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Technical Catastrophic coolant loss!

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Technical Catastrophic coolant loss!

wellfan

wellfan

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Not sure why my post has been merged with another post. Anyway, here it is again:

Went out for a short drive in my 5 month old GPS multijet this evening, and after a couple of miles noticed I had no heating, next thing temp. gauge is heading north and then steam pissing out of bonnet, temp. gauge immediately returned to normal. Stopped the car as I was home by then. Opened the bonnet and my engine is covered in coolant and coolant tank is empty. Obviously a leak somewhere but too dark to investigate this evening. Anybody had a similar experinece or what the likeliest problem is. Really cannot be arsed having it towed some 40 odd miles to a dealership for it to sit for ages awaiting a repair. If it is a hose I'll do it myself. Anyway, any thoughts, I'll be giving the RAC a call in the morning to help me investigate the likely culprit. Really glad I was only about two miles from home when problem started, so hoping no overheating damage to cylinder head. Also comforting to note that it is an external leak and not a leak in the head.

Edit: Should be AA and not RAC.
 
dave said:
you drove it two miles like this are you mad?
Click to expand...

Yes, what I said was "when problem started". This was when I first noticed I had no heating. My brain did not immediately respond with a message to 'STOP THE CAR IMMEDIATELY'. I then looked at the coolant gauge and noticed it was beginning to 'creep up', by this time I had driven the two miles, and was home. I did not continue my journey just to get home. If I had been further from home I would have obviously stopped in the same period of time. Dave, I do hope you were not trying to suggest that I may have caused additional damage to my car by continuing to drive. If so, you are out of order. As I have explained, the human brain takes time to receive and interpret information, and 2 miles is only a couple of minutes. I am afraid my brain may be a bit older than yours. It may be wiser but is obviously a bit slower!
Edit. It is very easy to make comment about another persons situation. Just remember it was me who was driving the car. Many other people would have noticed the problem before me. But I can assure you many more would not have noticed. I have had previous experiences of Fiat Punto cylinder head failure, and am aware that no heating is a warning sign. So I was probably a bit more vigilant than many others would have been. I also tend not to use my heating, however, for some reason I had it on yesterday. Finally, as there were no warning signs flashing, many folks would have driven until the car died. So, all in all, I think I did quite well in the circumstances.
PS. I had a look at the car this morning and there is a major coolant leak in rear of radiator. It is in engine bay side of radiator, behind cooling fans, so apparently not caused by stone damage.
 
Last edited:
Hey wellfan I don't think anyone is having a snap at you to be honest. I think you did what most people would have done so its all good.

A lot of people have had a leak in the radiator including me although mine is leaking coolant very slowly and not sure where the leak is.

Seeing this I need to get to a dealer to fix this but I just don't have the time as I need my car 5 days a week minimum :eek:

Hope you get it fixed and let us know how it goes.
 
OCZedd said:
Hey wellfan I don't think anyone is having a snap at you to be honest. I think you did what most people would have done so its all good.

A lot of people have had a leak in the radiator including me although mine is leaking coolant very slowly and not sure where the leak is.

Seeing this I need to get to a dealer to fix this but I just don't have the time as I need my car 5 days a week minimum :eek:

Hope you get it fixed and let us know how it goes.
Click to expand...

Cheers. Sorry if I seem a bit narky. Just a bit peed off with the car. Looks like mine may have been slowly leeking for a wee while. Is this a fairly commom problem with the new GPS? Also how long would a Fiat dealership take to replace? Should be fairly straightforward, have checked the ePER. I need my car for my job so really cannot be off the road. Sods law this, as I also have a 15 year old Pug 306 that I use for work most days. However, heater matrix blew on it a couple of weeks ago and I have not had time to change it. So now both cars have a coolant system problem
 
How long will it take? I'm not sure thats what I want to know as I need my car a lot too.

But I wouldn't drive yours if I were you.
 
