Nasty Coolant Loss / Overheating Incident

[neil240970]

Basically, took the car out for a nice 20 mile run out on Saturday. Parked up and noticed it had dropped a little coolant......but not loads.

 

Popped the bonnet to discover a small pinhole leak from a rad hose. Could have been a jubilee clip but no screwdrivers to tighten it. Anyway, left the car to cool and came back to it 2 hours later. Surprisingly, the coolant only needed about 2 pints to come up to level. So I decided to drive back gently and keep a very close eye on the gauge.

 

All was going well (open roads - not traffic to speak of) until I hit a set of temporary lights at some roadworks and the gauge started to creep up, very rapidly.

 

Pulled over as quickly as poss and the hose leak was well and truly boiling up.........10 miles from home, Rugby World Cup looming imminently.................

 

Anyway, I'd got a 5 litre can of water in the boot so I cooled the header tank off sufficiently to get the cap off and poured topped up again with 10 miles to go.

 

Needless to say, the gauge was way over to the right (just in the red) for a portion of the journey with the attendant steam/stink whenever I was stopped at lights. However, it did drop back a little (round about 3/4 of the way to the red) towards the end of the journey. By the time I got home, the car was running so rough it was making me wince to drive it and seemed to be pinking very, very heavily.

 

My main worry was that that there may be some really catastrophic damage but I appear to have been lucky - the car started ok the next day (nothing seized or broken). And I parked it up ready to sort the hose out.

 

I guess what I.m asking is : had anyone else run their car up in the red for a similar distance and got away with it or can I expect to have to do a head gasket?

 

Thanks all.

[stuart]

Basically, took the car out for a nice 20 mile run out on Saturday. Parked up and noticed it had dropped a little coolant......but not loads.

 

Popped the bonnet to discover a small pinhole leak from a rad hose. Could have been a jubilee clip but no screwdrivers to tighten it. Anyway, left the car to cool and came back to it 2 hours later. Surprisingly, the coolant only needed about 2 pints to come up to level. So I decided to drive back gently and keep a very close eye on the gauge.

 

All was going well (open roads - not traffic to speak of) until I hit a set of temporary lights at some roadworks and the gauge started to creep up, very rapidly.

 

Pulled over as quickly as poss and the hose leak was well and truly boiling up.........10 miles from home, Rugby World Cup looming imminently.................

 

Anyway, I'd got a 5 litre can of water in the boot so I cooled the header tank off sufficiently to get the cap off and poured topped up again with 10 miles to go.

 

Needless to say, the gauge was way over to the right (just in the red) for a portion of the journey with the attendant steam/stink whenever I was stopped at lights. However, it did drop back a little (round about 3/4 of the way to the red) towards the end of the journey. By the time I got home, the car was running so rough it was making me wince to drive it and seemed to be pinking very, very heavily.

 

My main worry was that that there may be some really catastrophic damage but I appear to have been lucky - the car started ok the next day (nothing seized or broken). And I parked it up ready to sort the hose out.

 

I guess what I.m asking is : had anyone else run their car up in the red for a similar distance and got away with it or can I expect to have to do a head gasket?

 

Thanks all.

Neil thats a difficult one,to call the only thing to do is when you have replaced the hose refill it and get all the air out of the system and then try a run and see if it starts to throw water or if there is water appearing in the oil. If you have a good local garage they may have a test kit that will show if there is exhaust gases in the water.With a pin hole leak or small weap from hoses the emergency way to get home is with the rad cap loosley fitted so the system doesnt build pressure.

Stuart.

[Ledgers]

A couple of years ago I ran for 5-6 miles with the needle in the red after a fan-belt failure. It was winter and I didn't have to stop at any lights, fortunately.

I chanced my arm and got away with it. I won't chance it again!

 

Ross

[Guest Wyn]

I was driving up through France last year on my return from leMans trying to keep up with the loonies from the North London group, not easy when they had a passenger and I didn't. I had a kenlow with a thermo switch but I didn't notice the guage creep up until I boiled dry. The thermostatic switch had failed and the annoyng thing was that I had an over-rider switch on the dash but was to busy to look (you live and learn). One of the guys behind me had some water which he kindly gave me and nursed me back to LeHarve. Leaving Portsmouth I had the same problem and all the way the 250 miles back to Aberystwyth I had to top up. Once I got home and filled with a mixture of water/anti freeze, I had no problem after. All I can say is to try it and see, that's the only way you are likely to find out.

I may be wrong but I can only tell you of my own experience.

