fixing over heated car...

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positivenote

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hi ll in work at teh moment and on the way my car start bellowing steam out of where the coolant goes... when i pulled over the engine was piping hot. I let it cool a bit and put some fresh coolant into the car and got it about 300 yards before the same thing happened again. Im going to let it cool down for the day and go and get somemore coolant before trying to drive the 80 miles or so home tonite... is this the right thing to do and/or there any other tips on how i can stop the engine over heating. The car is a 98 ibiza 1lt... thanks for any advice given.
 
I dont think your car will make that trip....if you topped up the coolant and after 300 yards this happened again its more than coolant you need..

You could have a jammed/seized thermostat/blocked radiator/hole in the coolant system or your head gasket is gone....superheating what water is in the coolant system...thus your steam.

Open your radiator cap (when cold) and water bottle and if there is a film of oil in the water or sludge in the radiator its your headgasket im afraid.
 
I had this about 2 years ago when I was at the connacht final in Galway. The feckers won to make matters worse. All I did was change the coolant as this had not been changed in a long time and I never had another problem with that since. The car however would only overheat when I was in traffic and was grand in open road, but as the poster previous said it could be a bit more serious than changing the coolant.
 
This happened me a number of years ago with a then 8-year-old Daihatsu Charade. I'd been topping up the water and the coolant in the engine for a few weeks but to no avail. Took it to a mechanic who spotted that there was a leak in the radiator, and it just took radiator sealant to fix it (and only a couple of quid). Personally, I'd say you are mad driving the 80 miles if it didn't make 300 yards yesterday - get the problem diagnosed first, then decide whether or not you can undertake the journey safely.
 
i think the main reason for the problem arising again after 300 yards was becasuse i only left the engine off while i went to a garage and got some coolant... im gonna leave it to cool down untill around 2ish (been sitting since around 9.30) and then put some more coolant in it and hope for the best... any other advice would be of course welcomed... thanks so far
 
similar story with my car couple of years agp and it was the head gasket which had gone. not good cost guts of 1,000 i think.

if you are driving 80k and are going to have to stop every 300m and waiting for 10 minutes you will be stopping 267 times and will add about 45 hours to your journey so if you leave now you should get home by 8am on Saturday !

joking aside hope it is not the head gasket but get it checked today by mechanic / AA
 
thanks for the advice folkes, i'll give the AA a buzz....

looks like its the end of the road or this motor for me ... perfect timeing with my test taking place in two weeks, doesnt give me much time to get a new car and get used to driving it... disaster :mad:
 
don't even attempt to make an 80yd trip in that car, never mind 80miles. You'll get 1 or 2 miles down the road and it'll happen all over again. Best get a mechanic or like you say, AA to check it out. You could do a lot more damage than what is already happened and at this stage it could be something minor. Its never a good idea to put coolant into an engine when its hot. Overheating is a sign something is wrong and the best advice is to anyone is to pull over and leave it.
 
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