Toyota Aygo HG

[ChinaTom]

Wifey's friend just called her in a panic as her Aygo just ground to a halt and engulfed itself in a cloud of steam.

 

1. Q:"What exactly happened". A:"Smoke started coming out the front and the car slowed down. I tried to make it go faster but more smoke came out and the more power I used, the slower it got. I had to stop in the end as I couldn't see through the smoke"

1. She had never checked the water levels and doesn't know whether there was a red light on the dashboard. She only likes the green and blue ones as they're quite pretty.

2. Q: "What happened to the temperature gauge?". A: "29 degrees, same as outside - that's definitely working OK".

 

[Facepalm]

 

Gave up and told her to walk to the nearest car repair place.

 

I suspect the HG may have given up. Is that a major job on an Aygo (1.0)? She has been quoted for the repair and I thought I'd just check here to see what the UK cost might be to compare it to her quote.

[scooters]

oh dear - once a young lady friend of mine cooked her Metro - when I asked here when was the last time she put water into it she scoffed - "duuur that's right try and catch the dumb blonde out - cars take oil and petrol Richard, I'm not falling for that one".....as I said....oh dear

 

if she's had a car for a while and never checked the coolant level and that car is a toyota.......

 

I agree with your conclusion, Holmes, the HG is cooketh

 

no idea what sort of job this is in an Aygo but bet it is a beeatch

 

as they say in the advert....the car on the card shoulder beltching steam, is, invariably, a Toyota

[Pete-M]

as they say in the advert....the car on the card shoulder beltching steam, is, invariably, a Toyota

Oh, I dunno about that....

 

I was on the M6 a week or so ago and I saw a chap in a very clean looking MG ZT towing a big ol' trailer. Then a huge cloud of steam.

 

Right in the middle of the roadworks between J8 and J11. I bet he caused a bit of a tailback.

[warren t claim]

A few days ago on the M6 I witnessed the final few seconds of an MGF. Quite spectacular.

[Guest]

I've seen a particularly lovely Mi 16x4 cook its headgasket because the simpering nob of an owner ran it with no coolant. I offered him nearly double what it was worth and he wouldn't sell to me 'because I don't know whether it would get looked after'

 

This is the same person who managed to crash another Mi 16x4 into the width restrictor past the Racecourse in Sale three times, and then complain to everyone about SCTSH_ANDY being shady and selling knackered cars when the front wheelbearing mysteriously monged itself.

 

I think the DVLA should only allow him to buy Mk3 Fiestas.

[Torsten2001]

Last weekend on the A3, Volkswagens, about 6 of them at decent intervals. Bit of a worry as I was in a Beetle

[Pete-M]

When I was driving home from collecting the Jag, I stopped at a petrol station somewhere near Cambridge, put fuel in and wandered inside to pay and get some coffee.

 

When I came back to the car I could smell the smell of hot antifreeze and oil mix. My heart sank. Visions of weeks spent stripping this lovely car and flogging the bits began to assemble in my mind. Darkness descended over what had been a previously enjoyable journey.

 

Then, in the corner of my eye, I spotted an old chap at the next pump trying to fill the header tank on a Rover 214... with Evian.

 

Felt a bit sorry for him, but a lot better about the Jag.

[Milford Cubicle]

Are most head gasket failures caused by neglect then? None of my cars has suffered a head gasket failure in spite of two being fitted with the VM OHV diesel and another with a K-series.

[Pete-M]

I think you've been lucky, Milf.

 

From my experience, most HGFs are caused by people topping up the coolant level on an engine that has just overheated. Overheating tends to be caused by pipes bursting more than anything else. Most people don't want to wait for an hour or so for a boiling engine to cool down, so they wait for 10 mins and then give the engine the thermal shock of its life by pouring cold water into the header tank and then firing the engine straight up - pumping cold water straight over metal that can still be at 200+°C.

 

Crrrrrrack!

 

Having said that, I've done exactly this more than once.

