[Cnagle11]

Hi thanks for taking the time to read my post. I was driving along the motorway the other day when I noticed that car wasn't heating up. Not sure how long this had gone on for as I normally only make short journeys. Further along my coolant indicator came on briefly and went back off and then I had hot air for around 5 minutes before it resumed to nothing. Again my coolant indicator came on so when I pulled off the slip road and slowed almost to a hault my car completely cut out with the battery indicator light on and the service warning light on. I turned my car off and pulled into the side of the road. I could hear a bubbling sound coming from the engine. Once I let the car cool down I noticed my coolant tank was completely empty and frothy looking when I opened it. I filled it with water to try and get back home. All was fine for maybe 10 mins before my coolant indicator came back on and also my malfunction warning light. I continued home with the air on its highest setting with my fans closed to try and keep the engine cool and managed to get it home. A few months ago I had the oil pressure switch replaced as it was faulting and heard it was common with corsas. Was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to what's causing my Engine to overheat.
It's a 1.2 corsa 08 reg
Thanks in advance

 

[g4vvq1983]

Hi there, well few things come to mind, you may have had an air lock, or you might have head gasket problems, might even have thermostat troubles, what i would do is fill it up, take it for a fairly long journey again and take a lot of water with you, see what it does,,,,if you cant see any leaks anywhere its most likely head gasket, it can bubble a lot in he header tank when that goes.

Garages can do a test to see if its gone, either the blue liquid test or the exhaust gas in header tank test....that's what it sounds like, it could possibly be the pressure cap faulty...but i would make sure you have no leaks before you go too far.....if there are no leaks i would look for a lot of water coming out the exhaust tailpipe, a little is normal....good luck from Fred in Essex

 

[Cnagle11]

Hi Fred, thanks for replying.

My car has been sitting outside my house for a day and I checked it today and the coolant tank is empty again think it's leaking. I was also told about the cylinder head gasket but I checked underneath my oil cap and it's not think or creamy looking, looks normal? Not sure if that' means it's 100% okay or not though.
Thanks
Craig

 

[g4vvq1983]

Hi Craig, yes the head gasket can fail in several different ways, first test would be checking for water in the oil and oil in the water, the water can also get into the combustion chambers and if it gets burnt you get a load of steam, if it doesn't get burnt you might see anti freeze dripping out the exhaust tailpipe..

If you see a slight bit of pure water that's normal...dont want to go into the science of it but its normal....but you dont want loads of water come out there, you can also get a lot of pressure build up in the header tank and loads of bubbles and all sorts....i saw one once that when you took the pressure cap off and started it up the water shot out the radiator and hit the roof of the garage i was in...but that's unusual i would think....ok good luck from Fred in Essex.

Hi Fred, thanks for replying.

My car has been sitting outside my house for a day and I checked it today and the coolant tank is empty again think it's leaking. I was also told about the cylinder head gasket but I checked underneath my oil cap and it's not think or creamy looking, looks normal? Not sure if that' means it's 100% okay or not though.
Thanks
Craig