water gauge stopped working and now fluid loss?

[ajcerb]

After last week's question about the oil warning light i can now add a second. Water temp gauge stopped working on the way into work yesterday but no obvious issues. On the way home, almost there, about four miles, the windscreen starts to steam up a bit on the outside. Get back to the flat, park up, hear noises - water on hot metal, and look under car - water/coolant coming out from the back end of the engine, although not a huge amount - i.e. the bulkhead end, and roughly level in a line running across from the front edge of the door about halfway across the car, maybe slightly toward the drivers side of middle. Briefly checked the car this morning before taking the bus and did not appear to be any more fluid on the ground. Any thoughts anyone as to what this is likley to be - as always i would be grateful if they are cheap. Thanks in advance.

[jensena]

I'm thinking logically here, not offering a solution, but........If the guage has suddenly stopped working, followed by loss of coollant, try this.
The guage works by a capilliary action (or something like that) basically its a long 'spirally' tube that connects from the 'water plumbing' at the front of the car (Remove the front engine cover and follow the spirally metal tube to see where it connects in) to the guage. It's possible that this tube has come apart or cracked causing the both the Temp guage to stop working, and coolant loss. Just trace this tube and see if you can see any signs if something wrong. Or run the engine and check to see if you can see where the steam is coming. (if you've got a Lap Top and the Cerb software use this to monitor the water temp while you have the engine running)