Having bought a cheep (dare I say it) banger, I am filled with trepidation and I even imagine I can smell hot coolant every where. The car has low mileage, backed up by MOT's and the body work / subframes seem to be rust free.. Although it has been resprayed at some time and there is a lot of black schutz underneath making it hard to be really sure.
The receipts show new head gasket was fitted a few years ago and it has been regularly serviced. I drove it 130 miles home and it ran lovely, the water temp stayed just below half way and the oil temp sat quite low on the dot between the 60 and 120 mark... until I was about 3 miles from home. The water temp just nudged up slightly above the half way and I detected the smell of coolant. Luckily I had the roof down and glancing over my shoulder I could see steam pouring out of the boot lid. I stopped the engine and coasted to a handily placed car park.
The expansion tank was boiling away and there was coolant every where. I took a walk into town, and like a tramp started rummaging in bins for an old drinks bottle (It' posh down here, people use the bins) and I'd already spied a water butt that I could raid. So, engine cooled down and water topped up I carefully drove the last 3 miles home.
Investigations have started.. There is no oil in the water and no water in the oil. There doesn't appear to be any other leaks. I am however able to blow straight through the Expansion tank cap so am assuming that is the culprit. I really hope so, I will pick up a new cap this morning a take it for a run.
My confidence came back after reading some of the posts on this site and I was also encouraged to read a thread about difficulty in selecting reverse.. yes I have this problem as well.
I am looking forward to picking the collective brain and maybe meeting some of you in the Dorset area.
Cheers for now
Phil
