Hello.
Bought my car(diesel) just over a year ago - have done 200 thousand miles last year (total mileage now about 180), changed exhaust, alternator, fuel pump, just passed my MOT & paid new tax.
Only issues I've really had are stupidly put in petrol late one night & drove it all the way home - got it cleaned out but since then it hasn't burnt fuel as well, and water leaking into boot (advice on this forum was bang on). So overall, considering it was really cheap, I've been pleased.
Since summer, I've noticed I've had to top up the water a lot more frequently - maybe every month, then every 3 or so weeks in the last couple of months - but not by much.
10 days ago sprained my ankle so it sat parked totally undriven (facing downhill, in case that's relevant). got in last night, coolant light on, had to top it up about 2 litres until light went off.
I know I'm asking you to speculate, but does this sound like a radiator just suddenly going or a leak? Reason is, I have to think about how much money I want to spend on a car I want to keep for another year or so but not more (going travelling).
Grateful for any advice.
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it could also be the water pump
only real way to find out is get a pressure test of the water system, basically you pump 14lb per sq inch into the system as if the water was red hot and then you look for a fissure leak but without the scalding water
any competent small garage should have the kit to do this for you for a reasonable charge assuming you dont live on hyde park corner
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If it still has the original head gasket at 180k its probably leaking and blowing the water out of the overflow, its about due at this mileage. Put a container under the the pipe and observe. Or it maybe blowing out under the filler cap.
Putting petrol in it shouldn't have done it any harm as long as there was some diesel in it, XUD engines are a lot more durable than the modern ones.
Edited by Peter.N. on 14/11/2009 at 15:32
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OK - thanks both
may have to get back to you for a bit more advice after I've checked it out
the thing that 'surprised' me was how it lost all that water without going anywhere (it was definitely lost while sitting parked for 10 days)
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could be that it was blown out before you stopped, the level in the header tank would drop when pressure dispersed - or could be the water pump leaking as mentioned, but there should be some sign of water underneath in that case, just about under the crankshaft pulley.
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My recent experience of strange coolant loss was down to a loose pipe on the heater matrix. It started to get worse as the cold weather set in as hot water was introduced to the matrix, it may be worth a check to see if you have wet carpets or deadening in the footwells, just an idea but worth a look.
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Bought my car(diesel) just over a year ago - have done 200 thousand miles last year (total mileage now about 180), So at 200 thousand does the clock now go backwards?
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I assumed that he meant 20k
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