Cleaning my engine & coolant probs...

[StevieP]

Yesterday after 20 minutes of driving my engine temp steadily started rising past into the last quarter of the guage... Now it was freezing cold outside and I also had NO hot air coming from my fans. Stopped the car and there was plenty of funny smelling steam coming from in between my battery and the head. The radiator fan didnt switch on once despite the high temp.

After a look today my coolant reservoir is empty and when I poured some water in it gulped it down really quickly, then a pipe from the reservoir started dripping at a decent rate. Looking through below the pipes and the gearbox, starter motor and the rest of the surrounding area is covered in water/anti-freeze/coolant crap and is really damp and crap looking. Ive ordered a new pipe from Renault today so hopefully I can fit this tomorrow, but what can I sort the mess out with? Is it just a case of getting some rags and some degreaser of some sort and wiping it down or can I spray some parts of it?

Plus, if Im fitting a new coolant pipe (it goes from the reservoir, to the thermostat I think, and splits off into two or three directions), is it a good idea to flush my radiator? In the Haynes manual it looks like an easy job??!

Oh, and when I get it all sorted, cus Ive been driving about a bit with hardly any coolant, is this going to affect the head gasket? Ive heard its a tad expensive to get replaced, I would like to avoid this if at all possible!!!

Help please, Im a bit lost with all this coolant crap!

 

[KDF]

carefull about pouring in cold water to a warm engine.. could crack the head with the sudden temp change.

 

[damianshaker]

Not a good idea to drive around with little coolant in your engine as it can cause all kinds of problems. There is no need to drain all your coolant to change the pipe just get rid of the coolant in the expansion tank (reservoir) so it doesnt spill in your engine bay when you disconnect the pipe. If you want to clean all the coolant out of your engine bay wait till the engine is cold, and get some rags or kitchen paper or something to soak up the liquid.

 

[BenR]

i would wthc what your doin, driving round with no water in WILL lead to damage.

excessive heat soak will warp the head.

And since the temp gauge was reading HOT, and there was no water or very little, i would think the temp gauge sensor was taking a reading from heat soak directly off the casting!

get it checked........my car overheated and thats why its in the garage still. mind you, changing the head gasket is an easy process.

 

[Rasclart]

Not necessay. But if I remember. Renaults (well the clio) get quite nasty brown sh*t in the coolant reservoir. I recently flushed mine through. Then Topped it back up. Mainly done this because I fitted the BB tuning thermostat and Temp Fan sensor.

Worth doing if your doing it mate. Get the hose pipe out!!!

Up to you. Just dont drive until its sorted like those guys said!!!

 

[lofty]

flushing is easy enough, use the two stage holts treatment, try your best to flush the worse of any deposits out from the heater matrix as this is the bit you really dont want to damage, especialy if rad weld etc has been used, also dont leave it empty for ay legth of time, and depostits will the mtrix will solidify and then you could be looking at a big labout bill for replacing the heater matrix, after doing mine the coolant is clean as a whistle even 5 k after doing it, i also removed the expansion tank and put it in the dishwasher, looked brand new when it cameout.

 

[lofty]

wheh you are in real trouble is when there is no water because the temp gauge and air from heaters goes cold

 

[StevieP]

Cheers for the help guys. Ive just got my new pipe from Renault, going to try to replace the old one now.

I havent time to flush it at the moment, it was flushed just over a year ago when I had my cambelt replaced, but Ill give it a good go when it gets a bit warmer outside!! Also its a bit awkard with all this DIY mechanic stuff as Im at uni and most of my car stuff is at home. Plus there isnt a chance of getting the hose out here!

Now putting the expansion tank in the dishwasher!! Thats a novel idea!

 

[StevieP]

Fitted the new pipe, drove 150 miles. Engine temp never rose about about a third of the way...

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