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Hi all, sorry to bring a problem to the board straight away but I'm too worried to run my girl until I get some advice. Would be most grateful if anyone can help.
I have a temp gauge going not just into the red but off the scale. OK, sure you've heard this one before, but a bit of history first.
Bought the Surf ('91 2.4 TD) 2 years ago. I knew about the head problems, fully expected it to be gone or on the way, and sure enough 3 months later I had the classic cracked head. Usual story, temp gauge shot off the scale, no warm air through heaters, all water blown out through expansion tank, the works.
Had it replaced by the local garage, seemed like a good job (I nagged them endlessly to make sure everything would be right, lol!), and for 2 years she has been a fantastic trouble free surf. I watched the temp gauge like a hawk for a year, it was always absolutely stable and never went above just under halfway, so I suppose I may have relaxed a bit by now. I don't do offroad, just rough tracks around our farm and on road to town, so there's not much danger of getting bunged up with mud.
Then 2 nights ago after a short run into town, I was nearly home and I looked at the temp gauge to see it way up into the red, off the scale. Stopped and switched off immediately, flipped the bonnet. There was no sign of overheating - no excessive heat, no 'hot' smell, no sign of water or steam under the bonnet, and the cap was still on the expansion tank.
Waited a few mins, restarted, gauge just shot up into the red again. Switched off PDQ. Eventually after about 15mins I decided to drive the last 1/4 mile home just to get her off the road. Left her alone until morning, started up (first time as usual). Temp gauge did nothing for a bit, then shot up into the red after about 1 minute of running. Engine wasn't even warm, so I'm thinking 'fantastic, this might just be an electrical fault with the gauge'. However, the not so good news was that I looked at the water in the expansion tank and it's black - not jet black but there's definitely oil in it. It was also low, but not empty. Have since topped up the rad with some clean water, it hardly took any to fill it, so I've clearly not lost a load of water.
Had it running again today for 5 mins, gauge did exactly the same thing (nothing, then shooting straight up over the red after a minute or two.) I can't tell if there's ongoing water loss as I'm too worried to leave her running, but there's no visible water leak either when running or switched off. There was barely any heat coming off the engine and I could still comfortably touch the rad cap, but I switched off anyway.
So, in summary, I don't know if this is
a) a disaster already
b) disaster in the making that could be avoided
c) just a minor pain in the rear that no-one needs in Christmas week.
Good signs are the lack of obvious heat from the engine bay, the fact that heaters were getting enough warm air to start demisting and that I still have most of the fluid.
Bad signs are the oil in the water and my general paranoia, lol
Can anyone please help (bear in mind I'm a technical numptie AND a girlie, so be gentle with me!)
Anne
I have a temp gauge going not just into the red but off the scale. OK, sure you've heard this one before, but a bit of history first.
Bought the Surf ('91 2.4 TD) 2 years ago. I knew about the head problems, fully expected it to be gone or on the way, and sure enough 3 months later I had the classic cracked head. Usual story, temp gauge shot off the scale, no warm air through heaters, all water blown out through expansion tank, the works.
Had it replaced by the local garage, seemed like a good job (I nagged them endlessly to make sure everything would be right, lol!), and for 2 years she has been a fantastic trouble free surf. I watched the temp gauge like a hawk for a year, it was always absolutely stable and never went above just under halfway, so I suppose I may have relaxed a bit by now. I don't do offroad, just rough tracks around our farm and on road to town, so there's not much danger of getting bunged up with mud.
Then 2 nights ago after a short run into town, I was nearly home and I looked at the temp gauge to see it way up into the red, off the scale. Stopped and switched off immediately, flipped the bonnet. There was no sign of overheating - no excessive heat, no 'hot' smell, no sign of water or steam under the bonnet, and the cap was still on the expansion tank.
Waited a few mins, restarted, gauge just shot up into the red again. Switched off PDQ. Eventually after about 15mins I decided to drive the last 1/4 mile home just to get her off the road. Left her alone until morning, started up (first time as usual). Temp gauge did nothing for a bit, then shot up into the red after about 1 minute of running. Engine wasn't even warm, so I'm thinking 'fantastic, this might just be an electrical fault with the gauge'. However, the not so good news was that I looked at the water in the expansion tank and it's black - not jet black but there's definitely oil in it. It was also low, but not empty. Have since topped up the rad with some clean water, it hardly took any to fill it, so I've clearly not lost a load of water.
Had it running again today for 5 mins, gauge did exactly the same thing (nothing, then shooting straight up over the red after a minute or two.) I can't tell if there's ongoing water loss as I'm too worried to leave her running, but there's no visible water leak either when running or switched off. There was barely any heat coming off the engine and I could still comfortably touch the rad cap, but I switched off anyway.
So, in summary, I don't know if this is
a) a disaster already
b) disaster in the making that could be avoided
c) just a minor pain in the rear that no-one needs in Christmas week.
Good signs are the lack of obvious heat from the engine bay, the fact that heaters were getting enough warm air to start demisting and that I still have most of the fluid.
Bad signs are the oil in the water and my general paranoia, lol
Can anyone please help (bear in mind I'm a technical numptie AND a girlie, so be gentle with me!)
Anne
) 
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