Yesterday I had a big problem with my 2001 Fabia 8v. Bear with me please, it's a bit long, but I really could do with some advice.

I was driving back on the A1 from York to Newcastle, when suddenly I heard the beeping alarm for overheating. Luckily I was just near the exit for a shopping centre (the Metro Centre, if you're curious and from Tyneside). I just about made it to a parking spot, and then the engine died.

Opening the bonnet, there was smoke, or steam, I cannot be certain, and a burnt smell. There were no flames, thank God.

I had a look at the coolant tank: it was empty and the cap was not there - maybe it fell off. I panicked and tried to top up with water - bad move, I know. Nearly two liters went in before I realized it was a stupid idea (bear with me, I only drove old water-cooled cars before) and stopped. Being in a shopping centre, I decided to go and look for some suitable coolant. I didn't find anything specific, only something cheap in Woolworths that was described as "antifreeze and coolant" on the label.

I bought it, but decided not to risk the engine. I did not put any more fluids and did not start the engine again. It was still hot (but no more smoke) and the tank was empty again!

I could do nothing else, so my wife and I went away by bus after warning the security people there that I had to leave the car in their parking place. Luckily they were OK with that.

So, what can I do now? Is there any way I can evaluate if there's damage to the engine? A possible plan is to buy enough coolant to refill the tank and drive away, possibly to a garage, and avoid towing. Is it a good idea? Or is it better to go for the towing?

As for towing the car away, I could join the AA or the RAC, and now I regret not doing it earlier. I'm not sure I can join while having a breakdown. If I can join, then Plan B is to have them tow the car away.

Plan C is to call a garage or a dealer and hope they don't fleece me too much. How much is a reasonable price? Do any of you know a reputable garage in Newcastle or Gateshead? Would a dealer tow a car away from a public place anyway?

My wife suggests another question to ask. She is concerned that, even after a repair, this car will be unreliable because of the stress of this fault - running on little or no coolant can't be good! She suggests to replace this car. I think I agree but would like to know if I'm worrying too much.

There it is. I apologise for the length, and be grateful to whoever wants to chip in with advice, opinion and information.

Allow me to add, the car had some repairs some months ago and they replaced the head gasket, the thermostat, the sensor and the coolant tank. They shouldn't be out of action so soon!

Sorry to hear about your problems, the one question I can help you with is about breakdown cover, I know people who have just joined a recovery service after a breakdown with no problems. May I suggest First Call GB very cheap and a high level of cover.

HTH

I had a look at their website and apparently they don't cover calls in the first 48 hours. I'd have to pay them extra for service and for towing, in addition to the membership fee. If this is common to all breakdown services do that, I'll consider them!

I'd be looking to whoever did the repairs and replaced the coolant tank etc - something has gone wrong there! The cap for the coolant tank doesn't just fall off!

How long has it been since it broke down not sure about other services but I would imagine it would be a standard clause?

How long ago since the previous work on your car? Is the previous work warranted? If so I would consider giving the garage a ring if not they may be sympathetic.

I had a look at the coolant tank: it was empty and the cap was not there - maybe it fell off.

The caps generally shouldn't fall off - it's a screw-on cap that clicks into place, so it would take a bizarre series of events for this to happen.

Have you opened the bonnet and adjusted the coolant cap since the garage did the work on the coolant tank? If not, it might just be that the garage forgot to put it on after they'd topped up the coolant...

Rob.

I'd be looking to whoever did the repairs and replaced the coolant tank etc - something has gone wrong there! The cap for the coolant tank doesn't just fall off!

I think that was my fault. I checked the coolant tank for mayonnaise before leaving and the cap was there. I think I didn't screw it on properly and it must have fallen off while driving.

How long has it been since it broke down not sure about other services but I would imagine it would be a standard clause?

As for a warranty on the work, I don't really know. It might be something stupid I did. Does the cap falling off have any effect? I'll look through my paperwork to check for conditions, but the work was done in April, it's about four months by now.

Yesterday I had a big problem with my 2001 Fabia 8v. Bear with me please, it's a bit long, but I really could do with some advice.

I was driving back on the A1 from York to Newcastle, when suddenly I heard the beeping alarm for overheating. Luckily I was just near the exit for a shopping centre (the Metro Centre, if you're curious and from Tyneside). I just about made it to a parking spot, and then the engine died.

Opening the bonnet, there was smoke, or steam, I cannot be certain, and a burnt smell. There were no flames, thank God.

