Fonzey

iTrader: (5)

Just pulled in after my 7mile drive home, just as I switched the ignition off I caught sign of the coolant temp being at max. I've never seen it above 1/3 before

Popped the bonnet and could see a pretty steady drip of coolant out of the bottom of the radiator, which was new on back in January.

Talked to the garage who fitted/supplied it and said it should be covered - so need to try and blag a (40mile) tow from my AA cover tomorrow morning.

How much damage could have been done from driving 7miles with a coolant leak? I've obviously driven enough for the temperature to rise too high, but hopefully not too much.

Once it's cooled down a bit, I'm going to look under with a torch to see if it's obvious damage or something else (is there a drain tap under there which could be leaking?)

Cars

poolio74

Sorry to say mate, but if it was at the max it don't luck good.
You may be lucky but the odds aren't great. Good luck tho.

The Rig

iTrader: (13)

Hmm, dunno, you might be lucky, i mean, yeah, it will of been hot, but in this weather its cold outside and if you were moving air flow will of kept things cool enough, the reading is of inside the metal pipe the coolant goes thru so will read hot if empty LOL, keep those fingers crossed

Fonzey

iTrader: (5)

Great

It was probably somewhere between the penultimate marker on the gauge and the very top.

What kind of symptoms do I want to be looking out for once it's got coolant back in a good radiator? Is it going to be pretty obvious immediately if it's shagged?

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

You'll be fine mate, it'll take that if its not been caned for ages like it or on the motorway 7 miles isn't really enough to kill it as it still had oil in and it probably only went over near home and when you pulled up, if I sit with mine on for a few mins when I get back faffing my fans cut in.

Fonzey

iTrader: (5)

Cheers Ditch.

I ended up working all night so I've not had the opportunity to get the undertray off for a look, but I popped out 5mins ago and the header tank is barren.

On the drive home, I've got a ~1000m blast on the bypass which I probably took up to 6300rpm in a couple of gears and that's in the final 10% of my journey, other than that it will barely have been on boost.

I'm kicking myself for not noticing the temperature earlier, for all I know it had just spiked up when parking up.... or it could have been like that for half the journey, I really don't know. Need a buzzer or something

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Try and stay positive, you'll know if it's bolaxed in a week or two.

The Rig

iTrader: (13)

i`m confident for you bud, remember a thread ages back where a guy let his scooby stand over winter, no antifreeze and the core plugs popped and everything during the freeze of winter, come summer, he fitted new core plugs and it ran fine LOL

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

If no-one else mentions it....WHY did it do it?

Sounds to me like the garage that fitted your new rad managed to get it airlocked?

Fonzey

iTrader: (5)

That thought did cross my mind.

Unfortunately my level of AA cover cannot help me. The garage have suggested I fill the system with water and leave it idling on the drive for a bit to see just how bad the leak is, and whether or not I think I can limp the 40miles for them to look at it.

I did so following a guide, car has been idling for 25mins (with occasional revs) and temp is in the normal zone, I can see a slight drip from the bottom of the rad. I'll let it cool off, then top up, perhaps armed with water bottles and short 5-10mile stints I can make it without risking damage?

Fonzey

iTrader: (5)

Or local recovery guy has quoted me "£60-70" for a ride... think I'd rather pay than risk it.

LewisScoob

iTrader: (5)

Yeah, £60-70 now could save £000's if you proper **** it filling with water and heating everything up again...

Fonzey

iTrader: (5)

Agreed.

Car was spewing white smoke too when idling. It was really thick at first (condensation) but to be honest even after 20mins it was still white, so no idea how a leaky radiator can lead to that - unless something more sinister is happening.

stonejedi

iTrader: (51)

Get it checked out by a specialist guess work is what you don't need here,as ditch said driving that far would not really do any lasting damage I know as it's happened to me try 20 miles and the diagnosis,fans not plugged in after a cam belt change,when plugged back in worked fine,But white smoke is a different story get it looked at ASAP is my advice.SJ.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Did they fit new hoses when they did the rad ?, I had my top hose bulge and it got a knick in it from the fan on the motorway, couldn't see where it was coming from and thought it was a stone through the rad, but upon much closer inspection spotted the knick, changed the hose and jobs a good 7k miles later.

