Radiator hiss - dangerous?

Esteemed and wise folk,

my S3 diesel's radiator started hissing after I got home from work today - a
small stream of steam is coming out of somewhere I can't quite see.

How dangerous is it for me to keep her topped up with water and keep
driving? Just need to get to work and back tomorrow and Friday (~5 miles
each way) then I can look at it Saturday.

Are there such things as stop-leak for radiators?

Funny thing is the plastic filler cap on the reservoir to the right of the
radiator is completely shattered through too.

Never rains but it pours eh, thought it was just exhaust, manifold coupling,
seat-belts, injectors and valve-clearances that were the urgent things on
the truck, now this

Cheers,

h

h wrote:

> Esteemed and wise folk,
>
> my S3 diesel's radiator started hissing after I got home from work today -
> a small stream of steam is coming out of somewhere I can't quite see.
>
> How dangerous is it for me to keep her topped up with water and keep
> driving? Just need to get to work and back tomorrow and Friday (~5 miles
> each way) then I can look at it Saturday.
>
> Are there such things as stop-leak for radiators?
>
> Funny thing is the plastic filler cap on the reservoir to the right of the
> radiator is completely shattered through too.
>
> Never rains but it pours eh, thought it was just exhaust, manifold
> coupling, seat-belts, injectors and valve-clearances that were the urgent
> things on the truck, now this
>
> Cheers,
>
> h

All depends on how rapidly it is losing water. As long as it is kept up
there is no problem, but the hissing suggests it was actually boiling due
to loss of coolant. Allowing it to overheat due to loss of coolant can get
expensive , although it is not as likely to be bad as with an alloy head.
The plastic filler cap will have nothing to do with it - these seem to only
last a couple of years anyway.
JD

On Thu, 09 Jun 2005 09:55:26 +0100, MVP <mr.nice@*nospam*softhome.net>
wrote:

>
>oo if your filler cap isn't sealing then your coolant isn't
>pressurised and hence not working properly...

indeed. replacing the broken pressure cap on my 101 brought the
temperature down from overheating all the time to the usual hot.

MVP wrote:
> On Wed, 08 Jun 2005 19:16:51 GMT, "h" <h@@at@@howiem.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Esteemed and wise folk,
>>
>>my S3 diesel's radiator started hissing after I got home from work today - a
>>small stream of steam is coming out of somewhere I can't quite see.
>>
>>How dangerous is it for me to keep her topped up with water and keep
>>driving? Just need to get to work and back tomorrow and Friday (~5 miles
>>each way) then I can look at it Saturday.
>>
>>Are there such things as stop-leak for radiators?
>>
>>Funny thing is the plastic filler cap on the reservoir to the right of the
>>radiator is completely shattered through too.
>>
>>Never rains but it pours eh, thought it was just exhaust, manifold coupling,
>>seat-belts, injectors and valve-clearances that were the urgent things on
>>the truck, now this
>>
>>Cheers,
>>
>>h
>
>
> oo if your filler cap isn't sealing then your coolant isn't
> pressurised and hence not working properly...
>
>
> Regards.
> Mark.

Unless it's been modified the 'reservoir' on this model is not
pressurised - it's just an overflow catch tank. The pressure control
device is the cap on the radiator top tank.

Anyway, it's now Friday and you've either cooked things properly or got
home safely! I hope that it's the latter.

MVP wrote:

> Alot of folk hate the stuff but on a S3 I'd chuck a bottle of radweld
> in it.
> probably get some at most petrol stations.
>

Barrs (the original in the little square bottle, not the tablets) is
even better. Saab used to recommend having it in the system at all times.


--
Regards,
Danny

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MVP wrote:

> On Thu, 09 Jun 2005 18:04:52 +0100, Dougal
> <DougalAThiskennel.free-online.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
>>MVP wrote:
>>
>>>On Wed, 08 Jun 2005 19:16:51 GMT, "h" <h@@at@@howiem.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Esteemed and wise folk,
>>>>
>>>>my S3 diesel's radiator started hissing after I got home from work today - a
>>>>small stream of steam is coming out of somewhere I can't quite see.
>>>>
>>>>How dangerous is it for me to keep her topped up with water and keep
>>>>driving? Just need to get to work and back tomorrow and Friday (~5 miles
>>>>each way) then I can look at it Saturday.
>>>>
>>>>Are there such things as stop-leak for radiators?
>>>>
>>>>Funny thing is the plastic filler cap on the reservoir to the right of the
>>>>radiator is completely shattered through too.
>>>>
>>>>Never rains but it pours eh, thought it was just exhaust, manifold coupling,
>>>>seat-belts, injectors and valve-clearances that were the urgent things on
>>>>the truck, now this
>>>>
>>>>Cheers,
>>>>
>>>>h
>>>
>>>
>>>oo if your filler cap isn't sealing then your coolant isn't
>>>pressurised and hence not working properly...
>>>
>>>
>>>Regards.
>>>Mark.
>>
>>Unless it's been modified the 'reservoir' on this model is not
>>pressurised - it's just an overflow catch tank. The pressure control
>>device is the cap on the radiator top tank.
>>
>>Anyway, it's now Friday and you've either cooked things properly or got
>>home safely! I hope that it's the latter.
>
>
> I didn't know that, shows my ignorance, long time since I've delt with
> a S3.
>
> Regards.
> Mark.

