Cant believe i am even asking this? Help needed (Ka)
Discussion
Hello, embarrassed to ask, but my girlfriend has done something to her pride and joy. When driving to work she noticed her temp light come on, she did the right thing pull over, open bonnet, let it cool and investigate. She generally understands the process of what happens when an engine overheats, so you can imagine my reaction when she rang me and told me she put a pint of water in the "wrong place" She has managed to pour a pint of water straight into where the black stuff goes. Now she rang me after she did it and i explained:
A - her intelligence amazes me
B- not to start the car and get a lift to work
At this point i thought it may be possible to fix this, until her stupid Auncle rang me tell me he picked her car up, and has driven it home (approx 2miles). Is the engine now ruined as the water has got into everywhere else? Or by miracle if i flush the oil out replace filters, plugs etc can i bring it back to life? Need to know whether its worth the time/effort/hassle or to just put it on fleabay for spares or repair?
A - her intelligence amazes me
B- not to start the car and get a lift to work
At this point i thought it may be possible to fix this, until her stupid Auncle rang me tell me he picked her car up, and has driven it home (approx 2miles). Is the engine now ruined as the water has got into everywhere else? Or by miracle if i flush the oil out replace filters, plugs etc can i bring it back to life? Need to know whether its worth the time/effort/hassle or to just put it on fleabay for spares or repair?
Ouch not good. Not as bad as the guy that tried to flush his oil out of his mustang a bit quicker by pouring water through with it running then said mustangs are s
t because his engine then seized.
I know very little about mechanics but if its been driven with no proper lubrication i would say the engine will have had some serious wear and tear.
t because his engine then seized.I know very little about mechanics but if its been driven with no proper lubrication i would say the engine will have had some serious wear and tear.
Having to retype my post as it's somehow mysteriously vanished...
shouldnt have affected the mechanicals too much as the car hasnt been started. Tow it home, drain the oil and put in some cheap oil. Add an engine flush type treatment into the oil and run the car for a minute or so, then drain the oil again, change the filter and refil with decent oil.
if it's running then it's all good, if its knocking then sell the car on ebay.
shouldnt have affected the mechanicals too much as the car hasnt been started. Tow it home, drain the oil and put in some cheap oil. Add an engine flush type treatment into the oil and run the car for a minute or so, then drain the oil again, change the filter and refil with decent oil.
if it's running then it's all good, if its knocking then sell the car on ebay.
You might get away with flushing the oil and water mix out and refilling with out the H2O additive, possibly repeating this again after a decent drive. I would stay local just in case the engine has been damaged and something seizes or a set of bearings give up the ghost.
Give it a try, better than giving up and selling the car on for spares.
Give it a try, better than giving up and selling the car on for spares.
Will be fine, just dump it out and replace with some cheap supermarket stuff and run for a couple of hundred miles and repeat. New filter each time.
If water contamination suddenly destroyed the engine then there would be a rather large number of K series engines ruined everytime a headgasket went.
Well the water will have fallen straight to the bottom of the sump, since it's denser than oil. If the water level was above the oil pick-up pipe, I'd imagine it would have died pretty much straight away when he tried to drive it, so I doubt much water has left the sump. I suppose the question is whether it's done any harm to the crank shaft bearings.
Personally, I'd drop the oil out, flush it, refill it, run it for a while then repeat (to get out the emulsified remains of any water that you didn't get out the first time). I suppose the worst that happens is the bearings are worn and will be rather noisy and/or eventually let go and spit bits of engine through the sump.
Personally, I'd drop the oil out, flush it, refill it, run it for a while then repeat (to get out the emulsified remains of any water that you didn't get out the first time). I suppose the worst that happens is the bearings are worn and will be rather noisy and/or eventually let go and spit bits of engine through the sump.
Thanks for all the replies, i have already purchased some crappy oil, wynns flush treatment, and some new filters, i will get on doing the flushing then fingers crossed its not damaged the rest of the engine. Shes learnt her lesson, and in future will always carry a picture of whatever engine she's driving with the correct arrows pointing to the correct components! and from a selling point of view the ka engine is barely civilized when lubricated properly, so hopefully no-one will notice any difference!
