*Help* (Please!)

kidkarter · March 28, 2012, 20:06

sorry, so whatts the problem with the engine again ?

edit: scatch that ! just had a read !

obviously i haven't seen the car at all so i am goin to tread very carefully here but maybe we should if it hasn't been proven already ? get hold of a pressure tester just to be absolutely sure of where the leak is coming from ?

MelBee42 · March 28, 2012, 20:17

Matt said he thought the HG was leaking. Which it might be, I am just double checking that the car being at an angle and this bizarre set of coolant coincidences hasn't led to coolant dripping from the bins to the engine and making it look like the HG was leaking.
So far as I'm aware he didn't check it close up (I'm sure he'll correct me if I'm wrong), as I was only paying him to fix the wiring connectors (as I hadn't noticed any evidence of a leak so I wasn't expecting there to be one!).

Anonymous · March 28, 2012, 20:21

Ok by the sounds of it apart from botch wiring it might be an ok head. Asuming there is no oil in the water and the water level not gone down, last check is a sniff test to see if any exhaust fumes are in the water. If all that ok then I think we jumping the gun. :-S

kidkarter · March 28, 2012, 20:22

see edit above mel !

kidkarter · March 28, 2012, 20:27

i may be able to borrow a pressure tester i'm not sure ? but if i can't ? maybe we should look into trying to hireshop one for the day

?

kidkarter · March 28, 2012, 20:29

i have a compression tester that should fit ?

MelBee42 · March 28, 2012, 20:49

Just to recap...! s:)

s:)
Sequence of events is thus:
- Late October last year, facelift engine put in. Rob/Russ commented on the wiring loom on the engine as it did look dodgy
- Intermittent leak present in November - topped up a fair bit, but checked frequently
- All of a sudden, lost a lot of coolant, car overheated. Pulled over very quickly. Topped up. Drove on, everything seemed fine.
- Took car to garage in late december (or early January, apologies, don't know where all my paperwork has gone!) to check for a leak. They said there seemed to be a small leak from the nipples on the pipes that run to the radiator (I think that was how they described them). Washers changed.
- Kept checking but seemed to be fine for a couple of weeks
- Didn't check for four days (my bad!), overheated, stuck in crawling/stop-start traffic, no-one would let me pull over (*****!), did my best but definitely ran too long hot. Did manage to pull over eventually though, waited for it to cool, topped up, was fine the rest of the way
- Took it straight to the garage. They did a sniff test and said it was the HG that had blown
- They sent the head off for skimming, replaced the water pump, thermostat, etc, the works (or so they said) - £760
- Took it back to garage 600 miles later for a check up. Pressure tested, (they said) and no leak
- Late Jan - new spark plugs, replacement of UJ, by the same garage - £100
- Checked frequently but didn't appear to be losing any coolant. (I do 600 miles per week)
- Mid-Feb now - car won't start. Very long story already gone through in this thread...!
- Mid-March - after the car being stuck at work a couple of weeks, changing the camshaft sensor etc, 10 days and another £177 at the garage, etc etc, car still not starting but with the AA's help I make it to Matt's
- While at Matt's, possibly while car was at an angle, 3litres worth of coolant in bottles leaks into the bin
- This coolant leaks from the bin to elsewhere
- MOT fail on handbrake cable and a few other minor things
- HG reported as leaking, noticed while fixing other things (garage clearly not done a good job of putting the engine back as wiring is stuffed) - not investigated further (so far as I know). Coolant level dropped while at Matt's (but it does tend to fluctuate up and down all the time, don't know why)
- Monday - got car back to mine. Not lost any coolant on the way back, or while it's been standing here
- Today - I discover the coolant/bin mess.

kidkarter · March 28, 2012, 20:57

hows the heater working mel ?

MelBee42 · March 28, 2012, 21:00

The heater works fine.
On the two occasions that it overheated that I mentioned in the above 'history', the heater stopped working just before it overheated. But the heater has been fine ever since the car went in for the new HG.

E · March 28, 2012, 21:00

This could be good news, there is indeed a drain from the middle of the passenger side locker which exits from a small pipe through the fire wall (fairly low down though) so without actually seeing where the coolant was on the engine it is only a guess that at a steep angle the coolant could have leaked from this pipe onto the engine. Im sure Matt will confirm if the coolant he saw could have come from the lockers fingers crossed anyway.

