Coolant blow out

[owenguppy@gmail.com]

Hi to everyone

I have a 2008 (57) First, probably one of the last before the shape change.

I've not been well for the last year so it's been stood a lot, although I have started it and warmed it up and it's had a couple of runs. A couple of days ago I started it and left it on tick over for half an hour. When it was warm I pushed the revs up to 3,500 and held it for 10 seconds. I did this a couple of times and suddenly there was coolant everywhere   See pics.

I'm not savvy with engines, but I was able to tell this did not come from the radiator, but rather from underneath, probably from the back where the exaust joins.

I just wondered if that made sense i.e. are there any coloant hoses around that area that could have blown?

Could anyone tell me what I should be looking for and where?

All the best


Owen

[cancunia]

Wow!
There are hoses at the back of the engine to feed the heater. It may be that a hose has come off from it's connection to the heater. As it's a 2008 model, I'm guessing it's a 1.6D engine?

[owenguppy@gmail.com]

Wow!
There are hoses at the back of the engine to feed the heater. It may be that a hose has come off from it's connection to the heater. As it's a 2008 model, I'm guessing it's a 1.6D engine?

Yes, 1.6 HDi.

Will I see these by shining a torch down the back or will I need to go underneath?

Cheers

[cancunia]

I'd start by looking from the top along the passenger / battery side of the engine bay from front to back. It's been a while since I had a 1.6 M59, so hopefully others will have more ideas. There's also a possibility that the EGR pipework has cooling water, that's along the back of the engine, but I'm not sure if the M59 has that.

[notsofast]

Bear in mind that even a small hole can produce a big leak - I've got a very minor weep in the radiator of my M49, and after a garage did a pressure test to check the head gasket, I drove home and then next morning found a large stain on my drive, a bit like in your photos, and I could see coolant dripping down from the radiator. Yet, when I took it back to the garage for them to have a look, they couldn't see anything. They did another pressure test, still couldn't see anything, so turned the pressure up high, then finally began to feel a damp patch on the rad.

[oilyrag]

There's not that much there - a big split or hose off and there'd be a bucketful on the ground. Half an hour was long enough to trigger the cooling fan, and if that didn't happen due to an issue with it, then it may simply have boiled up and sicked the water out of the header tank overflow. 
Fill it up again and look for drips. If there are none then run the engine and even try a spin out in it and see what happens. Your coolant looks a bit rusty so maybe overdue a change and new antifreeze once the issue has been sorted?

[owenguppy@gmail.com]

Thank you to you all for the input. Cheers

[cancunia]

It's true, there's not an awful lot of coolant in the pictures but I'm at a cautious time of life so would have a good look first. Then fill it up and run the engine to see if you can see a leak. Chances are that the leak showed itself after the thermostat opened so it may be a while before it does it again. How much does it need for a top up?

[oilyrag]

It's true, there's not an awful lot of coolant in the pictures but I'm at a cautious time of life so would have a good look first. Then fill it up and run the engine to see if you can see a leak. Chances are that the leak showed itself after the thermostat opened so it may be a while before it does it again. How much does it need for a top up?

I turned 70 on Sunday and can look to pouring that much out of my slippers soon....