OVERHEATING HELP

[mattadio]

I was going pretty quick when the charge light came on the dash in my eunos roadster MK1. I was scared as I noticed smoke coming out of under the hood, and the temparture guage was at maximum. The tank to the left under the bonnet's fluid was boiling, like really boiling. My engine was making big noises too, and I was scared.

When I had to return home the temparture guage raised up to maximum really quickly and had to make several stops to wait for the engine to cool down. HELP PLEASE

[Tezzpip]

Sounds like you may have blown the head gasket check the oil filler cap for a creamy residue can be a tell tale sign or have a cylinder compression test done.

[K321]

could be a split hose

[vit4]

K321 said:

could be a split hose

Had exactly the same a few weeks back and it was this, is it losing water? Probably getting to the age where they're starting to go

[davepoth]

mattadio said:

When I had to return home the temparture guage raised up to maximum really quickly and had to make several stops to wait for the engine to cool down. HELP PLEASE

This was the bit where you should have called your breakdown service. You may have gotten away with it the first time, but driving all the way back home if it was overheating so badly is likely to have done nasty things.

If you are extremely lucky all you'll need is a new head gasket. If you're unlucky the head might be warped, the coolant will have mixed with the oil and mashed all of the bearings, and if it boiled dry the block might be cracked. Get it to a garage ASAP, on the back of a breakdown truck.

[K321]

i have had the same issues in previous cars, i drove 50miles , i could only drive one mile at a time, and i went to garage, they fixed the hose and did some other stuff for 50quid and I drove away, the engine was fine.

Edited by K321 on Saturday 7th August 02:33

[ymwoods]

Mine had the same issue, I could get about 5 minutes of driving if I filled the coolant up to the top before I started driving. It turned out to just be the radiator and was an easy fix.

[TonyRPH]

mattadio said:

I was going pretty quick when the charge light came on the dash in my eunos roadster MK1.

Is the charge light on all the time? Or did the engine stop, causing the light to come on?

If the light is on all the time, this suggests a broken fan belt, meaning the water pump is not being driven..

Unless of course the water pump on the MX5 is driven from the cambelt...

[mattadio]

I took it too the local car shop where the kind people there showed me a belt that had been snapped in two. Apparently that was the belt which pumped the water around the engine. I've just got to fix on the new belt which only cost £6 then it should *fingers crossed* be as good as new. Thanks to everyone for replying to this post.

[109 Bob]

mattadio said:

I took it too the local car shop where the kind people there showed me a belt that had been snapped in two. Apparently that was the belt which pumped the water around the engine. I've just got to fix on the new belt which only cost £6 then it should *fingers crossed* be as good as new. Thanks to everyone for replying to this post.

No don't fix it on yourself, get someone else to do it.

[K321]

i agree. dont put it on yourself, if you couldnt diagnose your water pump was caput, chances are you wont be able to put it on yourself .

go to a place, and get it done professionally for 30quid, it would save you peace of mind,

[bazking69]

Ignore all the complete guesses and get it looked at.

Asking for a diagnosis on a car on the internet is about as useful as an ashtray on a superbike.

[varsas]

bazking69 said:

Ignore all the complete guesses and get it looked at.

Asking for a diagnosis on a car on the internet is about as useful as an ashtray on a superbike.

Except in this case it was pretty obvious what had happened (fanbelt) and it's easy to check. I've had lots of good advice from the internet, but you do need to know enough for it to be helpful. If you have no clue then it won't help, because you won't be able to do the checks necceseary to confirm the diagnosis.

[109 Bob]

bazking69 said:

Ignore all the complete guesses and get it looked at.

Asking for a diagnosis on a car on the internet is about as useful as an ashtray on a superbike.

Yeah but reading the complete thread on the internet before replying is quite useful though.