Big coolant leak

[pullingpower]

My baby let me down. First major woe after owning for 3 months.
Good blast home Sat around 95 miles average 70 - 100mph. Temp steady and oil pressure fine. A few miles from home notice ?steam in the rear mirror. Stop and steam bellowing from under bonnet. Coolant pouring onto driveway so that to refil the system to test took nearly 8 litres! It appeared to be coming from where the water pump attaches to the front of the engine.
Recovered to independent who says water is spraying out from a gasket at this point (not the water pump gasket but behing this).
Apparently straight forward to fix but means removing all the timing belts and wheel from the front of the engine.
Anyone else had this happen and is there anything else that may be damaged as a result of the massive coolant loss?

[furry dice]

Exactly the same here, happened last weekend, got the car recovered to Dave Batty, had a chat with him about it, he reckons its the gasket on the front of the engine.
I get the feeling this is not a totally unknown problem. So not that worried about it. However I am looking forward to getting the car back before Christmas so I can spend all next week playing.

[wolosp]

I had this problem back in the summer. It required dropping the sump, removing the front (timing) cover and a few other bits and bobs.
I would think we're talking about 2-3 hours work plus £10 for the gasket plus oil etc.

[pullingpower]

Thanks for the replies chaps. It is reassuring to know that it isn't going to be a major problem.

[sparkythecat]

This problem is not uncommon. Check this out.
<a href="http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=8&h=&t=41410">www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=8&h=&t=41410</a></a>

and this

<a href="http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=8&h=&t=33231">www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=8&h=&t=33231</a>

Then have a look in all your old coat pockets, in the bottom of kitchen drawers, down the back of the sofa and under the seats in the car - because it'll probably take more pennies than you thought to put it right.


>> Edited by sparkythecat on Wednesday 22 December 13:31

>> Edited by sparkythecat on Wednesday 22 December 13:32

[pullingpower]

Thanks sparkythecat.
I'm afraid you are right. The sump needed to be dropped meaning need for oil change etc. Apparently there was signs of water in the oil as the gasket had failed in a big way. The cylinder head gasket hopefully is ok and has been pressure checked. New spark plugs have been installed as the previous were old and clogged up. It still needs a few final checks and a test drive before it will be ready to collect. My fingers are crossed that it won't get any worse.
Thank goodness I budget for these sorts of things so I won't need to scramble behing the sofa. Generally I'm putting away around £150/month for servicing and repairs. The ski hols may have to wait though.