UKC

My car stalled and wouldn't start again at the Roaches 10 days ago. I thought it was the battery, but at the end of a day bouldering, it started again, got me as far as Stoke where the engine partially siezed up. Turned out the jubilee clip on the bottom radiator hose had rusted through and there was no coolant. "It's a goner isn't it?" I said to the recovery man. "Nooo... said he, most modern cars would have blown up, but this one's wonderful - make sure you keep it."

Last weekend, same destination, pulled into Leek and there was a burning smell and suddenly the temperature gauge shot to zero. I stopped for a while, then got to my destination (temperature gauge still zero) and left the car alone the whole weekend. When I started it to go home, as I trundled off, the gauge remained at zero, but then suddenly it shot back to its usual position. Can any mechanics out there tell me what the **** is going on? The car's a 1998 Mitsubishi Carisma 1.8 petrol GTI.

In reply to Andy Morley:

Check the coolant level ( and oil ) every time before a journey.

If the car heater is not blowing hot, stop and check the coolant level. HTH

In reply to Andy Morley:

Sounds like an electrical fault with the temperature gauge. Carry on driving until something catches fire, then you'll know what's wrong.

In reply to Andy Morley:

Airlock in the system due to incorrect re-filling of the system?
Saying that, I do like your cavalier attitude towards car maintenance!

In reply to Rigid Raider:


I agree. Did the temp read high when the coolant leaked? If so, (and assuming an NCT sender) then you will have been putting a higher current through it than it is used to which may have been enough to accelerate a connection/ wiring problem.

I would check the connections on the sender first, and otherwise try a new sender (£5 or £6).

In reply to Rick Graham:

This was a sudden loss due to the hose becoming detached.

'Hot heaters' was the acid test used by the recovery bloke after refilling the system. I'm pleased to say that they've remained hot all the time, I've kept a very close eye on that one!

In reply to Rigid Raider:


That was my assumption last Friday when I arrived in Leek, cos the needle went straight to zero. However, when it went back to normal all of a sudden, I was completely flummoxed!

In reply to FactorXXX:


The recovery guy paid a lot of attention to re-filling and did a lot of squeezing of the top hose to make sure the air was out, plus running the engine for a long time. But maybe there was a pocket of air somewhere that worked its way round the tubes like a blood clot through the arteries... That is the one explanation that makes more sense than any other, I'm hoping that's the case.


When I was a student, my motorbike wasn't the coolest on the block (1959 350cc Triumph) but I did spend most of my weekends going away on it while all the street-cred guys spent their weekends desperately 'fixing' their equally retro machines, so I must have been doing something right! And my Mitsubishi, which I've had since 2004 or 5 has nearly 200,000 on the clock which ain't bad for a petrol engine, so not as cavalier as all that!

In reply to MarkJH:


Interesting - sounds kind of feasible. I didn't notice it reading high though, the symptoms were just that it stalled when I was parking and wouldn't start, (turned over very slowly) so I thought the battery had died and must admit I didn't look at the temp. gauge right then. Someone who helped me push it to the side suggested I try again after 10 minutes, which worked, so I left it all day, still thinking it was the battery and when it started at the end of the day, decided the battery was duff. It was only when I got to Stoke did the weird noises attract my attention but even then, I didn't notice any increase in temperature.


Sounds like a good plan. I tend to work to a 'process of elimination' in situations like this, and that sounds like a good place to start so thanks for that

In reply to Andy Morley:



Give it a go. A sudden change in temperature reading (from your description it sounded faster than you could get from a real change in temp) would say electrical fault to me.

Intermittent electrical faults do happen like that. I had an indicator bulb on my bike fail about a year ago. I took it out, gave it a couple of taps, and its been working fine ever since!

In reply to MarkJH:


I will. Part of me says it's time to get rid, but then it's such a brilliant car to leave at a crag all day because one look at it by the local toe-rag says 'nothing worth nicking here' and for similar reasons, not worth vandalising either. Plus it's usually so reliable (broken jubilee clips aside).

In reply to Andy Morley:

Where in the cooling system is the sender? Aren't they usually on the cylinder head? Could easily have been damaged by an overheat.

In reply to Rigid Raider:


Good point.

In reply to Andy Morley:

Electrics, possibly make specific (check the wiring diagram)

Not really fitting the description but maybe....is the fan coming on when hot?

In reply to Scarab9:


That's a really good point - I had a look at it when I stopped after the temp. guauge went to zero and that time, the fan wasn't on. But then it's a biggish, reasonably powerful engine that only really ticks along, the way I drive (years of running beaten-up old vehicles makes me cautious about putting my foot down ever) and so I wouln't necessarily ever expect it to get that hot. Do you know of a way to test this? The temperature gauge never seems to go higher than about two thirds, which it normally creeps up to over the first couple of miles of driving, though the heaters never get properly hot until some time after the gauge hits that point. I'm wondering if anyone here can tell me any circumstances when I could guarantee that the fan should be going, given it's still March and that ambient air temperatures aren't that high so far.

In reply to Andy Morley:

Can only comment on motorbikes, but maybe you can pour boiling water over the sender, when engine already warmed up, if fan stays off sumnat is wrong. Check/clean contacts for sender, fan, etc.

On my CX500, I checked the sender by taking it out, putting it in a pan, connecting to a multimeter, and boiling it...but you may be cheaper just to repkace if it's a fiver, car parts are.

alternatively, you could wire the fan directly, through a toggle switch in the car, and switch on the fan when the temp goes up. Or at least temporarily bypass the sender so you know the fan works.

This is getting a bit like my OTHER forum! I can't imagine them EVER discussing climbing!

In reply to BrendanO:

Thanks, I'll try this. I'm going to mothball the car but I want to make sure it's good to go when the day comes that I might need it. Off to buy a new 'un tomorrow. Well, new-ish, for me that is. 2009 - there's modern....