak for ages and has been topped up with water a lot so the mix of collant to water is off,rusting the water jacket

or in my case,rusty water means i never put coolant in last time as winter was behind us and i didnt think i needed my antifreeze/coolant mixture!!

I know now,this is very stupid! but i've never had anyone around to teach me car stuff, so i've had to learn stuff as i needed to know it, and somehow i never found out that i needed to add it !


i'm hoping the air lock is the culprit, but before i can find out for sure, my thermostat housing is knackered now aswell. when tightening one of the bolts, the bolt hole snapped off the pipe :Uzi:

total long shot, but does anyone have one lol better pm road runer

 

[davegtst]

I wouldn't rule out the head gasket at all. Just because the oil and water aren't mixed does not mean its ok, you really need to get a sniffer test done to rule it out but even then they aren't 100% reliable but they are very good. If i was you i would not be driving it at all until its fixed, i go out to people all the time who have blown their head gasket or cooked their engine because they have been driving on and engine that is overheating. In the end it costs far more than getting it sorted quickly.
As an absolute minimun you need to get the cooling system pressure tested, (including the cap as most people forget this) and a sniffer test done too aswell as visual checks and checking temperatures around the cooling system.

 

[Reaver]

I'm borrowing the missus car this week while i try and get things sorted.

Cheers for the post dave, any ideas who do pressure and sniffer tests. Is it something kwik fit or nationwide would do and is it expensive to get done??

 

[General Banter]

A lot of the most basic garages carry sniff testers, inexpensive and quick test to do

 

[davegtst]

Avoid Nationwide like the plage. I have to take my van to get serviced there and every time they fcuk it up, im supposed to take AA members there when i can't fix it but i wouldn't take my worse enemy there.

 

[Japtastic]

How much is a sniffer tester?

 

[cossiedave]

stick ye nose in and see if you can smell any fumes....thats free

 

[davegtst]

How much is a sniffer tester?

It only takes a few minutes so i wouldn't have thought it would cost a lot.