Wondering if someone can riddle me this.
My 2.1TD is having an odd issue where the coolant is being (slowly and constantly) ejected out the top of the reservoir. Now I know everyones thinking 'head gasket', but there are some other, odd factors which makes me think that's not it.
Basically, SWMBO phoned me one day during the week to say the water level warning had come on. I told her to stop and top up the level from the spare can of antifreeze I keep in the boot. She did so, finding the reservoir quite low. She filled it up, the light went off, and it seemed fine. That was Monday or Tuesday.
This morning, I took the car out, and I hadn't got to the end of the estate when the water level warning came on. I turned round and went straight back home. Upon opening the expansion cap, there was the usual slight spurt of water you get if you open it when hot, however it was by no means a torrent and no more than normal. Surprisingly, the reservoir was full of coolant, and wasn't empty at all. Strange I thought, must be a faulty sensor. I let the car run for 10 minutes, where it sat at a steady 90 degrees, the fans kicking in and out, and the water level didn't drop any.
I then went out on a short journey (about 3 miles at the most) to a friends house. I stayed there about 2 hours (so it would have cooled down), then came back home. Upon getting home, I though I'd just check the coolant level, and was horrified to find the reservoir empty besides a steamy froth, and the top radiator hose, though boiling hot, also felt empty when squeezed.
Strange I thought, and topped up the reservoir again. I ran the car for a good 10 minutes while I looked around and under the engine, and couldn't see any signs of a leak. The water level didn't drain this time. I didn't have time to mess about with it as I had to go out, so I turned it off and left it.
When I returned some 6 hours later, the water level in the reservoir hadn't dropped any. I started the car again. After a few minutes idling, I noticed the water level was gradually rising. It did this until it reached the top, where it constantly and slowly overflowed until the engine was stopped. Oddly if I revved it, the level would momentarily drop a few centimeters, but it always came back up.
The really strange thing, though the temp gauge on the dash was sitting about 80 degrees, the water in the reservoir was cold to the touch, I would say it wasn't even 15 degrees. Swishing my finger about in it I could feel some pockets of warm (perhaps from one of the returns), but the main body of water remained freezing.
After stopping the engine I noticed the top radiator hose was again empty when squeezed, I'm guessing this is because most of the water had been ejected out of the reservoir.
Now my initial thoughts on this were 'Oh balls, head gasket', but now I'm not so sure, for the following reasons:
- 1 - The engine isn't overheating (barely gets to 90 degrees).
- 2 - Rather than than the hoses going rock hard and pressurised, they go floppy and empty.
- 3 - There's no steam of any kind out the exhaust.
- 4 - The coolant and oil caps are both clean as a whistle, with no sign of any mayo type stuff.
- 5 - The water in the reservoir stays cold.
It's almost as if there's a blockage of some kind, water seems to enter the reservoir but not leave it.
It could still be the head (really hope not) so I'll sniff test it, but the other symptoms may suggest something else.
Anyone got a thought on this?
Cheers
Ciarán
I have to change the one on the white car, but in 13 years and about 250k miles, I have only changed two, so pretty reliable. 