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hi, I'm new to this but desperate to get to root of probs with my car. Bought it private in Jan this year, duff purchase, ok, my problem. Head gasket blew big time, fixed. Thermostat housing was corroded, fixed. Fan didn't kick in, mechanic wiped connection and it started to come on when the red light showed on dashboard, so new switch fitted to radiator. Fan seems to be working correctly but the engine overheats because coolant leaks away. Car gets hot as soon as I hit heavy traffic and coolant begins to stream away from this small tube attached just underneath the cap, completely emptys itself on my drive after journey finished. Is it the pump, or the cap not sealed correctly or should this little pipe be attached to something? Apart from that, I actually lilke the car, it turns on a sixpence, is very comfortable, not too powerful, the heater works and the boot is big enough for all my equipment. Have spent more than I can afford and am worried.
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Sounds like the coolant overflow pipe. Unless the header tank cap is faulty and not pressurising the cooling system, which is possible but unusual - check that first obviously - it sounds as if the coolant is over-pressurised. I am sorry to say that the most likely cause of that would be head gasket failure. I hope I am wrong. Others may correct me.
One way of checking is to take the header tank cap off, start the engine and rev it gently by hand. If the coolant level splutters or surges or foams visibly when you do this - be careful obviously - then you have HGF.
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I'm afraid I would concur.
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Ok, I had the head gasket fixed just weeks ago and although they did their best to flush the system clear, it still looks like I have a HG problem. That means that if I take the header tank cap off (I presume this is the cap where I fill next to the radiator) and rev, the coolant level is going to foam because there is still some of the stuff in the system. Is it likely that there is a problem with the HG so soon after it was sorted - I had it done at a reputable garage?
I spoke to a man at the Citroen garage before I had the switch changed and he popped out to have a quick look - he was surprised that there was no hissing when he took the cap off to check the coolant level.
Also, this leakage only started after I had the switch replaced.
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thanks to both of you for your help, it is really appreciated!
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Have revved the engine with the cap off, there is only water in there now as it ran dry and I had no more coolant to put in with water.
How do I rev by hand as you suggested?
Nothing bubbled or happened to what was in the tank tho.
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You rev by hand by getting hold of the accelerator cable, or the throttle spindle it is attached to in the intake tract, and pulling or turning it gently in the direction it is pulled when the pedal is pressed.
Let the car idle for long enough to open the thermostat, so that the cooling system is in normal running mode, before doing the revving. If there really is no surging or foaming, it is good news. Perhaps all you need is a header tank cap (another clue is the Citroen garage man's comment about the absence of a hiss when he opened the cap on a presumably warm engine).
Don't delay adding some anti-freeze too long, as it has good corrosion-resisting properties. But the important thing is to get everything correct and then see if the coolant loss continues. Don't forget that here we can only make guesses, whereas you and your Citroen garage have your hands on and can see what's happening.
Good luck. I hope my earlier post was over-pessimistic.
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thanks very much for this, Citroen service centre very expensive so last resort on work front. I think I have not done this revving thing properly so will try that and then hopefully I will have a good idea as to what I am up against.
Once again, thank you for your help.
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