Engine cooked...?!

[grifterkid]

My Toledo is fitted (and has been since it was made) with the peppy, zesty little 1300 engine and it's been perfect... Well, perfect until this evening it seems!!!

I was on my way up to good old London Town this evening (not a huge drive from where I work in Kingston) and whilst sitting in traffic my chum asked me "should it be making that noise?" as it gurgled, knocked and rattled. Of course I replied "no!" and glancing at the temp' gauge (which I wasn't paying attention to) I saw it was pretty much in the red...!!!!!!!!!

I was near my destination so I kept driving (which I probably shouldn't have done?!) but apart from the gurgly, knocking rattle (which became worse when the car was stationary) everything was fine with no loss of power nor illumination of the oil pressure light...?!

I got to where I had to get to and parked up leaving it to sulk for a few hours... When the engine was turned off a grand gurgle commenced!!!

Anyhow, I got back to the car and filled the now empty cooling system and it fired up first time and all seemed fine even though I was crawling for about 5 minutes... Out on the open (in London? Never!!!) roads I was being more careful and saw that after a mile or so the temp' needle started to stray steadily into the (nearly) red segment!!! I continued and made it home after about half an hour of very steady (and not problematic) driving...

When I got back and turned the engine off the cooling system became one gurgling, knocking, banging medley for about a minute and a half for goodness knows what reason...?!?!?!

This all sounds bad to me but I am a little bit reassured by the fact that engine seemed to still be as responsive (even though I was being gentle!) as ever and no oil pressure light came on to tell me things were well and truly forked...!!!

Needless to say, I need some help and advice as soon as possible so I can get this car to a garage and get them to sort things out for me!

I do SO hope that this can be remedied as I don't want to lose this engine...

Thanks to each and every one of you in advance...!

[Toledo Man]

Did you bleed the air out of the colling system when you topped it up? Was there any heat coming out of the heaters? The lack of heat points to coolant loss.

[lazeruspete]

I would suggest head gasket but that doesnt tie up with the loss of power.....

[grifterkid]

Did you bleed the air out of the colling system when you topped it up? Was there any heat coming out of the heaters? The lack of heat points to coolant loss.

I did not bleed the system, I just filled and drove! I know I'm doing myself any favours here...!!! Also, I didn't try the heater so I'm not sure about that aspect of things...

I would suggest head gasket but that doesnt tie up with the loss of power.....

I wasn't pushing it to get back home but a steady progress was made and nothing seemed different from normal at the speeds I was going at... I thought/think head gasket too.

I will get it to a garage as soon as I can but your thoughts are hugely appreciated as they always are...

Ta to all...

[sprint95m]

First off Ash, you need to do an engine compression test.
Then you need to check for coolant leaks.

The weak link of all our cars, whether they have an ohv or ohc engine, is the expansion bottle and its cap.
If the engine is okay/ has been repaired then the cooling system can be pressure tested. However this test won't detect
a faulty cap/expansion bottle.....because the cap is removed to allow access for the tester.

If you use Evans (waterless) Coolant then the weak link that is the expansion bottle is completely negated,
because EC runs at atmospheric pressure (so if you take the cap off it makes no difference!).
EC also reduces the strain on hoses, clips, matrixes, etc and doesn't cause the engine's internals to corrode.
Yes, it is expensive to buy but its longevity means you will get your money back in savings after c.5 or 7 years.





Fingers crossed it is not too serious,


Ian.

[grifterkid]

^^^ Thanks for that sir, that makes sense...

I am a tad daunted at the prospect of something major needing to be remedied but I'm kept perky by the fact that I am 99.9% sure the engine is still performing as normal and there is no loss of oil pressure...

Do you think I may be able to nip this in the bud before it becomes any more serious...?! I do ruddy hope so!!!!!!!!!!

[Jon Tilson]

I strongly suspect you have a water pump failure.

If you can get the car round to mine I will sort it for you.

Jonners

[grifterkid]

Thanks a million Jon, I will try and 'nurse' the car round to you as soon as I can...

[Jon Tilson]

PM me Ash or phone me.
May be best if I came and looked at it at yours first just in case.

Jonners

[captain_70s]

Was the car running low on coolant to start with? When did you last check it? If you had an inconspicuous leak you could lose a fair amount of coolant when the system is under pressure, topping it up after it was apparently empty could have trapped air in the system causing the second bout of overheating.

I did this after I took my 1300 unit apart, made it about 3 miles before I heard the bubbling! If the headgasket has blown you may well have air bubbles appearing in your expansion tank while the car is running, that was the first sign mine was on it's way out, followed a few miles later by a big white cloud out of the exhaust. Of course a compression test will tell you if the gasket has gone, but a simple visual check never hurts.

[grifterkid]

That was the first sign mine was on it's way out...

I dearly hope my engine is not on its way out...

[Toledo Man]

With the pressure cap removed from the expansion bottle, undo the plug on the top of the radiator and fill it through there. Have the heater controls set to hot and run the engine to bleed any air out. You will need to add a bit more coolant. Once you think you've got the air out replace the plug, top up the expansion bottle and refit the pressure cap on the expansion bottle (replace it if need be). Take the car for a drive, keeping an eye on the temp gauge and check to see if you're getting any heat from the heaters.

[captain_70s]

That was the first sign mine was on it's way out...

I dearly hope my engine is not on its way out...

That was just my head gasket, I changed that and all was good. Didn't even need to get the head skimmed! I think the gaskets I'd fitted were just a bit on the rubbish side, got another set ordered from Fitchetts and all was well.

The signs my engine as a whole was on it's way out was it using from the top marker on the oil dipstick to the bottom marker within 80 miles on a regular basis and generating a cloud of blue smoke along with the big end bearings rumbling away.

[grifterkid]

Well my engine is not quite that bad... Yet...!!!

Let's hope this glitch can be remedied completely very soon indeed...

[Jon Tilson]

Do you still have my number?
Pm me if not.

Jonners