Oh Bollox

[Guest oli205]

Started the car up thismorning to let it heat up so I could drive to manchester, 10 mins later, the red lights on for the water temp and theres steam coming out the bonnet! obviously I turned the engine off straight away, but is it still safe to drive? I guess the radiator was blocked or something - Is it possible that it would unfreeze with the heat of the water and be ok to drive again? Any help much appreciated!

[Simmy 0]

i'd check the obvious water level.... if that's normal, and oil pressure is normal, i'd try leaving it for a bit then tryin it again.

 

If water level has gone down I'd start looking for a burst water pipe and/or checking oil pressure in case of possible HG failure.To me the steam would indicate water is escaping from somewhere and being heated... whether this is inside or outside the engine i don't know

 

If the radiator was blocked due to freezing then you might wanna check you're antifreeze mixture as it really shouldn't freeze... water expanding as it freezes could easily damage the radiator or pipes

[Guest oli205]

Cheers Simmy, the water level was fairly low, steam was coming out of the little overflow pipe by the water cap.

I remember putting battery top up fluid in thinking it would do the same job as anti-freeze... that might be why it froze up!

[Butler 0]

Was the fan running when noticed it was too hot? If not then it could be that, and should be fine to drive unless your likely to sit in traffic a lot.

 

I would say the steam is normal if its got very hot.

 

If the fan was running and it still over heated, then you have an underlaying problem which will need fixing before driving anywhere.

 

Are the waters levels correct.

Is thermostat opening.

Blockage.

Air lock.

[Guest oli205]

I can't remember whether the fan was running, but one thing I noticed was a strange squeeling sound when I started it up that lasted a minute or two...

 

Its running fine again now I think, but I'm not going to manchester anymore, as it's too late.

[Longun 1]

Sorry to jump on a thread but is there an easy way to check a thermostat without removing and putting in hot water?

[richard 0]

battery water (ionised water) isnt going to stop freezing. Antifreeze is what you need.

 

with the squealing, i'd suggest the water pump.

 

Check your levels, and when the engine is hot have the bonnet open to see if there are any pipes that have split.

btw remember not to fill the system with too much antifreeze, from my own experience this seems to find any weak points in the cooling system.

[Redtop 14 2 Cars]

Could be your thermostat. As Richard says ionised water doesn't protect it from the frost. It justs lets it run cooler during the day. There is a solid water pipe running along the right hand side of the engine bay inside drivers arch. They sometimes go porous this time of the year. Check that. I would do a pressure test on the whole system as well when you get a change to be on the safe side. Hope this helps.

[Guest oli205]

Ahaaaa, that'll be it then, I thought that was the problem, I'll get some anti-freeze in there fast!

 

The worst of the cold weather looks like its gone for now, a bit of a shame, as I wanted to have a play in the snow with the 205!

Ah well, there should be more snow before the end of winter hopefully.

[ALEX 98 1 Cars]

Check your fan is working too.

Unplug the connector to the radiator fan switch and short the plug using a piece of wire.

There are three connections one is an earth the other two are for the different speed settings full and half.

Find the earth first to avoid blowing a fuse.

This should test the circuit to the fan.

If nothing happens you have a break in the circuit someware (start with checking fuses)

If it spins but dosn't work when the engine is at full temp then the swicth has gone.

[Guest oli205]

Bad news i'm afraid, the CTi didn't make it back to guildford yesterday on my way back to uni

For about half an hour I could feel something holding the car back a bit, as if the power was restricted even though i had my foot to the floor... I thought it would just be water in the dizzy or getting somewhere it shouldn't, so I carried on driving... All the dials were reading out normal levels/temps, so I had no idea anything was wrong, but as soon as I got onto the M4 the car lost pretty much all power and just kept slowing down and down, so I had to pull into the hard shoulder and it stopped.

I have never been a member of the AA, but I had to join up last night and pay 150 quid for rescue to be towed off the motorway and have the car taken to guildford. At least it included a years membership, but I found out that the head gasket has gone on the car, which is NOT good at all, as I really can't afford that kind of repair at the moment. The problem is I really don't have the time to do it myself either, as I have a project for my uni course to be in soon!

I had one that went on my old 205, but with that one it properly blew and there was oil everywhere, the works. With my CTi, it really didnt seem like the head gasket, the car behaved like it had ran out of fuel or something! I am a bit out of touch with the price of a new head gasket, does anyone know what I could get it fixed for? I don't want to let go of the CTi just yet, and I certainly am not gonna let him get written off!

Any help much appreciated!

[ALEX 98 1 Cars]

Other than advise on how to change a head gasket I cant help you much.

But be advised that most AA mechanics (or the ones I've met) don't seem to know a great deal about fixing cars.

They mainly just change wheels, broken alternator belts, or fix starter wiring. Anything even slightly more complicated and they tow you home.

Just because the AA said the Head gasket has gone dont take it for granted.

If you've got a compression tester (or borrow one) a failed gasket would show up on this especially if it was bad enough to make the car stop running.

Was the car loosing coolant. Was steam (white smoke) coming from the exhaust when up to temp. They are the signs to look for head gasket failure on this engine.

[Guest oli205]

Well, I didnt notice any white smoke and it definately wasn't steaming, but the aa guy took the cap off the water tank,put his hand over it, then tried to start the car and seemed pretty certain it was the head gasket. I probably blew it when it was really cold and overheated because there was no antifreeze in there.

