rossi 0 Posted July 19, 2007 (edited) Hey. I encountered some overheating today, while I was on the move. The stop light appeared, and my coolant level was sky high. I pulled over at the nearest garage and found that I had a split in one of my rad pipes. I filled it up to the brim, and I managed to get home without the stop light coming on again. I fixed the pipe in the system, now there are no leaks. However, as soon as I start the car, steam appears about 10 seconds after starting. It looks as though its coming from the manifold, behind the cambelt (driver side). Is this an airlock? Or head gasket blown? Anyone let us know quickly? EDIT: The first time I started it , the coolan level went right down. Stopped the car, topped it up again, and it's not gone down since. Edited July 19, 2007 by rossi Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SamGTi 0 Posted July 19, 2007 Exactly the same thing happened to me last night although I couldn't get home due to a huge tear in my hose so the RAC were called! Are you sure there's not just some water on your manifold that is evaporating as you engine is warming up? As for the 'Edit' problem, it's probably because some of the coolant had been pumped through the system causing the level to drop from when you had topped it up first time but after a while the whole system will be full and pressurised so it won't go down again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rossi 0 Posted July 19, 2007 Cheers for that. You're probably right about water on the manifold. I'll go try it again, but leave it running, for a few mins, see if the steam goes away. The gauges look normal on the dash too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SamGTi 0 Posted July 19, 2007 Yeah just leave it at idle for a few mins, check the coolant level and top it up if necessary. I too got scared about the smoke/steam but soon realised it ws just water evaporating. Which hose split on yours btw? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Richie-Van-GTi 71 2 Cars Posted July 19, 2007 are you over filling it? Common mistake to overfill and then it pressurises and sprays back out past the rad cap and creates a cloud of steam giving the impression the level dropped when in escense it just levelled out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rossi 0 Posted July 19, 2007 Was just water evaporating phew. It was the hose running from the rad filler tank, to the back of the engine. Right awkward sod to fix that was! Thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SamGTi 0 Posted July 19, 2007 Can't believe that! That's the one that went on mine last night too! Maybe it's a North West thing! But mine was holding no water at all! The bloke from RAC said it perished because oil was leaking on the hose from somewhere - not good for me then! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lagonda 42 Posted July 20, 2007 Don't want to be the purveyor of bad tidings, but hoses splitting was the first definite indication that my head gasket was failing & my head was cracked. I had suspicions but compression test always came up perfect! The good news is that I found you can TEMPORARILY repair a split hose with parcel tape, the wide brown stuff. The hose needs to be reasonably clean & dry. Wind it round several times at an angle so you start from one good section of hose, over the split and onto the good section the other side. Fill up with water & put the rad cap back on LOOSELY, or leave it off. You don't want pressure in the system. You'll probably find the tape will weep, but it will enable you to drive home. In fact I found it lasted several days whilst I got round to getting replacement hose. Obviously check & top up as necessary. Funnily enough, that was the same hoser that blew first of all on my car. Then it was the one at the back of the water housing/SAD mounting, & then finally the hose from the heater matrix outlet to the rear of the engine. At least you know now what hoses might blow next ... hopefully not! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