I had a look at the coolant tank: it was empty and the cap was not there - maybe it fell off. I panicked and tried to top up with water - bad move, I know. Nearly two liters went in before I realized it was a stupid idea (bear with me, I only drove old water-cooled cars before) and stopped. Being in a shopping centre, I decided to go and look for some suitable coolant. I didn't find anything specific, only something cheap in Woolworths that was described as "antifreeze and coolant" on the label.

I bought it, but decided not to risk the engine. I did not put any more fluids and did not start the engine again. It was still hot (but no more smoke) and the tank was empty again!

I could do nothing else, so my wife and I went away by bus after warning the security people there that I had to leave the car in their parking place. Luckily they were OK with that.

So, what can I do now? Is there any way I can evaluate if there's damage to the engine? A possible plan is to buy enough coolant to refill the tank and drive away, possibly to a garage, and avoid towing. Is it a good idea? Or is it better to go for the towing?

As for towing the car away, I could join the AA or the RAC, and now I regret not doing it earlier. I'm not sure I can join while having a breakdown. If I can join, then Plan B is to have them tow the car away.

Plan C is to call a garage or a dealer and hope they don't fleece me too much. How much is a reasonable price? Do any of you know a reputable garage in Newcastle or Gateshead? Would a dealer tow a car away from a public place anyway?

My wife suggests another question to ask. She is concerned that, even after a repair, this car will be unreliable because of the stress of this fault - running on little or no coolant can't be good! She suggests to replace this car. I think I agree but would like to know if I'm worrying too much.

There it is. I apologise for the length, and be grateful to whoever wants to chip in with advice, opinion and information.

Hi Persenna

Sorry to here your problems,

But Not being a expert I would say the job you had done some months ago has something to do with your problem (did they give you any warranty?)

But the first thing to do is join one of the rescue service (definatley worth it) as if you do any miles and on the motorway its,

on the motorway its,

I cant see what it has to do with the people that carried out the work.

If you had the cap off and didnt put it back on thats your fault. But hey panic not, if the car has overheated (which it will do due to no pressure in the cooling system as the cap was off) then the warning light should have come in for the low level, plenty of time before any damage is done. Topping up with just water would have been fine for short term, not much chance of freezing at the moment, The level would have shot own as the cooling system takes around 3 litres of water and the header tank holds roughtly a half litre give or take. You would need to top the water up wait, and then keep topping up until the level settled.

Where abouts are you? PM me if you need some advice one to one.

Where abouts are you? PM me if you need some advice one to one.

Well, I'd appreciate any advice. In short, can I risk refilling and driving off? How can I decide? If that is too risky, what is the best solution to get the car to a garage?

You could always top it up and see if the level changes. If it doesn't, you just need to limp it to a place to get a cap (or buy the cap ahead of time). Could always drive it around the car park.... I had a similar situation to yours with a Corsa. Turns out my other half at the time hadn't quite put the cap on properly and we had billowing steam coming out of the bonnet as we sat on a ramp into a multi-storey, accompanied by a burning smell. Rang the AA who faffed about and then decided it was our clutch and to prove it proceeded to rag the engine with it slipped. He went off, we popped the bonnet and spotted the cap

As for recovery - I highly rate Tesco (who use Green Flag). The clutch pedal on my Fabia broke on Saturday afternoon, I took out the breakdown cover Sunday afternoon and the car was recovered to my local dealer first thing Monday morning when I rang to let them know I'd just broken down

Chris

Well, I'd appreciate any advice. In short, can I risk refilling and driving off? How can I decide? If that is too risky, what is the best solution to get the car to a garage?

you need to get a cap for the reservoir or it will overheat again when you drive off

The temperature of a cars coolant exceeds 100c (boiling point) thats why you need a cap to pressurise the system, effectively raising the boiling point of water in the way a pressure cooker does. Remove this cap and whoosh! the water instantly boils resulting in scalds loss of coolant etc. I would say that you would be safe filling the engine via the tank with water, fitting a new cap then taking the vehicle to a garage to have the radiator drained and new antifreeze water mix added. I wouldn't have though that there would be any engine damage provided that you stopped when the light came on.

I wouldn't have though that there would be any engine damage provided that you stopped when the light came on.

Ah, there's the problem. I didn't, because I couldn't. I was in a dangerous bit of the motorway and decided to get out of it in that shopping centre. I had the engine running quite a few more minutes (four or five, I'd say) before stopping. And it was making a faint rumbling noise when it stopped.