My GPS lost all it's coolant. The cause of mine was the cooling fan wearing through a pipe. Took it to the dealers who had the car for a month as there was no replacement pipe anywhere. They sorted me out with a replacement car while mine was in for the month. Was very good service, but crazy it took a month to get one pipe!
 
steve119 said:
i once spoke to a lass in aberdeen and she told me that this happened to her GP active, but it got sorted, so i hope its the same for yourself, wellfan!!;)
Click to expand...
Do you know how long it took?

I still don't know what is wrong with mine (could be pipe or radiator) its def. leaking as coolant is underside of the car.

@Alex, thats a crazy amount of time mate!
 
Alex_gregory_uk said:
My GPS lost all it's coolant. The cause of mine was the cooling fan wearing through a pipe. Took it to the dealers who had the car for a month as there was no replacement pipe anywhere. They sorted me out with a replacement car while mine was in for the month. Was very good service, but crazy it took a month to get one pipe!
Click to expand...

Now looks like mine has the same problem, ie. cooling fan wearing through a pipe. I am sure your pipe was eventually replaced under warranty. However, what about the cooling fan. Strikes me that the cooling fan motor will suffer early failure due to resistance stress. The motor bearings are designed to flow freely and not against a bloody rigid pipe. Thing is, the fan motor probably wont fail until out of warranty!!!!!!!!! Really think that cooling fan assembly should be replaced. I plan to see what Fiat have to say about it. Clearely a design fault if the the fan is rubbing against the pipe.
 
Alex_gregory_uk said:
I had the pipe replaced under warranty, but not the fan. The thought of the fan failing later on didn't strike me. Definately worth asking and seeing how you get on. Sure sounds like a design fault. Thought mine would be a one off.
Click to expand...

Where do I look to check? :confused:
 
Alex_gregory_uk said:
I think it's quite hard to see the pipe and see if it is rubbing. I'd suggest regulary checking the coolant, and if you ever here the cooling fan still on when you turn the engine off definately check as that was what alerted me to it.
Click to expand...

OK cool (sic) :D I have checked between radiator and engine, all looks clear and thats where the fan is but I rarely hear mine running, in fact I dont recall evr hearing it in 36,000 miles lol! And yes, the tmp gauge is dead centre when warmed fully, never varies, coolant remains at max when hot, just below when cold.
 
Fecking Fiat dealerships. Sorry T, this has to be reported as it continues to add to my long held belief that dealerships really don't give a toss. After my car waiting over a week for a sodding radiator hose. I contacted Fiat who then got involved. To cut a long story short. My car was returned to me and I drove it home in the good faith that it had been repaired (what a dick I am). Front bumper scratched and coolant pissing out of the radiator hose that had been replaced. Further investigation revealed that top hose connector is a sodding 'jubilee clip'. Not only is this not a factory fitted clip (it is a cheapo replacement), it was only tightened 'finger tight'. I turned the screw several turns with a screwdriver to tighten it, and is now secure. However, has lost loads of coolant and it is freezing again tonight. I am so unbelievably pissed off. If a mechanic cannot get the basics right, ie. tightening a clip. What chance do we have?????????????
 
wellfan said:
Fecking Fiat dealerships. Sorry T, this has to be reported as it continues to add to my long held belief that dealerships really don't give a toss. After my car waiting over a week for a sodding radiator hose. I contacted Fiat who then got involved. To cut a long story short. My car was returned to me and I drove it home in the good faith that it had been repaired (what a dick I am). Front bumper scratched and coolant pissing out of the radiator hose that had been replaced. Further investigation revealed that top hose connector is a sodding 'jubilee clip'. Not only is this not a factory fitted clip (it is a cheapo replacement), it was only tightened 'finger tight'. I turned the screw several turns with a screwdriver to tighten it, and is now secure. However, has lost loads of coolant and it is freezing again tonight. I am so unbelievably pissed off. If a mechanic cannot get the basics right, ie. tightening a clip. What chance do we have?????????????
Click to expand...

wow mate that really blows :( what dealership is this?
 
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