[ChinaTom]

Update:

 

Sidestreet garage towed it in and allegedly:

 

found a knackered radiator

found a couple of hoses split

found an HGF

found a knackered water pump

replaced everything

 

Set her back £450. She paid and the "job" was done in about 45 minutes, which she naturally moaned about. "Why does it take so long...". I got about 2 sentences into an explanation as to why 45 minutes was suspiciously quick, and she interrupted to ask why the steam pfff'ing out the engine didn't smell like the stuff that came out the pipe at the back.

 

Just had a quick look under the bonnet - the only new part there is a new hose. She's been completely rogered for a month's salary by some "get-you-home-heroes". The car is completely rogered. Can't see much with a torch and humid misty tropical evening, but there's definitely a puddle of fresh water under the car, and it ain't from the air-con! Started it up - sounds OK, but after about 5 minutes, steam started pfff'ing out of somewhere. Off to Toyota in the morning for another rogering.

 

Chinese insurance companies will sell insurance for this kind of stuff (the rogering, not the original event) and as she is a sales exec for CPPC, then I assumed that financially, she'd be covered from a staff discount cheapy policy (probably free knowing how this place works). Nah, she didn't think to insure the car.

 

This is about as dappy as I have ever seen. (fit though)

[Lankytim]

Atleast the driving test now includes some basic car maintenance, such as where the oil and water goes.

 

My mum once drove a Maestro to destruction when the radiator split, just like this motorist she saw steam and the car started to slow down, so she just put her foot down more and more to maintain speed. She eventually got home in a clatter of pinking and oily steam. The tortured engine dropped its oil all over the drive and seized solid. "why didn't you stop?"- answer- "I wanted to get home"

 

Luckily the Maestro was a rotted out heap of shit anyway.

[Mr Lobster]

Atleast the driving test now includes some basic car maintenance, such as where the oil and water goes.

 

Sadly I would imagine that 99% of people whose test included this will have forgotten or if it isn't exactly the same on whatever they drive now as they took their test in, they'd be screwed.

[AnthonyG]

Are most head gasket failures caused by neglect then? None of my cars has suffered a head gasket failure in spite of two being fitted with the VM OHV diesel and another with a K-series.

Mostly, although there are engines which are more prone to it than others.

 

Not just the K series, that just gets all the publicity because its a) British and one of its more popular applications was in a mid engined sports car using steel water pipes to and from the radiator.

[Guest]

Certain people shouldn't be allowed cars. Discuss.

[gtd2000]

A few days ago on the M6 I witnessed the final few seconds of an MGF. Quite spectacular.

I was behind a Rover taxi heading South on the M6 a few weeks back and the same thing - rather large puff of steam all over the place. lots of brake lights and onto the hard shoulder for the poor bugger

[ChinaTom]

Outcome:

 

Toyota mechs looked, laughed, recommended selling it and buying another one. Poured a red fluid into the header, replaced a hose, ran it for 15 minutes and charged £175.

 

For sale, Toyota Aygo, White, 46,000 km, 2 previous owners - still smell the tobacco from the first one. Just had new hose. City use only, RMB52,000

 

Sold it for RMB45,000 (£4,200) to another young fit lady at 21:00 this evening. She drove it away and not heard from since.

 

A city full of suckers. Wifey's friend bought the car for RMB55,000, so she's lost a bit, but she's happy. She's buying a Peugeot 206 1.6 auto off a friend next week. Look out for the next instalment.

[gtd2000]

Not just the K series, that just gets all the publicity because its a) British and one of its more popular applications was in a mid engined sports car using steel water pipes to and from the radiator.

K- series is very justified though surely?

 

Mate of mine owns a garage and he had 3 Rover 75's in - all for head gaskets - one of the 3 was in for the 3rd time

[meggersdog]

The original K series gasket was basically a rubber seal bonded to a steel shim.The bonding lets go when the engine gets too hot.More often than not it is a leak elsewhere in the system that causes this.The system is a real bugger to bleed so just topping up the headertank without bleeding allows air to stay in the coolant.The redesigned multi-layer gasket doesn't have the rubber seal and is less susceptable to temperature changes.

[Negative Creep]

Certain people shouldn't be allowed cars. Discuss.

 

Just ban anyone who drives a Picasso or Scenic. Easy.