Surely your now in a "no lose" situation, ie you either spend money getting a tow to a garage then a general cooling system and engine check up and refill, or just do as advised already, ie buy a new cap - Halfords may have a suitable one to use short term if they are nearer than VAG, while you are there buy a 5 litre fuel can, fill it with water, take all this to the car, or leave out the water and just buy about 5 litres of bottled water at metro centre, dump enough water in to fill the expansion tank, then as said already drive around the car park for 5 minutes without the cap on, (this will give the cooling system a chance to dump out some or all of the trapped air,stop and top up if necessary, fit the cap, drive around the car park for another 5 minutes, stop and visually check the water level, if its okay just drive home and keep the heater on so that you will notice if the water vanishes again. As soon as is reasonably possible get a garage to add the correct quantity of "anti-freeze". Check the water level daily until you get confidence back again with your cooling system. If there has been any engine damage caused you should notice it during this period. I'm sure you will still join a recovery service now that you have had this fright - it always makes sense, most people that can do work on their cars still tend to protect themselves by having recovery service, especially if they are travelling "out of town" - do it now please, protect yourself for the next time!

Since I got a Fabia I daren't leave the house without my recovery details as I have no confidence that I will get to where I want to everytime I get in the car.

Since I got a Fabia I daren't leave the house without my recovery details as I have no confidence that I will get to where I want to everytime I get in the car.

Poor old Fabia1.4's had a terrible time with his car! As for:

I only drove old water-cooled cars before

the 1.4 8v (MPi) engine can trace its roots back to the old rear-engined Skodas (and maybe even further!), so it's fairly agricultural in terms of engineering. Although there were issues with overheating when the version used in the Fabia first came out, this was down to the head gasket fitted at the factory as far as I know, and so ought to have been replaced long ago on yours (not sure if it was a formal recall, though - Ross [Lummox] will know).

In my humble (and inexpert)opinion, a short drive (less than a mile) would be possible with NO coolant, if you took it very gently, and waited until the engine was cold before you started off (after all, the coolant does very little until the engine reaches temperature and the thermostat opens - not like oil, which is vital!) If you were able to get your hands on a suitable (pressure-rated) cap, then like rum4mo says, you ought to be OK for as long as it takes to get to a garage with any kind of water or 'own brand' coolant. Obviously, you'll want to get it drained, flushed and replaced with the proper stuff as soon as poss - and definitely before Winter, but you'd be OK for a while, I think.

Anyway, that's my 2ps - hope it helps!

Yeah I concur with most advice here. Get yourself down to a Skoda dealer (I presume other VAG garages use the same coolant tank cap though , IMHO its a 'generic' part that all VAG marques use , so maybe try one of those ie VW Audi or SEAT if they are closer) get a cap for the tank , fill it up with water till its on the max mark (or if youve managed to get some genuine coolant (the pink stuff) put some of that in too) pop the cap on and get the engine up to temperature , switch it back off , allow it to cool down again , then take cap back off *make sure the car isnt hot or you will get scalded!!* top the coolant tank back up if needed and head for home , or to your friendly local garage. If the car makes it home okay and the gauge is reading normal , then you may be okay. If you have any doubts about it , get it booked in to your garage ASAP.

Hope this helps...PS you dont want to leave your car parked in one spot for too long , incase the local toe-rags take a fancy to it , so Id get yourself sorted sooner rather than later.

PS you dont want to leave your car parked in one spot for too long , incase the local toe-rags take a fancy to it , so Id get yourself sorted sooner rather than later.

Although if they nicked it, the insurance would then be able to pay for the repairs when the thieves destroyed the engine...

Rob.

The car is now safe back on my pavement. I went and bought some coolant and a cap from Benfield. They're not my favourite, and they managed to confirm my opinion, but they're the closest. I went back to the shopping centre by bus, and luckily the Fabia was still there untouched.

I refilled the tank carefully, following the Haynes manual, gave the coolant time to subside, did a short test drive and refilled. In the end, I had to put in more than three liters. So I didn't run it dry, but close enough.

I decided to try and drive back - I am now an RAC member, so if something happened I'd have some help - and made it back home with no problem. I'd swear it was making a slight funny noise, and that I was smelling oil, and because of that I'm going to have it checked.

Better to go for a dealership, or for any local garage? I don't really want to support Benfield, the second closest is Silbury and they're ok, but they're a bit far. Any advice on a decent garage in Newcastle?

Ive heard good things about Barmoor Garage in Ryton , but I'd assume thats probably further from you than Silbury. Oh , and I dont think they are a 'proper' Skoda dealer anymore , but they were Skoda dealers for years in the pre - VW age.

Oh, bugger. I'm back from a run to the gym and when I got to the car I noticed a leak on the floor under the engine. Grrr! It is not going to be cheap!