I might just sell the car with the broken gasket, but not sure how much i'll get for it

[rossimura 0]

If it froze up it might be something worse than a head gasket.

 

You probably know this already but when water freezes it expands, this can blow core plugs out of the cylinder block, or possibly with a 205 disturb a cylinder liner.

 

 

Best bet as already mentioned would be a compression test....

 

Next time put anti freeze in it !!!!

[easypug 0]

Well, I didnt notice any white smoke and it definately wasn't steaming, but the aa guy took the cap off the water tank,put his hand over it, then tried to start the car and seemed pretty certain it was the head gasket. I probably blew it when it was really cold and overheated because there was no antifreeze in there.

I might just sell the car with the broken gasket, but not sure how much i'll get for it

 

Has it still got coolant in it? Should be able to dip your finger in and feel for it if you can't see any. Head gasket wouldn't cost to much if you done the work yourself.

 

Did the car just suddenly lose the power or was it misfiring and becoming all hesitant? Have you checked to see if theres a spark with it not starting now. Silly question but was there enough oil in it ?

[pug309twin40s 1]

i would get a compression test done, this will show if the headgasket has gone.

 

Check all to see if you have any mayonnaise type stuff in the oil filler tube, water(white bits) on the dipstick or oil in the coolant system.

 

 

If it is the headgasket then its only a day or 2 work.

 

remove cyl head, strip and rebuild with new valve stem seals etc

new headgasket, timing belt, water pump etc.

 

£150 max for all parts and do the work yourself or if you cant im sure theirs plenty of members around your area that could help you.

[Guest oli205]

Cheers for the help guys, I don't really have the equipment or know-how to perform a compression test, but I can asnswer a few of your questions-

 

The car started to loose power about half an hour before it eventually conked out, but it was such a wet day that I thought water was interfering with the engine. It wasn't running smoothly and when pulling off from junctions etc I had to keep the revs high so it wouldnt stall.After half an hour of doing a constant speed of about 80 the car lost all power and stopped.

 

I had done at least 100 miles since the engine froze up before it conked out...

I can't see any mayo round the oil filler cap, I also had a look for coolant and I couldn't see anything left in there.

[ashlee205gti 1]

The car started to loose power about half an hour before it eventually conked out, but it was such a wet day that I thought water was interfering with the engine. It wasn't running smoothly and when pulling off from junctions etc I had to keep the revs high so it wouldnt stall.After half an hour of doing a constant speed of about 80 the car lost all power and stopped.

 

Sounds like what happened to mine when my headgasket went, i reckon you've got water getting into the cylinders.

[Guest oli205]

ahhhh!

 

Thats pretty annoying, I was gonna sell the car before christmas, I wish i had now!

 

How much would it cost to get it fixed up?

 

I am seriously thinking about selling the car in its current state if anyone is interested in a project...

 

If I decide to keep it I may as well drop an MI16 lump in there.

[kate205gti 4]

lol well i was gonna come over with cash the day before xmas eve but u never replied to my email very glad you didnt now (no offence like!)

 

i think you need to def do a compression test before anything else - its not that hard (I can do one!) just need a £10 comp tester from halfords and a willing volunteer! as said AA men can get it wrong - they diagnosed my mates MX5 as head gasket failure when one of the HT leads failed - new set of leads and it was right as rain!!

 

if it is a head gasket failure apparantly you can drop a 1.9 gti head on these lumps and get more bhp (just run on 97RON) - obviously check whether any internal damage been done to the block first though if its been cooked!!

[Guest oli205]

lol, I remember, unfortunately (or fortunately) I had to go back on the 20th for Christmas! I wouldn't have felt too good if you'd come back to me with a dead CTi though!

 

I'll try and get the comp tester from Halfords and give it a test.

[richard 0]

Another thing to do Oli, is if you are friendly with a garage, ask them to stick the gas analyser over the expansion tank. Personally better than doing a comp test. (and possibly save yourself a few pennies which you'll need for the gasket change)

 

Any gases coming through there will highlight a headgasket issue.

 

From my own personal experience, i had a head gasket failure caused by a faulty thermostat loom (and thermostat). The failure wasnt immediately noticeable (ie no white smoke) but very high temperatures when enjoying the higher end of the rev range and coolant shooting out of the exp tank when the engine was stopped.

 

As for costs, mine cost a fair amount as i had a lot of other work done at the same time. if you do it yourself you can look at around 150 approx. Get a garage to do it and you can look at anywhere between 250 - 450 depending on what they find when its apart.

Edited January 6, 2006 by richard

[Guest oli205]

Thanks for the help Richard, but unfortunately I only know one garage and they charged me so much that I have never been back, I also have the problem of not being able to move the car, so taking it to a garage is pretty much out of the question. I wouldn't mind paying up to £300 to have it repaired at all, as with my uni work I really don't have time to do it myself this year, even though I would like the experience...

[Guest oli205]

I have the compression tester now, so I am going to check the engine today. I haven't used one before, so could someone tell me how to use it? I'm guessing you take each spark plug out in turn and put the tester in its place, but how do you get the pressure up?

Cheers!

[kate205gti 4]

unplug coil, take out spark plug, screw in comp tester then get assistant to crank car over for a few sec (keeping foot flat on accelerator)

 

read figure off comp tester, write it down, then move onto next one