MelBee42 · March 28, 2012, 21:03

Cheers. s:)

s:) Before you say anything Nathan, yes, the lids were on the coolant bottles, I didn't leave them off!! They must just be rubbish bottles... s;)

s;)

kidkarter · March 28, 2012, 21:04

i'm just wonder ? if it could be just an airlock ? cos they didn't bleed the system properly ? might explain the level inconsistancy and when it gets up to temp could be overcoming the relief valve in the cap if there is one and blowing coolant everywhere ? oh ok probably not that then haha

MelBee42 · March 28, 2012, 21:09

Well, because of the coolant level going up and down, I have accidentally overfilled it in the past (when I was worried about a coolant leak). Certainly there will be coolant deposits all over the place I would have thought - I also left the lid off the coolant once late last year, topped it up, forgot to put the lid back on, what an idiot - hence my above jokey comment about me definitely having put the lids on the bottles! But it would be old residue.

Anonymous · March 28, 2012, 21:10

If the garage did a sniff and then say it need a hg then they right to do it. I'm thinking the current hg is fine, do the checks I said and they all ok then so is the hg. But you do need to find out, maybe take the car for a drive local get it warm and see if it trys to overheat.

kidkarter · March 28, 2012, 21:15

when you say the coolant level flucuates ? that isn't just between the 2 level lines is it ?

i think we still need to leak test it rich ? any part of the hg could be leaking ?

Anonymous · March 28, 2012, 21:23

Don't think we do mate as coolant levels on the 2 always changes. As long as it never goes below the min it fine

MelBee42 · March 28, 2012, 21:24

Quote from: "rbuckingham"If the garage did a sniff and then say it need a hg then they right to do it. I'm thinking the current hg is fine, do the checks I said and they all ok then so is the hg. But you do need to find out, maybe take the car for a drive local get it warm and see if it trys to overheat.

Well, I drove it back from Matt's 40 miles on Monday, and the temp was as it should be all the way. (Matt did top the coolant right up before I left though)

Kidkarter... no, not just between the lines. Sometimes (cold or hot) it'll be below the min line (but not by much) and then the next day it might be normal or above the full line. It does seem a bit all over the place.

So - I'm still waiting to hear from Matt, but do you think I should:

- Purchase handbrake cable
- Take to a different garage (not the one that did the HG, that's for sure) and ask them to pressure test and sniff test
- IF all OK ask them to fit the cable, and front discs/pads (I have a set, bought one previously as the brakes do not feel right)
- Try another MOT?

(In that order....!!!)

Anonymous · March 28, 2012, 21:30

Getting another garage to pressure test the system and sniff test it be a good start. If that all ok drive to mine to give it a good run, I'll then fit the cable pads and disks then drive back for mot. Now if it makes it to and from mine and no water loss or overheating I think you can sleep happy

MelBee42 · March 28, 2012, 21:38

Awww, thanks. s:)

s:) I will see if I can book it in somewhere for last thing Friday or Monday. Guess I need to try and find another garage somewhere near here...!
(Unless Matt messages me telling me my suggestion is totally crazy!)

kidkarter · March 28, 2012, 21:40

yeah i know rich it will on any car, just trying to work out if mel knew that dude

well cable and discs- pads we or i can do ! think you should fire till you speak to matt after all he's the only one who's actually seen the car ! i think it would wrong for us to try and diagnose over the interweb !! haha

nathanMR2 · March 28, 2012, 21:40

Im pretty sure Matt will say the HG will need doing

kidkarter · March 28, 2012, 21:41

oh ok or you could do what rich said ? haha

that was ment to be hold fire !! haha

Anonymous · March 28, 2012, 21:46

As pointed out no one but matt has seen the car so we can't comment to much, but it still won't hurt to have the tests done.

MelBee42 · March 28, 2012, 21:48

All the same Nath, given the very unusual circumstances with the bins full of coolant, I don't see the harm in checking by getting a garage to test first before asking people to come all this way and buying a new HG etc.
Provided I can find somewhere that won't charge a fortune of course, but I'm assuming it won't take them long to do.

Edit: what rich said. s:)

s:)

kidkarter · March 28, 2012, 21:52

nope it wont rich i agree ! it never hurts to get a second opinion ! and if its ok then perhaps you could give it a good thrashing very local to home just to see if it will cope ? any overheating will surely rear its ugly head !