for the love of god what now!!!

[T1z3R]

trucks been running great for the last three weeks since we swapped the head, rad, water pump and timing belt.

headed out to go to work this morning and everything was fine as usual for the first 2 or 3 miles then i notice steam coming from the passenger side of the bonnet. i panicked then looked at the temp guage and its off the chart.

slowed down from 65mph to about 40, as theres no where on that stretch of dual carriage way to pull over right away, and the temp guage goes back to normal but still billowing steam out. i managed to pull off and park up (it didnt give the engine warning lamp or cut out like it did when the head/gasket/rad popped last time). opened the bonnect and one of the hoses benath the t-stat had blown off which was where the steam was coming from. i let it cool a bit then refitted the hose and checked the water level....lots in the expansion tank but none visible at the t-stat filler. topped it up with water and fired it up again. started first time and sounded normal and the temp guage read normal. gave it some throttle to see if anything would come out the filler and after a few mins it began to blow steam like a choo choo train. turned it off and topped it up and it did the same again.

i think, but may be wrong, that i have some frozen coolant somewhere in the system. i only had 3L of antifreeze at the most in it and the rest was water

the buggers sat in a little village a few miles fom home until i finish work and fid a way to get it home.

i think im doomed with this truck

[stormforce]

if its not frozen coolant then it may be an air lock somewhere.

[T1z3R]

thanks mate.
could an air lock develop over a period of time?

the top rad hose hasnt got anything frozen in it but i hadnt checked the bottom hose so ill do that when i get back to it.

how else could i determine if its frozen or air locked and what should i do if its frozen?
i understand i should just burp the system if its air.

thanks again for the repl mate.

[Albannach]

You've frozen it, I don't think 30% antifreeze is good enough for less than -20.

[T1z3R]

You've frozen it, I don't think 30% antifreeze is good enough for less than -20.

i suspect your right.
ive got it home now and have drained the coolant until i can get a look at it tomorrow. its gonna be a cold saturday with a hangover

[T1z3R]

pulled the rad and all the coolant pipes off today and flushed them all with hot water then flushed the block from behind the t-stat.
ive snapped the wire from the plug that connects just below the t-stat housing. the one at the front not the spade at the rear. its snapped right where it exits the plug so theres no chance of repairing it that way. ive bodged the connection until daylight tomorrow.

is this the temp guage connector ive broken?

[Albannach]

No, the one at the front is the fan switch.

[T1z3R]

phew. i can worry about the fan later.
just as long as i have the temp guage for burping tomorrow.

thanks mate.

[Albannach]

I think the fan will run if the wire is disconnected, so not a real biggie.

If you want, I'll snip the wire off mine and post it to you so you can fix it?

And as for burping, you have left it with the cap off overnight?

[T1z3R]

thanks for the offer mate. ill have a go at pulling the plug apart tomorrow. if i can get it open i should be able to repair it but id be grateful of yours if i have no luck.

im sure youve all heard of the bermuda triangle, well i think i have a hilux surf triangle in my engine bay. so far there are unexplained dissappearances of one 3/8" universal joint from my socket set somewhere behind the fuel pump, one 7mm combination spanner also somewhere behind my fuel pump and one 9" pair of needle nose pliers somewhere between the egr and starter motor.

[Albannach]

Aye, they'll do that to you!

You have until the weekend after this weather breaks to blag bits (some bits are free, some bits cost you!) off my old Surf, then it's off to the breaker.