water and engine

[carmarthentown]

Hello to all,

My wonderful berlingo, Feb 2001, is clearly not happy.

About three weeks ago I needed for the first time ever to put about half pint of water with coolant/anti-freeze into the radiator. I have checked it since but nothing was needed. This evening almost home,an audible beeb made me look at the dashboard, the water gauge showed almost to red and a stop the engine sign was lit. Lane empty so I swtched off and let the engine cool before doing the last 10 metres onto my entrance. Once the engine was cold I have looked at the radiator water. Minimum, so have given it about 1 pint.
The hoses I can see look OK but round the actual engine there appears to be a rubber covered joint a little below the cap where I would normally pour oil. This seems to have split on a corner. I don't know if that is significant. No noises or steam from the engine. Re-started easily but the fan came on almost immediately.
Should I not drive it again? Bank holiday tomorrow so no bus available to get to work and no garage open. Drive would be 25 miles and much of that through open lonely country roads.
I realise the car is oldish but it has been well cared for and kept serviced. It does not look its age and has been mostly reliable until now.

Any ideas appreciated.

[ron]

Hi & welcome.I would check the thermostat 1st.If you have to use it tomorrow,can you take the t/stat out? It's better to run cool than blow the head gasket/warp the head etc.Good luck & let us know how you get on(we're nosey buggers,we are).

[evdama]

Hi & welcome.I would check the thermostat 1st.If you have to use it tomorrow,can you take the t/stat out? It's better to run cool than blow the head gasket/warp the head etc.Good luck & let us know how you get on(we're nosey buggers,we are).

Do as the Ron suggests.
Keep an eye on the engine oil too-it should be amber or black or any shade in between.
If it starts to go grey or light green then do not run the engine.
This is due to the oil and coolant mixing -an internal leak.
The horrid sludge will niether cool nor lubricate the motor.
You will eventually ruin the lump from the head down.


I had a rover416 (note the use of lower case letters) that unsurprisingly spat out its head gasket .
The sludge spattered out through the grille and up over the bonnet ,ruining the paint as well as warping the cylinder head.
£600 later I decided those people who manufactured it actually deserved to lose their jobs:woop:

Also had a fully laden Volvo F10 eight-wheeler do the same on a steep bank near where the Ron lives.
That was fun...

[carmarthentown]

To Ron and evdama

Thanks for the ideas. I went to work today by walking to the village and waving down another member of staff. Sensible man at work also thought themostat. The car's oil is near full and clean oil all the way down the dip stick.
The water in the radiator is very dirty almost lumpy on the surface.
I intend to deliver the car to the MOT garage in the village and ask them to sort it out. As I can get to work by bus tomorrow it seems more sensible to not drive the car until someone who knows what they doing as looked at it.

Thanks for contributing.

[carmarthentown]

Hello all

Thought you may like to know what happened and how the garage has repaired my lovely Berlingo.
Time delay in my giving feed back is another story.
The chap at the garage had a good hunt round the car and found a leak under the dashboard. From then until it was repaired we used the car carrying water and checking the water level before driving.
He had seen this before on a peugeot. Resolution was replace the heater matrix. To achieve this the steering wheel and whole dashboard have to come out. Big job but it does seem ok now.
Thanks for advice.

[Husqyman]

Hello all

Thought you may like to know what happened and how the garage has repaired my lovely Berlingo.
Time delay in my giving feed back is another story.
The chap at the garage had a good hunt round the car and found a leak under the dashboard. From then until it was repaired we used the car carrying water and checking the water level before driving.
He had seen this before on a peugeot. Resolution was replace the heater matrix. To achieve this the steering wheel and whole dashboard have to come out. Big job but it does seem ok now.
Thanks for advice.

Thanks for posting the resolution.

[Ol'Jeffers]

I realise that this is probably irrelevant but judging from carmarthentown's description
of the state of the coolant, it is this that has damaged the heater matrix.
As the coolant gets older it changes and starts to get sticky and lumps develop.
if there is any obstruction in the system such as a joint or sharp bend this sticky
residue will build up at that point and the resultant partial blockage will cause pressurisation of the
system. Clearly the heater matrix is unable to cope with the increased pressure and
and leak develops. I flush out coolant systems every couple of years and have yet
to have a failure. ( It also could be that, once again Citroen's build quality is to blame!!)

[Gozling2]

"I flush out coolant systems every couple of years and have yet
to have a failure. ( It also could be that, once again Citroen's build quality is to blame!!)"

Citroens Build quality, surely not!!, as strong as butterfly's wings in an industrial meat grinder!! illyme:

Goz