Update on frozen car

[coolchris]

Ok first things first happy xmas to everyone.Ok now where should i start.Got new rad from noble all plumbed in.slowly filled system up started car and put heater on full blast it took ages before temp needle moved maybe 20 mins or so(if gasket or block damaged would it not heat up a lot quicker than this?).Coolant eventually started warming up then bubbles coming up through coolant then suddenly the coolant rose up and overflowed.While this was going on temp needle was at half way and the oil temp gauge had risen from normal 80 degrees to about 100.felt pipes to rad and no heat in pipes stone cold how can this be?(i actually filled rad up before filling expansion tank end to just make sure that it had coolant in it)rad was cold as well plus heater only blowing cold air out when on hot could this be an air lock?.i had a similar issue with the coolant bubbling up but replaced thermostat and everything was fine.What could be the problem here these are my thoughts 1 thermostat playing up 2 water pump not working maybe got damaged when ran car when frozen 3 air in system 4 head gasket or crack in block(coolant is all clear and oil is clean as whistle as well so hopefully not these)Im so down about it.Also i suspect the reason the fans are not cutting in to cool car down is because the radiator is not getting hot enough can anybody give me some advice please really appreciated.

Many thanks chris

[AMG Merc]

Hi Chris, I'm not going to offer advice (as it's ) but don't be down - it's one of those things that'll be sorted soon and you'll soon forget all this frustration. Cheers

[coolchris]

Thanks Rob yeah i know where your coming from ah its just really frustrating all these niggles but enjoy the car too much to part with it wish i was more mechanically minded.Hope your having a good one

cheers chris

[mgbond]

coolchris said:

Thanks Rob yeah i know where your coming from ah its just really frustrating all these niggles but enjoy the car too much to part with it wish i was more mechanically minded.Hope your having a good one

cheers chris

hope this helps. When my pipe burst at brands we fixed it and re filled the system up. While running the engine the gauge went up very quickly (rad was cold). We then released the header tank cap to release the pressure which then let's the air escape, did this a couple of times and all was fine.

Bondy

[coolchris]

hi Martin happy xmas mate it bubbled up with coolant with cap off then when put cap on went up and down then started blowing steam out of bottom of tank so theres a prob there somewhere just out of interest how many hours labour is head gasket and what sort of cost wood i be looking at.Just bracing myself for worse case scenario but i thinking either stuck thermostat or faulty pump cheers chris

[Metalman]

Hi Chris, with mine i removed the top pipe on the rad to let the air out, topped up with coolant and not had a problem. It's worth a try as it sounds like trapped air. And merry christmas mate!

[coolchris]

Cheers Jay will try that ah its so bloody annoying i do have aa so might give them a call in morning get them to have a look pressure test it etc i have always had rad cooling issues etc if only i didnt have a faulty rad wood never have been in this crappy situation will catch up in new year mate hope your having a good one.Oh by way hugh brought a supercharged yellow exige gets it in march he sort of regrets it now he should have stuck with all us noblers lol

[Adrian W]

IT sounds like a large air lock, did you measure how much water/coolant you put in?

[coolchris]

i did not measure it up but for a guess Adrian i wood say i did 60% water 40% antifreeze

[mgbond]

coolchris said:

i did not measure it up but for a guess Adrian i wood say i did 60% water 40% antifreeze

when I had my HG done it cost about 2k but I reacin you could get it done a lot cheaper. Adrian meant how much volume (liters) did you put in. If I remember I put in about 13litres.

Bondy

[coolchris]

oh sorry well i filled the rad up then connected hoses and filled tank up slowly till up to max

[Rollcage]

coolchris said:

oh sorry well i filled the rad up then connected hoses and filled tank up slowly till up to max

Best intentions, but doing it that way is likely to lead to airlocks unless you have any bleed screws open or otherwise bleed the system,

Does sound like a lock, or stat/waterpump probs.

[daddysumo]

coolchris said:

i did not measure it up but for a guess Adrian i wood say i did 60% water 40% antifreeze

What purity of water did you use, ie tap water or distilled water, and was it the pink or blue antifreeze ?

Edited by daddysumo on Friday 25th December 20:22

[Adrian W]

daddysumo said:

coolchris said:

i did not measure it up but for a guess Adrian i wood say i did 60% water 40% antifreeze

What purity of water did you use, ie tap water or distilled water, and was it the pink or blue antifreeze ?

Edited by daddysumo on Friday 25th December 20:22

The water does have to be the correct specific gravity and hardness, different parts of the country have chemistry, is yours correct for your region?

[coolchris]

sorry slow getting back on here was not about last night i put just ordinary tap water in with the antifreeze

[TuxMan]

Hi Chris , one thing that might be worth trying is to jack up the back of the car as high as possible ,we did this on the Ultimas to get rid of air out of the cooling system e.g. the air rises to the top of the system to escape ,in your case the header tank . got to be worth a try . simon

[coolchris]

cheers for the advice simon got the aa coming out in a min so wil hopefully be able to get to bottom of prob or at least diagnose it hoping that its not hg failure fingers crossed will report bk soon

[Getragdogleg]

You most likely have an airlock.

The water level in the rad is higher than the water level in the engine and the water is not circulating properly.

Post a few pics of the engine and rad and I will tell you where to bleed it out and how, the engines vary and its not easy to tell you how on a car I have never seen !

[TuxMan]

coolchris said:

cheers for the advice simon got the aa coming out in a min so wil hopefully be able to get to bottom of prob or at least diagnose it hoping that its not hg failure fingers crossed will report bk soon

no problems mate hope you get it sorted !!

[coolchris]

ok guys here is the news AA man came out checked car over went for short run.pulled over everthibg seemed fine increased revs to get fans to cut in no luck then steam coming from back.checked wires to fan switch very corroded cut them back then crimped wires with fresh wire then put new connectors on.After this checked fuses large fuse at top of fuses had blown replaced filled exspansion tank back up ran car up again temp got hot but rad stone cold plus heater blowing cold.Air in sysyem again argh so took small pipe off top rad ppssss loads air coming out put back on ran car up again and still rad cold so took small pipe off exspansion tank and gradually filled with water till coming out of top eventually water pushed itself around system.Hose back on car run up again and hey presto eventually rad warmed up heater got hot and fans cut in at 82 degrees made sure fans cut in and out and everything is fine.The AA man was a top bloke and he was soldiering on for 2 half hours well over his allowance time for a call out but he worked wonders so bunged him £25 as i was so greatfull that he had sorted it.So alls well that ends well i seriously thought that something was wrong but these engines are seriously tough units but the ease of air getting in the system is a right bugger.thanks all you lot for all the help and advice be lost without you all.

Cheers Chris