172 overheating and blowing cold air

[Stryker]

Hey all

Over the last few months I've had to top up coolant every 3 to 4 weeks or so,

This morning on the way to work, temp gauge starts shooting up again to the point the stop light comes on but the heaters are blowing only cold air.

Any suggestions? Been told it could be rad, water pump or thermostat

Cheers all

 

[Goodj]

Have you opened the bonnet to have a look yet?
Could be leaks in hoses, rads, a busted head, no coolant in the system, all sorts.
My over-the-internet, with no pics diagnosis is:
Water ingress into the high-level brake light

 

[George182]

It sounds like there is air in the coolant system...

You REALLY need to get it sorted.

 

[172_Tom]

Find and fix the cause of the leak first. If you open the bonnet when it's hot and it's leaking from the rad or a pipe you might be able to see steam coming from it.

You might be able to work out if water is going round the system by squeezing the rad hose when it's hot, if it's not then that would point to the water pump or thermostat. Not sure if water pump failures are common on these engines, maybe worth a search.

 

[Stryker]

Cheers for the replies guys, didn't get a chance to open the bonnet as I had to get to work and it was dark but as I left work, again in the dark, I must have put about 1.5 litre of coolant in so it came back up to the max and on the way home it seemed all normal again and was blowing hot air again

So I'm assuming I have a leak somewhere unless anyone else has an ideas?

Cheers again guys!