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Incentive to use coolant !!!

3K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  ebxr8240 
#1 ·
A few people already know the ongoing saga about my car, but I thought I would post this here for anyone who is interested...

On Sunday morning the low water level light flicked on in my car, so I topped her up with some water. That night after work, the light came on again. 'thats a bit strange.. must be a busted hose somewhere' pulled over into a servo topped up with water, and noticed a lot of splash marks around the hose going into the radiator on the drivers side.

Monday morning I decided to take her into the local workshop to get her fixed. I figured it would be either $30 for a hose, or $300 for a radiator. The mechanic had a look and saw a small hole in the hose. I said "phew.. I was a bit worried it would be the radiator or something worse.. the car has been a little jerky at idle" At this point the mechanic said 'ooohhh' and opened the oil cap... steam shot out, and there was caramel goo dripping from the cap...

First thought was head gaskets.. So off came the heads.. the gaskets where fine!!!

Next we thought it was the heads.. So they went off to get pressure tested.. 24 hours later we got the call... the heads where 100% OK.

Next thought was a cracked block.. but before we went pulling the block out of the car, I decided to ring around and ask people what other things it could be. One suggestion was that it could be the manifold as that is water heated, and has been known to corrode, and have water seep into the engine.

It was at this point that the mechanic decided he wanted to check the water pump. He pulled it out, and found a tiny pinsized hole in the back of it.. The pump had been spraying water straight into the timing chain case, and from there into the engine.

What we have been able to determine is that the previous owner of the car must have not used coolant. at some point some corrosion started forming inside the pump, and slowly over the years, it has been eating away until finally it formed the hole. The mechanics know it isn't me that doesn't use coolant - cos my engine was full of it!!

So there you go.. a simple $5 bottle of coolant a few years ago, could have prevented this rather large repair bill I am facing at the moment (2 weeks with no car and $3800 so far!!!)

:cussing: :cussing: :cussing: :cussing: :cussing: :cussing:
 
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#2 ·
Geez thats nasty of what happened to your baby, not to mention the cost :eek: :eek: hope it goes all ok.
XR8chic, since you brought up the topic about coolants i'd thought i'd ask a question about it.

What i'm always not sure of, is how much coolant to use, i'm using this Ford stuff the R150 (Pink Stuff) and at $30 a bottle it's pretty dear. Is one bottle enough for a drain and flush, or do i need more??? :confused: :confused:

Due to the circumstances of the mechanic forgettin to get the R150 fluid the last time, i have only topped up the radiator with 1/4 coolant, me hope this is enough, don't want to completely drain by radiator again.
 
#4 ·
Yeah - I am changing a few things in the rebuild..

I have always had the attitiude, that if you need to replace something, you may as well replace it with something bigger and better.. (like when I needed new tyres for rego last year - so I decided to get some new rims while I was at it.. and they had to be 18's...)

Another big expense is that each time the mechanics took something off, they found another part that was broken.. harmonic balancer was almost rooted... and the engine mounts fell to the ground when the block came out!!!

:( :(

One thing that is annoying me about this whole situation, is even though I have told my mum, this isnt my fault, she keeps saying that this all happened cos of my new found passion for drag racing...:D
 
#6 ·
I just like to add one thing


NEVER USE 2 DIFFERENT TYPES OF COOLANT (EVEN THE SAME BRAND) IN AN ENGINE AT ANY ONE TIME, THE COOLANT WILL TURN INTO SLUDGE, WHICH WILL CLOG UP EVERYTHING, WHICH WILL THEN CAUSE THE ENGINE TO OVERHEAT AND WILL CAUSE THE SLUDGE TO GO ROCK HARD.
 
#8 ·
Martin said:
I just like to add one thing


NEVER USE 2 DIFFERENT TYPES OF COOLANT (EVEN THE SAME BRAND) IN AN ENGINE AT ANY ONE TIME, THE COOLANT WILL TURN INTO SLUDGE, WHICH WILL CLOG UP EVERYTHING, WHICH WILL THEN CAUSE THE ENGINE TO OVERHEAT AND WILL CAUSE THE SLUDGE TO GO ROCK HARD.
Hehehe We had first hand experience with this have we Martin?
You are right. Never seen it that bad but I have seen it turn to a gel
 
#9 ·
I havnt experienced it first hand but I saw enough of it when I was a mechanic :eek::eek:

A pretty bad case was when an Electrician's Mitsubishi van died out front of the workshop :rolleyes: The motor was seized at 200,000kms, reason? No oil for starters. We then saw the coolant bottle and it literally looked like it was full of clay(same colour too) , wondered what the hell he had done and figured that it was a very advanced state of what happens when coolants are mixed.
So even if it did have oil in it the engine didnt have very long left anyway.

The hole vehicle was in a sorry state of repair :rolleyes:

Total cost was over $5k to get it back on the road as it included a new motor, radiator, all the coolant hoses, exhaust, front brakes (they were metal on metal) and a headlight.
 
#11 ·
Some coolants aren't worth the premium over water. Remember the testing that was done by one of the current affairs shows earlier this year. Out of all the coolants they tested, only two passed.

I've been using Castrol Radi-Cool in my Camira for years. The welch plugs are just starting to leak now showing it is rubbish coolant. Back to the OEM stuff after that!
 
#12 ·
I take it $30 a bottle for R150 is for a liter bottle? The stuff we use at Mercedes is about $35 a liter and lasts for 2 years. Gets expensive when you do a Sprinter or V12! Even the little 4 cylinders need 2 liters for -10* protection. Had the holey waterpump trick years ago, first car 8 years ago! Used to pump a liter of water out a day through holes you could stick a pen through! Lucky for me the water just pored out the front, $3500 engine rebuild on a $500 car not worth it.
 
#13 ·
HSE2 said:

I nearly always use straight anti freeze/inhib in my car.
Mate for me at $30 a litre of R150, i'd go broke using that stuff str8. I think radiator takes 12 Litres, so i have to spend $360 on fluid. :CraZ: :CraZ: :CraZ:

HSE2,
What fluid to you use????
 
#14 ·
I dont know of that brand but with some coolants you should only run between 25% and 50%.....

Too much is caustic and not enough is acidic, do a Ph reading on your coolant, you want a reading of between 7.5 and 9.5.
 
#15 ·
I also think the copper radiaters don't help! In these models
 
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