OP's brother here.
My concern is why the thing overheated in the first place. If the light has come on and there was little or no water in there then my first thought is "Where did the water go?"
Therefore I wonder whether it is worth investing hours of time, as well as considerable amounts of money (In comparison to the value of the car, or another engine) on oil, filters, engine flush etc. In my experience there is no such thing as 'cheap supermarket oil', it is all bloody expensive whether you buy premium or not, and if you faff around doing all that and then find the thing has already boiled its headgasket clean off it seems a waste of money.
Thoughts?
My concern is why the thing overheated in the first place. If the light has come on and there was little or no water in there then my first thought is "Where did the water go?"
Therefore I wonder whether it is worth investing hours of time, as well as considerable amounts of money (In comparison to the value of the car, or another engine) on oil, filters, engine flush etc. In my experience there is no such thing as 'cheap supermarket oil', it is all bloody expensive whether you buy premium or not, and if you faff around doing all that and then find the thing has already boiled its headgasket clean off it seems a waste of money.
Thoughts?
It's worth dropping the oil & running it up to see why it overheated the engines in the ka are an old design so will be able to cope with a smallish amount of water in the oil car may smoke a bit for a while as the water goes though the breathers & is burnt off, find out why it lost the water then go from there 
The water might have leaked anywhere, a small leak out of a hose somewhere may have been going on for a while & never been noticed. For the sake of 20 odd quid for 5 litres of oil & a filter I think you'd be silly if you didn't change the oil & filter, fill with water & check for leaks.
That's got to be cheaper & a lot less hassle than buying another car when it may be a ten minute simple fix.
ETA... Basically what neiljohnson said.
That's got to be cheaper & a lot less hassle than buying another car when it may be a ten minute simple fix.
ETA... Basically what neiljohnson said.
Boobonman said:
OP's brother here.
My concern is why the thing overheated in the first place. If the light has come on and there was little or no water in there then my first thought is "Where did the water go?"
Therefore I wonder whether it is worth investing hours of time, as well as considerable amounts of money (In comparison to the value of the car, or another engine) on oil, filters, engine flush etc. In my experience there is no such thing as 'cheap supermarket oil', it is all bloody expensive whether you buy premium or not, and if you faff around doing all that and then find the thing has already boiled its headgasket clean off it seems a waste of money.
Thoughts?
Do a flush, oil & filter, fill it up with water and run it up to temperature My concern is why the thing overheated in the first place. If the light has come on and there was little or no water in there then my first thought is "Where did the water go?"
Therefore I wonder whether it is worth investing hours of time, as well as considerable amounts of money (In comparison to the value of the car, or another engine) on oil, filters, engine flush etc. In my experience there is no such thing as 'cheap supermarket oil', it is all bloody expensive whether you buy premium or not, and if you faff around doing all that and then find the thing has already boiled its headgasket clean off it seems a waste of money.
Thoughts?
as above posters have said, it could just be a split water hose. These engines are tough buggers (presuming it's the Endura? Don't know about the later Duratec) so hopefully it'll be ok. FWIW when I was losing a bit of coolant on the Escort (basically the same engine) it turned out to be a plate in the water pump. Brand new pump from either a Ka or a Fiesta, £40something; parts are cheap
I might be wrong but AIUI HGF is pretty rare on these engines if they're looked after?Do the above anyway, can't hurt
It'll be fine - I bought a fiesta with the 1.3 engine in it, did 100mph on the way home (I was young) and wondered why it was a bit tappety.
Got home, checked the oil, put three pints in (!) to get something on the dipstick, and it never caused an issue in 60,000 miles. The tolerances are terrible on that engine so it's more tolerant of lubrication issues.
As has been said it's important to look into why it's overheating.
Got home, checked the oil, put three pints in (!) to get something on the dipstick, and it never caused an issue in 60,000 miles. The tolerances are terrible on that engine so it's more tolerant of lubrication issues.
As has been said it's important to look into why it's overheating.
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