glad to be back from flooded yorkshire & overheat help

[dieselboy]

hi, well i just got back about an hour ago from going to leeds for the weekend.
the drive up was great apart from about 4 traffic jams between J9 m25 and then on the M1.
i got a few waves from people in their surfs, but i didnt see a blue star so doubt they are from here...
this is the first long run, i didnt want to stop, ive just spent 2 hours on the m25 in traffic! i was constantly watching the temp gauge as im now parranoid since reading all these posts. it did not budge, even when i was doing 90. i was so happy with it. so the journey took 5 hours and i stopped to let some air out the tyres (about that later)
when i got to my destination i left the engine running for about 5 - 6 minutes before switching off.
next afternoon when i went out to check it (having been out all day that saturday) i noticed my top hose was all sucked in! imagine a straw when your trying to get milkshake thats too thick.
so i checked my return pipe back to the plastic bottle, i took it off and blew through it. i almost went red in the face before i blew all this sludge out. i thought ah! theres the problem. when i took the rad cap off it sucked in air and the hose went back to normal. imagine opening a can of coke backwards... hehe
i noticed that there had been a leak from the top hose, but i put this down to too much pressure in the system due to the blockage.
so i checked made sure the temp didnt go past where it should and i left it ticking over for ages... all ok.
so on the way back i was constantly watching it again, and then all of a sudden when im over 70 the temp needle starts going up!
so now in 'brown mode' i put the heaters on, and it immediately drops back to where it should be. NOTE it went up about 2mm max - like i said im now parranoid about head gasket trouble...
so now im baking inside the car, and this never happened on the friday on the way up, i can only piece together what i had initially thought- that the rad cap wasnt strong enough to hold pressure.
so i pulled over a little bit down the road on the m1 and found some a4 paper in the car, i tore a bit off, rolled it into bung and stuffed it in the return pipe. then i put the return pipe back to where it should be and i went on my way. the water level was fine.
all the way home i was doing 70+ and the temperature did not move and was perfect just like the friday. now ive got home ive removed the bung so that when the system cools and contracts it will suck in water and not air.

so does everyone agree that i need a new rad cap?
thanks for looking

[BUSHWHACKER]

Did you clear the blockage from the spout under the rad cap that the overflow tube connects to?

[MattF]

The water level was fine where? When hot, when cold, what?

[dieselboy]

Did you clear the blockage from the spout under the rad cap that the overflow tube connects to?

there isnt a blockage there.
why do you ask?

[MattF]

there isnt a blockage there.
why do you ask?

Your original post is lengthy, but somewhat incoherent. Be precise and short, not vice-versa.

[BUSHWHACKER]

there isnt a blockage there.
why do you ask?

Diagnosis based on this part of your post............




"........noticed my top hose was all sucked in! imagine a straw when your trying to get milkshake thats too thick.
so i checked my return pipe back to the plastic bottle, i took it off and blew through it. i almost went red in the face before i blew all this sludge out. i thought ah! theres the problem. when i took the rad cap off it sucked in air and the hose went back to normal..........."

[dieselboy]

Your original post is lengthy, but somewhat incoherent. Be precise and short, not vice-versa.

sorry mate. i just seem to type and then remember bits ive forgot

[dieselboy]

Diagnosis based on this part of your post............




"........noticed my top hose was all sucked in! imagine a straw when your trying to get milkshake thats too thick.
so i checked my return pipe back to the plastic bottle, i took it off and blew through it. i almost went red in the face before i blew all this sludge out. i thought ah! theres the problem. when i took the rad cap off it sucked in air and the hose went back to normal..........."

the blockage was in the return pipe into the plastic water tank.
also the water level in this wasnt low. but about 1/2 - 3/4 full. when warm

[dieselboy]

the blocked return hose was making up for a dud rad cap is all im thinking...
so thats why i had to block it back up again, because the rad cap is knackered.
it cant hold pressure making the water boil at a lower temperature = the increase in engine temperature...
anyone else think the same? and where can i get a rad cap from?

[MattF]

the blocked return hose was making up for a dud rad cap is all im thinking...
so thats why i had to block it back up again, because the rad cap is knackered.
it cant hold pressure making the water boil at a lower temperature = the increase in engine temperature...
anyone else think the same? and where can i get a rad cap from?

At the end of the day, the expansion tube blockage won't have done the cap any favours, so replace it. However, you really do need to check your coolant level under the rad cap once the engine is cold. Some coolant will have disappeared somewhere, if the system was so highly pressurised.

[Bibs]

[QUOTE=tonyppe] so the journey took 5 hours and i stopped to let some air out the tyres (about that later)

Later didn't come - so why did you let the air outta ya tyres? Ise curious

[dieselboy]

[QUOTE=Bibs]

so the journey took 5 hours and i stopped to let some air out the tyres (about that later)

Later didn't come - so why did you let the air outta ya tyres? Ise curious

ah, on another post everyone was saying how they should be putting 34psi - 36psi in their tyres. when i got mine up to 80mph at 34psi i got some crazy vibration.
i let them down to 32psi (still 1psi more than i usually run) and the vibration was almost gone.
my steering geometry was effected from an off road/rally run that i was going way too fast down over the bumps. my steering wheel sits slight off. i will get all this sorted when i get my lift done next week.

[dieselboy]

At the end of the day, the expansion tube blockage won't have done the cap any favours, so replace it. However, you really do need to check your coolant level under the rad cap once the engine is cold. Some coolant will have disappeared somewhere, if the system was so highly pressurised.

ok will do tomorrow when its cold.

i did check it when it was cold ish, and there was water at the cap. but tbh ive not done this on this car before and it seems to be different to what im used to. eg, i revved the engine once warm and expected water to shoot out the cap hole when the cap was off,- it didnt.
any other car and water would be all over the engine bay!

[Diezel Weazel]

I got similar symptoms to yours (top hose sucked in) but i don't consider meself Parranoid or alarmist, just carefull & after any Trip on checking water level it's down a cup full or two....no more (Since RTTS last year)
I know me Rad has a pin hole (at the top left hand side)
I'm aware of the pressure loss so I check it on every trip &/or daily if I dont use me Truck and I ain't had a heating problem yet.
I'm looking into fixing it soon tho !!!

Hope this helps M8

There's always a Payback .... Ya just can't see it Comin !!!!

[dieselboy]

I got similar symptoms to yours (top hose sucked in) but i don't consider meself Parranoid or alarmist, just carefull & after any Trip on checking water level it's down a cup full or two....no more (Since RTTS last year)
I know me Rad has a pin hole (at the top left hand side)
I'm aware of the pressure loss so I check it on every trip &/or daily if I dont use me Truck and I ain't had a heating problem yet.
I'm looking into fixing it soon tho !!!

Hope this helps M8

There's always a Payback .... Ya just can't see it Comin !!!!

oh yea i forgot about my pinhole! i have one in the rad too. but i splodged it neatly with high temperature silicone sealant we use for exhaust sealant. it lasted a few weeks. ill use more next time.
have you checked your return pipe? get someone to put it in their mouth and try to blow it. or better still get a welding rod or kebab skewer and poke it through.
the only reason our top hoses would get like that is because:
when the engine heats up the water expands and excess would go out the overflow and into the plastic bottle. then as it cools it contracts and if the return is blocked it cant replace the gaps with anything or water as it should. i think it sucks the end of the rad cap tightly shut, and the pressure makes the top hose squashed.

IF IM WRONG SOMEONE CORRECT ME!

ps, when i got to my destination the top of the rad was moist where the pin hole had seeped. my rad is too big to be swept under my rug