Good morning,

 

Our Felicia 1.3 blew a radiator hose on the motorway the other day and, of course, a certain amount of overheating took place before we pulled over. I've now replaced the hose and the engine sounds OK. However when I drive off the temperature gauge starts to rise and continues to the 110 degrees mark. After about half a mile it then drops back to normal and the car runs fine. Should I be concerned about this? I'm guessing that the thermostat is sticking having got too hot but then releases and is OK. Will it clear or should I replace?

 

All comments very welcome as always.

 

Michael L

bad thermostat or air pocket.

Thanks. It could be an air pocket I guess because it took several attempts to get all 6 litres of water in. How do you get rid of an air pocket?

 

Michael L

Further to the above, things are not looking too good. After a run of about 20 miles the car started to overheat again and when I checked the water it had consumed about a litre. Also when starting up the car is very lumpy. There is no sign of any water leaks around the radiator or hoses so I am wondering if we have terminal damage inside the engine. Or could it just be a head gasket? I'm reluctant to scrap this car without understanding the problem but equally I'm reluctant to spend money at a garage if they are going to charge me a lot of money to tell me it is bust! Changing a thermostat is easy but I'm not competent to get inside the engine.

 

I bought the car for £1000 four years ago and she's now done 104k, so nothing owed there!

 

Any thoughts?

 

Michael

if no leaks outside, then it's obviously inside.

a good workshop will tell you exactly what is wrong without asking for an arm and a leg.

if head gasket is bad, borrow a toolbox and a torque wrench and diy.

if head / block is cracked, sell the car.

Almost certainly a failed head gasket. Easy job. While the head is off ensure that the 20mm core plugs under the rocker shaft are intact, I've seen several pop out.