.... and I've just realised that it's not yet Friday!

On Thu, 09 Jun 2005 20:54:24 +0100, Dougal
<DougalAThiskennel.free-online.co.uk> wrote:


>... and I've just realised that it's not yet Friday!

Thats ruined my weekend!

Tom Woods wrote:

> On Thu, 09 Jun 2005 20:54:24 +0100, Dougal
> <DougalAThiskennel.free-online.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
>
>>... and I've just realised that it's not yet Friday!
>
>
> Thats ruined my weekend!

Sorry!

MVP wrote:

> a bit like that thread about the tyre stuff, sits there doing nothing
> until a hole appears then it's dealt with right away. wonder if the
> wifes saab will run ok with it in, 1990 turbo model.
>

Saab seem to think it's fine to sit in the system. It presumably does
something nice rather than just sitting there waiting for a leak. My
9000 was a'90 and my friends' is a '94 9000 Griffin turbo, although
nothing has really changed in the 2.4 engine for years. We both use
Barrs all the time. Cracking cars and I liked that engine apart from
the timing and balance chain issues at 120k miles.


--
Regards,
Danny

http://www.gaggia-espresso.com (a purely hobby site)
http://www.dannyscoffee.com (UK advert for my mobile espresso service)
http://www.malabargold.co.uk (UK/European online ordering for Malabar
Gold blend)
swap Z for above characters in email address to reply

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 19:12:14 +0100, MVP <mr.nice@*nospam*softhome.net>
wrote:

>On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 18:32:34 +0100, Danny
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>MVP wrote:
>>
>>> a bit like that thread about the tyre stuff, sits there doing nothing
>>> until a hole appears then it's dealt with right away. wonder if the
>>> wifes saab will run ok with it in, 1990 turbo model.
>>>
>>
>>Saab seem to think it's fine to sit in the system. It presumably does
>>something nice rather than just sitting there waiting for a leak. My
>>9000 was a'90 and my friends' is a '94 9000 Griffin turbo, although
>>nothing has really changed in the 2.4 engine for years. We both use
>>Barrs all the time. Cracking cars and I liked that engine apart from
>>the timing and balance chain issues at 120k miles.
>
>oo Griffin
>got my eye on a nice carlsson at the moment, after I get the Discovery
>though.

The C900's (or better still 99's) are better than those newfangled
9000 things ;-). Get yerself a 99T!

As for timing chain issues at 120k - that isnt too bad!. once you get
the timing chain sorted you're good for another 120k. I dont mind
having to do a bit of maintenance on a car every 120-150k!

On the topic of radweld or other stop-leak stuff - i'm not a fan of
it! I've used it on my old car (a saab also!) and it stopped the leak
- but it blocked up my radiator and made it totally useless at the
same time.
By all means use it as a temporary measure to get you home or use till
you have time to fix the problem properly, but i dont see the point in
keeping it in the system all the time.
Its just going to settle in places and block stuff up. A healthy
engine and radiator should have no need for it - and blocking things
up isnt going to help anything.

If you drive a saab turbo properly, you need all the cooling system
you can get!

It isnt too hard to keep an eye on the temperature gauge or watch out
for steam/water coming out where it shouldnt!

I will put some stop leak in my car the day that the radiator pops or
the headgasket starts to go and i have somewhere urgent to drive to or
have to get it home and can't manage without that - But i'd much
rather stop driving the car and get it taken home by the RAC than have
to replace my radiator or spend ages flushing the block and head out
in addition to fixing whatever went wrong

MVP <mr.nice@*nospam*softhome.net> wrote:

>Alot of folk hate the stuff but on a S3 I'd chuck a bottle of radweld
>in it.
>probably get some at most petrol stations.

Original posting had been some time ago, but we had a similar problem
with some minor leakage (Defender 90 2.5TD), and radweld did the job
just fine.

Now the question, can I leave the stuff just in the cooling system, or
should I refill the whole system? The manual on the bottle claims it
can just stay, but I do not feel very well with this brown, stinky
gunk inside the cooling system.



regards - Ralph

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