R5 steam when idling

[alka5eltzer]

New poster! (less than 10 posts)

Hi all,

My r5 battery decided to start to die on me... So I decided to put in a new battery laying around, but it was flat.

So... Mate gave me a jump start and I left the car running for 20mins... Went back to it and steam was everywhere.. It blew the little stubby bleader hose bedside the water pump and the little expansion tank had practically nothing in it.

Going to get a. New piece of hose now

Hope I haven't wrecked her.

Why did she do this when idling?

What's the best thing I should do now... Just refill with water / collateral?

Thanks loads guys :-(

[s3irios]

Did the engine overheat? Nah you shouldn't have an issue. Just replace the hose and put new coolant in.

[Dave Reed]

New poster! (less than 10 posts)

Hi all,

My r5 battery decided to start to die on me... So I decided to put in a new battery laying around, but it was flat.

So... Mate gave me a jump start and I left the car running for 20mins... Went back to it and steam was everywhere.. It blew the little stubby bleader hose bedside the water pump and the little expansion tank had practically nothing in it.

Going to get a. New piece of hose now

Hope I haven't wrecked her.

Why did she do this when idling?

What's the best thing I should do now... Just refill with water / collateral?

Thanks loads guys :-(

Hi and welcome to the club

O dear doesn't sound too good tbh mate..

Cause would most likely be that the rad fan never kicked in and it over heated = pressure built up to much and had to escape somewhere... Could be that the blead nipple was loose??

Get some water and fill it back up, blead it, then fire it up agian.. You may be lucky, you may not.. This time don't leave it unattended when idling and report back.

Good luck

[Dave Reed]

O and get something to relpace the blead nipple as a temp solutionh ask Romil on here how he seals his up (it will need to be water tight), then replace at a later date.

[alka5eltzer]

Hi and welcome to the club

O dear doesn't sound too good tbh mate..

Cause would most likely be that the rad fan never kicked in and it over heated = pressure built up to much and had to escape somewhere... Could be that the blead nipple was loose??

Get some water and fill it back up, blead it, then fire it up agian.. You may be lucky, you may not.. This time don't leave it unattended when idling and report back.

Good luck

Hi Dave... you're right... feckin rad fan stat spade connector was loose...
so fan didn't fire up:-(

Gona fill her up again now... fingers crossed eh :-)

[Romil Davda]

Fooking BLEED NIPPLES ... I've only broken/snapped 3 in total!

I had some chap fit a bicycle tyre valve to replace the thread on the hose, after drilling it out. I have to use the dust cap to stop it leaking but it works (Mr READ!!!)...

We need to source a load of SAMCO bleed screws with the 'o' rings, anyone?

[philr5t]

O and get something to relpace the blead nipple as a temp solutionh ask Romil on here how he seals his up (it will need to be water tight), then replace at a later date.

[Romil Davda]

P.S. if your really stressed about the motor, you can do a couple of tests to see if you have mashed up the engine... I think its called a block test or sniff test (no knicker joke thanks).

Also, if you have cooked your hoses, just check that you dont have any leaks, if you have old standard hoses!

[James5]

Fooking BLEED NIPPLES ... I've only broken/snapped 3 in total!

I had some chap fit a bicycle tyre valve to replace the thread on the hose, after drilling it out. I have to use the dust cap to stop it leaking but it works (Mr READ!!!)...

We need to source a load of SAMCO bleed screws with the 'o' rings, anyone?

Romil that is so funny I'll have to take a look at the next surret meet.

[Dave Reed]

Romil that is so funny I'll have to take a look at the next surret meet.

You missed the best one with the 4 ft bolt he had as the temp fix, had to raise the bonnet as it wouldn't shut

[James5]

You missed the best one with the 4 ft bolt he had as the temp fix, had to raise the bonnet as it wouldn't shut

Sounds like PMT at it's best, Romil we need pic's matey

[Romil Davda]

You missed the best one with the 4 ft bolt he had as the temp fix, had to raise the bonnet as it wouldn't shut

Well, when the hose from the 'water pump to carb' had split, that fact I noticed a load of coolant on the windscreen means it was worth having the bonnet lifted!

James, far to embarrassing to post up pics of my bodge jobs! I do send them to family back in India and they are so proud of me… (LMAO).

[philr5t]

Well, when the hose from the 'water pump to carb' had split, that fact I noticed a load of coolant on the windscreen means it was worth having the bonnet lifted!

James, far to embarrassing to post up pics of my bodge jobs! I do send them to family back in India and they are so proud of me… (LMAO).

come on Rom get the pics up mate

[THE MASTER]

im guessing all thats happenend is the rad fan did not kick in and the engine got to hot . the weakest hose let go (wich might prove a good thing in the long run).. get the rad fan sorted and put a new hose on . fill the cooling sys and run it up ..

[alka5eltzer]

Hi All,

Overheating problem sorted

Another problem now

I mentioned before about my battery getting nackard.... so I had a battery laying in my VW Polo... I put this new battery in to my Polo this time last year... I think I had a months driving out of it and the Polo was SORN'd. So the nre (ish) battery lay in the polo until now.

The 60Ah battery doesn't seem to want to charge for me... I put it on a trickle charger overnight and no luck... I then left the wife to her work yest morning (no lights on) and when I parked up at my work I got a bit of a turn out of here.

The thing is... I'm only driving when its dark... so I don't think the battery's getting a good charge.

Is it worth my while getting a charger and giving it a good boost?... or should I get a new battery.

If I get the charger the battery still could be fecked... but then again... it could be OK and then I have a charger for the future

Thanks lads :-)

[alka5eltzer]

Just thought I'd mention.... the lights etc work fine when the engine isn't running... they only dim slightly. I can hear the starter motor running... could it be the battery is so flat that the slilnoid isn't engaging the motor? (Maybe the battery just doesn't have the Ah Omph?)

This seems to have only been like this since I put the new bat in.

Thanks

[Tony Walker]

Get a multimeter on the battery while its running and see what voltage your alternator is supplying with all electrics off then with headlights on rear demister and interior fan. Should be around 14v
As for the battery.... if its been dead for awhile then it may be goosed. is it a good quality battery?
You can get a bosch 063 battery 3 year warranty for around £35 ish? i dont know exact price.

[alka5eltzer]

Thanks for getting back to me Tony.

Checked the voltage idling yesterday with nothing on and I was getting over 14v

The brand of battery is vpower... The company that makes them is British batteries.

I stuck a mates charger on tonight (fast charge) ... It was on 30secs and it said it was fully charged?

I'll try the multimeter tomorrow, and if the voltage drops like a stone when I'm cranking then I know the battery's hammered

[Tony Walker]

Just thinking..... there is an earth lead connected to one of the water pump bolts. Did you put it back on?
Easy enough to test if its a bad earth.
Try and crank it..... wont start...... connect a jump lead to battery -ve terminal then somewhere on the engine like the lifting eye, make sure there a good connection then try cranking. if it fires up.... put a new earth on. if it doesnt then double check you have good connections on your leads.

[Tony Walker]

Ah sorry.... my bad thought you'd changed the waterpump... worth a try anyway.. takes 2 mins.

[alka5eltzer]

Hi all... thanks for your help.

Just to let you know how I got on. Cooling system all OK... no other leaks or anything yet.. so heres hoping theres no damage when she over heated. Going to drain her and refill with coolant today a I have more or less just 100% water in her.

And the Battery/Starting problems.... the battery was perfect. It was the starter motor... it wasn't engaging.
A local place removed/refitted and reconditioned it (with a 3yr warranty) for £50... she's working like a charm now.

Thanks again lads