Problem with cooling system

Good evening all,

I am looking for some help please, my TD5 auto has been loosing coolant, the temp gauge has hit max a couple of times, once under load and once in slow moving traffic, So I decided to investigate. I noticed that the top hose is hot but the radiator is cold. So I removed it and flushed it through with a hose and all seamed ok, but to be sure I decided to flush it through using hot water, I did this with the shower (wait till the wife is out :doh: school boy error). no blockages as the whole rad got hot with the hot water running through it. So i decided it must be the thermostat!! new thermostat (genuine) fitted tonight, I ran the engine and went for a short drive until the engine up to temp.

So the problem is that the rad is still cold!!!! everything else is toasty hot, heater, top hose, bottom hoses of the thermostat. The interesting thing is that I can see that the thermostat still has air in it!! I have tried running the engine at 2500 rpm to see the air will move but it is still there. can someone please help. as we are going on holiday next week and need it to tow the caravan from Aberdeen to London.

Thanks

1. pull up and rise the tank above the bleed hole while u top up with coolant and wait untill a clean flow comes out, then put the tank back, top it up, refit partially the bleed screw and rev the engine above 1500rpm untill no bubbles are showing there, tighten the bleed screw and the tank's cap..this is very important to be well tightened.... then go for a ride............ when the engine is hot:

2. take out the bleed screw from the top hose and rev up the engine...if u will not see the pressure of the coolant rising as coming out when u rev it up it means that the pump doesnt work well and the coolant circuit is stationary that's why the rad stays cool.

=> u need a new pump

cheers,

I will drain it and refill following that procedure tomorrow. and let you know I hope it's just trapped air and not a new pump!

sounds like water pump aint working

Well I changed the pump tonight, Went for a wee run and the Rad is toasty hot I will take it for a long run tomorrow and we will see what happens.

Just a quick up-date, I went for a 120 mile run. I have lost 2 Liters of coolant and the rad is full of air and cold :-( so it must be the head, I am hoping that it's just the gasket and not the head.

Can I ask is it a difficult job I.e. do you need special tools like an engine lift. Or if I put it in a garage what sort of cost am I looking at?

did you tighten well the tank's cap? ...it's very important

Absolutely positive I did, but I will "double check" and run her again tomorrow.

make sure that the orings on the cap are sealing well cos they must keep 1.4 bar in there...otherwise u'll lose coolant

I think that the cap is OK?? I went for a run and the cap was hissing and misting a little, but when I loosened it the pressure was released in one go and if it hadn't been for the coolant loss I would have been scalded for sure. so I am thinking the the hissing from the cap is due to an excess of pressure. I will take it to the garage tomorrow for them to tell me how much its going to cost me :-(

it's normal to hiss cos it must keep the pressure in there(1.4 bar) ...and if there is excess of pressure the cap must leave it out through it's spring valve

Ok so it's not the cap the new gasket and head bolts arrive tomorrow so hopefully get her back on Wednesday. I really hope it's just the gasket and not the head.

Well hopefully she will be back tomorrow long story short When I got the car in April last year, the HG was done by a LDS in Edinburgh?? I found the invoice in some paperwork, no head bolts on invoice!!!! So I now have the situation that I have to have the HG replaced 15 months later because someone never used new bolts, the boys at my local LDS confirmed that the bolts were loose when they took the head off. I hate it when people try and take short cuts as someone always ends up having to do it again.

Landymannie said:

Well hopefully she will be back tomorrow long story short When I got the car in April last year, the HG was done by a LDS in Edinburgh?? I found the invoice in some paperwork, no head bolts on invoice!!!! So I now have the situation that I have to have the HG replaced 15 months later because someone never used new bolts, the boys at my local LDS confirmed that the bolts were loose when they took the head off. I hate it when people try and take short cuts as someone always ends up having to do it again.

Click to expand...

:fighting::fighting::fighting:

Well she is ready now

Apart from the head bolts being loose, the LDS in Edinburgh had also left part of the plastic dowel in the block and just put the new steel dowel on top which was also preventing the head from sealing against the block properly, oh and the bolts were several MM longer than they should have been.

I can't believe she has ran as long as she did without any major problems, must be my expert driving skills lol :rofl:

Could you get in touch with LDS Edinburgh and discuss why the old bolts were refitted, and if you have photos of this plastic dowl in the internals, send them copies too - ask for an explaination and state the section of the manual that says fit new bolts on assembly etc etc....

Ask them for an explaination and some form of recompence...

Yer never know your luck!

Well the story continues, after the HG had been changed she still overheated on the motorway while she was towing the caravan :-( RAC recovered her to my local LDS & my fantastic sister-in-law lent us her car so we could still go on holiday .

So the head is knackered, so new one ordered complete with fitting kit from Turners and should be all ready for me getting back from holiday

As for contacting the LDS in Edinburgh after talking to someone in the legal field they said not to bother wasting the money on a phone call. As they were doing the work on behalf of the garage I bought the car from. Therefore I was not the customer and therefore they would at best say they were acting under the instructions of the garage paying the bill i.e. their customer. I contacted the garage I got it from & they said they went with the LDS recommendations and the warranty on my car was for 3 months. So no joy on either counts.

Thanks for the advice it's much appreciated