Does this sound like head gasket has gone?
 

I have a 99 sport, approx. 98k miles (in case it has any relevance).

Anyway, went for a quick overtake on a short dual carriageway run tonight and hit, i guess, about 6.5-7K revs in 3rd. Next thing I know, temperature guage has shot up. Only had a mile or so to get home so put the heater on full blast to try to draw the heat of the engine, but the heater only blew out cold air.

I would love it if someone could tell me it is just the thermostat or something that has gone, but my feeling is that a big bill is coming up.

I am not technically minded, so if someone can confirm my worst fears or, even better, come up with other suggestions at to what it might be, I would be grateful.

Cant give much more information coz its dark out there so i am not about to start looking for leaks or anything until daylight.

Sounds like you may have lost coolant/water, check the header tank and expansion bottle, if low then it's leaking somewhere, if no water loss then water pump could have failed.

Thanks. I will check in the morning and top up if necessary.

If its not that, then I guess my only option is to get it recovered to a garage. Don't fancy driving it if I can't keep the temperature down.

Unfortunatley that definately sounds like the head gasket to me.

I am happy now. Checked the header tank this morning and it was a bit low, but there was no water or coolant at all in the reserve. Topped both up then let the engine run for about 5 minutes and once warmed up it ran a constant temperature.

All I have to do now is locate the leak. In the meantime, have just stuck a couple of bottles of water in the boot for emergencies and will keep an eye on the levels.

Glad you have found a cause, just be careful running it as the water can go very quickly!!

Best thing to do it top everything up to max when cold then get the car nice and warm, should be enough pressure in the system then to find a leak.

Im in the same boat as u mate "Keeping water bottles in the boot" I have a real slow leak somewhere but can't find the b**tard thing. I had it on the ramps for half an hour with engine running and not a drop anywhere. It only seems to lose water when it gets agitated while driving. Hoping to have one of my mates look at it next week.

James:thumb:

Sounds like your head gasket . this is classic scooby where the gasket only leaks under high boost. You can drive all day without a problem but give a heavy foot and you blow all the coolant out . try it , if it happens your head gasket has gone.
Jon

Just get someone to fit a coolant system pressure tester, It pressurises the system up to the max working pressure and will show you're leak up weather it be internal or external.

I had a similar problem earlier this year, where I was losing coolant but could'nt find the leak.
Before I'd go down the head gasket route I'd try topping up both the reservoir and expansion tanks and take the car for a blast. Once you've got everything nice and hot (but hopefully not too hot!) find somewhere to stop and check the cooling system. When I did this on mine I managed to locate the leak source at radiator. It would only spray out when the system was under high pressure which explained why I could'nt locate it when checked the system at warm-idle conditions.
New rad (£100 incl VAT+Del) solved the problem.

Same problem for me.... it took some finding as it only leaked under heavy load. Had a small hole in the tank on the side of the radiator. Got a new one and all is now well :thumb: