airlock or headgasket?

[bub2006]

Yesterday i noticed low coolant level in the car while wife was shopping. When car running the rad was leaking. Temp gauge never went above half driving home though as usual. Checked coolant again and was down to minimum. Fitted new rad today. No leaks all good. Test drove it and temp gauge started rising. Stopped and checked level and was fine. Went round block back home and gauge was near red. Bled system for nigh on an hour. Every so often the temp gauge would go down but no heat from heater. Noticed while bleeding it though a fair bit of smoke from exhaust. This all happened since new rad fitted. Could it have blown gasket but only come to light when new rad fitted or should i carry on trying to bleed it again? Car is a 1.6 ford fiesta on a 51 plate. Thanks

[bub2006]

Also if it is head gasket what's chances if needing head skim? Thanks

[DSdriver]

If you go to the trouble of taking the head off, steel ruler and eyeball to check if it has warped. I'd bung some radweld in and pretend it never happened.

I asked MrsDSdriver how long the temperature gauge in the Peugeot of last resort had been broken. Of course she had no idea so she booked it in to get it replaced. Being professionals they first of all checked the coolant level and found it was so low it wasn't reaching the temp. sender. After fitting a new headgasket, then the water pump the cause of the water loss was eventually found to be a dodgy thermostat.

Being professional they started with the most expensive possible cause and worked their way back to the cheapest.

[brickwall]

ditto

[bub2006]

Didn't fancy stripping it if it is just an airlock. If head gasket gone irt will be bridged. Strange how its just done it after fitting new rad though with no previous signs of head gasket failure. At the end of day its a 13 year old Ford which are ten a penny. The smoke only started today that i noticed and the temp gauge has always behaved.

[DSdriver]

Changing the rad may have disturbed all the sludge that was asleep in the bottom of the engine. Give it a good flush through - hose in the top, bottom tap open till your drive turns brown. Then when you have finished, before putting the rad cap back on squeeze all the hoses and see if any bubbles of air come to the surface.

 

The following may come in useful one day

Diagnosing smoke:

From the exhaust

Black smoke is diesel

Grey smoke is oil

White smoke is steam

From the wiring loom

All smoke is serious

[bub2006]

I know exhaust smoke,will have to remember the wiring smoke though! The smoke out the exhaust is blue/white with a Sweet sickly smell

[bub2006]

Well for some bizarre reason the car seems to have rectified itself. Left it for four hours and took it a run out. Temp gauge stayed bang on half,no steam from coolant reservoir and no smoke or sweet sickly smells

[skattrd]

I was going to say just chuck some k-seal in it and hope for the best.

[bub2006]

Think that would have been the plan mate. Seems to be behaving now though

[DSdriver]

If'n only it was always that easy!

If your car burns oil use Castrol R. It won't help with anything but it does smell nicer.

[Sloth in a bowl]

Typical Ford, can't even break down reliably.

[bub2006]

Twatting car. Wife just come back after talking mother in law to work. Said no heaters in car. Had a nosy round it and found the coolant has all but pissed off. Temp gauge showing 3/4. Topped it up and took it for a short drive. Temp went off the scale. Coolant still in reservoir so turned round and went home. Just pulling up the street and the heaters came back warm and gauge dropped to half. Just pulled up outside house and gauge went up again then no heat then settled back down to half. Tried bleeding system again and no airlocks coming up.

[Bren]

They can be a bastard to bleed - did the thermostat housing on one - took an eternity to bleed and the pattern housing (circoli) wouldn't seal - had to go to a garage. Never again.

[bub2006]

The concern is the fact the smoke has come back along with coolant loss. It has used a little bit of oil too which i put down to a weeping rocker gasket and highish mileage.

[Bren]

If the engine is a zetec then it's probably for the bridge - there is only so much you can do on them. Bottom ends are a no go area.

[wackywacerwill]

Can you put one end up in the air to aid bleeding? A mate in the trade tells me you need to do this with some posh German stuff to get the air out. Don't forget to have the heater blowing on hot when bleeding it up too, many seem to forget this bit.

 

As with my own car with this response I am trying to ignore the possibility of OMGHGF.

[bub2006]

Its the 1.6 zetec se lump. What end of what do you mean to put in the air? The expansion bottle is on the bulkhead above everything anyway. Its been fine for a few days then starts acting up.

[dollywobbler]

Sounds like nose down might be better then, so the top of the rad is lower than the expansion bottle. Heater set to hot, let it run and squeeze as many coolant hoses as you can to force any air bubbles out. I've found hose 'burping' an essential step when bleeding most cars, and bleeding a BX is made easier by having the nose high, so the rad cap is higher than everything else. Could it also be a failing water pump? I know some cars have plastic impellers, which can go a bit duff. A lack of circulation is a sure-fire way to cook something.

[wackywacerwill]

A few days use is good going, my clio pops a pipe in a few miles at the minute.

[Partridge]

I've not read all the posts here so sorry if I'm repeating anything. Squeeze all the hoses. If some are cold/squidgy and some are hot/hard (*Sid James laugh*) pound to a penny you've got an airblock or circulation problem. But obviously be sensible and don't grab a red hot hose and set fire to your hand.

[bub2006]

Will get its arse up in the air tomorrow and see if that helps. If all else fails i got to find a car with no budget. Just booked a bloody holiday too!