Ps, had the white smoke etc, thought it was the turbo goosed at first, good job I keep an eye on the rear view mirror all the time as that's what saved me from cooking the engine.

Is the white smoke coming from the engine bay or the back box, reason I ask is if it's from the bay then it's probably just finding its way to the headers, if it's from the back box then that's not a good sign.

Ps, it'll probably only p!ss out under load, while your ticking over it will probably only drip unless it's a major leak somewhere.

fawor

iTrader: (3)

Worst for that engine is no oil but still withouth water your block could crack from heat,check oil now is it look normally?

Fonzey

iTrader: (5)

Cheers guys. White smoke was exclusively from the backbox, this photo was taken after about 2mins of idling:



The intensity reduced over time, but it was still definitely white even after 20-25mins of idle.

I had a new (silicone) top hose last November as the old one had been fitted wrong and was fouling the aux belt. Bottom hose is still the standard one though from what I can see.

Oil was changed about 3 weeks ago, level still looks fine and still looks nice and clean.

Just taken my front splitter off, hopefully that'll be enough to get me onto the recovery truck - if not I really don't know what else to do. I could replace a rad myself easily, but I'm at the stage where I want this car inspecting PROPERLY before it gets any more mileage.

The garage I'm trying to get to is a reputable specialist on here, so I trust their work... if only I can get there.

I've got a TD0520G sat in a box waiting for a load of other bits for "project 400", so I guess if there is a more sinister problem - now is the time to find it and fix it before I start bolting expensive bits on

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Best of luck.
Could just be airlocked, but that much steam looks like HG failure

Fonzey

iTrader: (5)

Yay!

At least my clutch change will be cheap then...

just me

iTrader: (3)

I have the same car as you, sorry about your bad luck, I would buy one of these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UNIVERSAL-...item232b186c68

pflowers

In this cold weather your exhaust will emit white smoke indefinitely if left idling, it's just condensation that isn't getting burnt away as the exhaust has no heat in it.

I'm not saying the head gasket hasn't gone but that smoke looks perfectly normal bearing in mind the circumstances.

Fonzey

iTrader: (5)

Perhaps, I'm going to let my emotions flatline for now until the garage have got their hands on it.

At the end of the day, i'm not on a hardshoulder with a seized engine or a hole through the block - so nothing is out of scope to be sorted, and improved for future

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

That's the spirit mate, I think your going to find it's something simple and the engine is fine.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Mine doesn't.

pflowers

Well that's great for you, I was just pointing out that it's completely wrong to diagnose a blown head gasket from a picture of a tail pipe emitting steam when the weather is this cold.

Fonzey

iTrader: (5)

Car is now safely tucked up with the team at Richard Henry in Bradford.

New rad is due in tomorrow morning so that'll get that sorted, then they'll do compression/sniff tests to see how the HG looks.

If the engine does come out, I'll be spending some cash on a clutch which is good for 400bhp, a lightened flywheel and a baffled sump plate.

53

iTrader: (41)

That is alot of white smoke fair play

tan v5sti

I had a similar situation on the motorway in my p1..i drove stop start for 20 mins..longest without water was 12 mins till i got to services..done compression test on cylinders they were all ok..it has got uprated gaskets if that helped...lets hope yours survived

Fonzey

iTrader: (5)

Right just got off the phone, new radiator is on - and the head gasket is fine.

They've run it for a bit, no white smoke and is running like clockwork.

Radiator supplier have stood the cost of the coolant, and Richard Henry won't charge me labour - so the whole episode has just cost me the £60 tow.

Muchos thanks to team:RH, I was expecting a call from them but not for Andy to just say "car is ready for collection". I've lucked out on this occasion I reckon.

poolio74

Sorry to **** on your parade a bit, but you will only know for sure over the coming weeks or months(depending how much you use it). But things look positive for now.