Regards,

Wyn

[neil240970]

I was driving up through France last year on my return from leMans trying to keep up with the loonies from the North London group, not easy when they had a passenger and I didn't. I had a kenlow with a thermo switch but I didn't notice the guage creep up until I boiled dry. The thermostatic switch had failed and the annoyng thing was that I had an over-rider switch on the dash but was to busy to look (you live and learn). One of the guys behind me had some water which he kindly gave me and nursed me back to LeHarve. Leaving Portsmouth I had the same problem and all the way the 250 miles back to Aberystwyth I had to top up. Once I got home and filled with a mixture of water/anti freeze, I had no problem after. All I can say is to try it and see, that's the only way you are likely to find out.

I may be wrong but I can only tell you of my own experience.

Regards,

Wyn

Reassuring to know I'm not the only one who's boiled their car. I was dreading starting it up yesterday but it turned, fired and ran smoothly on all 6 for the (very) short time i ran it. So annoying as the car has never, ever been above the halfway mark. New top and bottom hoses this weekend, backflush, flush and refill...........so many little jobs to do this winter! Thanks all for your comments, let's hope luck is on my side.

[dblenk]

HI Neil

 

On my present 6 i have a thermo switch which failed on the North Yorks tour with a override and you can imagine the stops etc on the convoy run, i just ran it eventually topping up then on the way home it went flying up to red but settled about 5 miles later when i got out of York traffic and up the A19 to home

 

i once did a rebuild engine and put everthing in started it up for the first time , i was that over joyed at the thing starting i forgot i didnt put water in, it stalled and the battery wouldnt start it, panicked got some water put it in (which on hindsight could have cracked the block ??? with thermal shock ???)

 

let the engine cool (the bores were honed and fitted with new rings so these must have jammed), started it up again and found it ran every day to work for two years when i sold it , no problems with cooling or burning oil

 

regards

 

david

[stuart]

Reassuring to know I'm not the only one who's boiled their car. I was dreading starting it up yesterday but it turned, fired and ran smoothly on all 6 for the (very) short time i ran it. So annoying as the car has never, ever been above the halfway mark. New top and bottom hoses this weekend, backflush, flush and refill...........so many little jobs to do this winter! Thanks all for your comments, let's hope luck is on my side.

Neil It may be an idea to check your heater hoses as well whilst you have the water system in bits. Especially the ones inside the bulkhead to the heater.

Stuart.

[TR8IAN]

I would also suggest checking the hoses within the car - having seen the damage recently done to the skin on one of our group members legs, when he had a hose burst on one of our weekends away.

Colin had super boiling water dumped over his shins - as a result he will be spending many months going back and forward to hospital.

 

Take care

 

Ian

[neil240970]

A quick leaf through the history file reveals that the hoses are only 4 years old (from R***er's). This seems a very, very, short lifespan (especially as the car has only covered 6,000 miles in that time).

[stuart]

A quick leaf through the history file reveals that the hoses are only 4 years old (from R***er's). This seems a very, very, short lifespan (especially as the car has only covered 6,000 miles in that time).

You will probably find on closer examination of the failed hose that it doesnt have any reinforcing in it. The cheaper repro hoses sold now are all like it so it is always better to go for the Kevlar reinforced hoses as they are pretty much fit and forget. Dont forget to fill with antifreeze as winter is coming BRRRR!

Stuart.

[BrianC]

You will probably find on closer examination of the failed hose that it doesnt have any reinforcing in it. The cheaper repro hoses sold now are all like it so it is always better to go for the Kevlar reinforced hoses as they are pretty much fit and forget. Dont forget to fill with antifreeze as winter is coming BRRRR!

Stuart.

You just beat me to it Stuart. We had the same situation when we bought Lynda's TR4A - receipts for hose replacements in recent years, but unexpected failure (fortunately just as we arrived home from a longish drive. All the unreinforced rubber hoses were brittle, so I replaced them with Kevlar which were not much more expensive anyway.

However, the recent comments regarding heater hoses inside the car reminds me I still haven't done these.

[stuart]

Hi Stuart,

 

There's a world of difference in terms of quality and longevity amongst the various 'kevlar' hoses on the market, that's for sure, as I know from first hand experience. Neil Revington was kind enough to indulge in a lengthy technical discussion on the topic last year - fascinating, it's yet another area he's investigated thoroughly, and evidently sourced a premium product. No, I haven't tried Rev's hoses yet, but I will on the next replacement. Doubtless his staff can enlighten anyone who is interested.

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

Alec thats why I said "pretty much fit and forget." As with all things in life nothing lasts forever and it always makes sense to check the whole car over whenever it is serviced and certainly give it a thorough check prior to MOT and im not just talking lights /tyres etc!!

Stuart.

[BrianC]

There's a world of difference in terms of quality and longevity amongst the various 'kevlar' hoses on the market...

I didn't realise there were different qualities of Kevlar hoses so I guess I will keep an eye on the new hoses (mine came from TRGB) and perhaps change them as a precaution every 3 or 4 years. I have just looked at the Moss catalogue and they sell standard or silicone hoses, but not Kevlar. Would silicone be preferable to Kevlar?