lokokkee

Had a 97 bog standard turbo, and one fine day, the air-con cut off without any reason in the middle of a drive, but came on fine again the next morning. Then cut off again and the temperature gauge shot to the red zone. There is no other warning lights, only the needle shooting away from the middle. Stopped immediately and checked, radiator almost empty. Filled up and sent car for radiator pressure test at dealer for possible leaks, negative. Over the next few days, checked coolant level every day and it dropped a bit every time, requiring a topping up, but no visible leaks. Suspect the worse, head gasket failure. Took car for a hard drive and checked again, trying to look for bubbles in the filler tube, finally discovered a leak at the radiator side tank on the left, which apparently is quite common. There is a fine hair-line crack, which doesn't leak under normal driving conditions or dry up so fast that it is not visible. The scary part is that the leak is so stealthy, and there is no warning lights of any kind for overheating engine or low coolant level, which can result in an expensive repair bill. So if you have a fairly old Scoob like mine, be vigilant.

lguillermocp

Thanks for the advice.

LG

JonMc

iTrader: (51)

The bonnet is always up on mine anyway so I regularly check it.

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

generally you will also get a strong smell of coolant as well. It has happened twice with me!

theotherphil

Just replaced my rad last weekend for the very same problem. The steam from the water dripping on the headers was a clue though

morto15

my coolant level is always about half way down the header tank keep thinking i have a leak as i keep filling it up but when i check it is half way down again

lokokkee

The crack is very fine initially, so can pass the radiator pressure test used to detect more obvious leaks. Forgot to add, the air-con compressor has a cut off switch linked to engine temperature apparently, and is more sensitive than the coolant temperature gauge, which stays in the middle most of the time, until the tank is almost empty. So if your air-con compressor cuts off suddenly, watch your temperature.

Generic User

Ahh well. at least you still had water in there.

If it hadn't, your temperature gauge would still read normal..or even cold -no water - so it measures air temp instead)...and your a/c would still work happily

lokokkee

Generic, the crack is in the top part of the radiator, so theoretically, there should still be some coolant in the lower part of the tank, unless it is escaping in the form of steam, which should then be visible. I would have thought that the check engine light should have come on in case of low coolant level or overheating, but it didn't and this could easily have resulted in a hefty repair bill.

Generic User

The ECU system has no way of electronically checking coolant level. You will not get a check engine light. In case of zero coolant, temperture sensors will not work correctly either.

It's not as clever as a BMW ...(or a MK2 Polo )

lokokkee

Generic, thanks for the info. I thought later models would have warning devices for low coolant levels, which is no big deal technologically for most other cars. Coupled with a coolant temperature gauge that is apparently non-linear and a rather fragile plastic radiator, drivers have to be vigilant. Because the coolant level hardly dropped in the past, I have been pretty complacent with it during my routine checks. The last time I had an engine warning light coming on in another car, it was already too late to prevent a burnt head gasket due to loss of coolant, so no help there either. In my part of the world, the car air-con is on all the time, so that's my early warning device.

Journeyman

This has just happened to me.

A1M tonight. MY99 classic turbo wagon. The temperature gauage shot up to max. No warning lights on the dash the only warning apart from the gauge meter was a slightly lumpy throttle when accelerating. I happened to look down at the temp gauge and I could not believe my eyes. I was traveling about 80mph and I think I'd probably covered a good 3-4 miles in that state.
Nothing eminating from the rear. I pulled over to the hard shoulder straight a way and turned off.

It was dark (8:30pm) but I could see a lot of steam coming off the block and that horrid smell of cooking anti freeze and water. It had pissed out all over the top of the rad and block. On inspection I could see that the top hose had split in two places. I called the RAC out for recovery he topped it up and gave it a rev - the water pissed out the split top hose but more worryingly there was white/grey smoke eminating from the exhaust. Switched off went around the back - antifreeze and water burning out the exhaust.

Flatbed job home. The car is now sitting on my drive it's 2am.

Based on what I've described anyone out there hazzard a guess how much damage might have been done?... Head gasket? and if so whats the next step for my saddly broken scooby....