Is it safe to drive with the coolant light on if the temperature gauge is in the safety zone ?

[freddiemercurystwin]

 

[whall3y]

when I drove my car home this morning the 3 miles although it was leaking water it was still showed cold on the thermostat gauge so I assume it didnt overheat ? is this correct ?

Depends how much coolant you lost and how hot it got... Overheating can cause major (i.e. terminal) problems. I would not have advised driving if you knew it was losing water, what could have been a minor hose leak may now be a gasket failure due to the overheating.

Of course you have a history of making bizarre motoring choices to put you, the wider public, and of course your car at risk of death.

 

[Rightboy91]

Depends how much coolant you lost and how hot it got... Overheating can cause major (i.e. terminal) problems. I would not have advised driving if you knew it was losing water, what could have been a minor hose leak may now be a gasket failure due to the overheating.

Of course you have a history of making bizarre motoring choices to put you, the wider public, and of course your car at risk of death.

but according to the temperature gauge the car did not overheat, the temperature gauge remained at the bottom ....

 

[whall3y]

but according to the temperature gauge the car did not overheat, the temperature gauge remained at the bottom ....

OK it is fine, it did not overheat.... Actually it has probably improved the car performance and your MPG will be much improved. You may find that the brakes are far improved. The paint work will gleam. Is that what you wanted to hear?

 

[Rightboy91]

OK it is fine, it did not overheat.... Actually it has probably improved the car performance and your MPG will be much improved. You may find that the brakes are far improved. The paint work will gleam. Is that what you wanted to hear?

All I am saying/asking is what I was always told to be true, if the car is overheating then the temperature gauge will go onto the danger zone/red to indicated overheating. are you implying this is no longer the case ? if so then what is the need/cause of the temperature gauge ??

 

[ninjacat]

[QUOTE="Burnerman, post: 4779953,

The temperature gauge - if fitted- relies on the sensor being immersed in coolant. If there’s no coolant the gauge drops to cold, and it could be too late by then to save the cylinder head gasket.
John [/QUOTE]

May be pertinent.

 

[magicmushroom666]

It could have been an airlock from filling up, which only then cleared when being driven, or when the thermostat opened and took a big gulp of water from the tank.

 

[EddieM]

If there's no coolant then and the temp sensor is sensing the coolant temperature, then there's nothing to sense so will read as cold whilst the engine is merrily overheating, I think John informed you of this several posts ago.

EDIT: I see your attention has already been drawn to John's post.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Cylinder head gasket!

Scrap it!!

Andy

 

[johnny2007]

I'm taking bets about how many pages this thread will clock...

 

[HERTS P&D]

We must make it to 10 pages.........................

Andy

 

[Lower]

I then took it for a 20 minute drive tonight and just as I was nearing home the coolant light came on and I checked and the bottle was empty. IS this anything to be concerned about ro possibly just air lock ?

If you did properly seal the leak then one of two things has happened:

1.You had an airlock which cleared itself which allowed the coolant system to fill from the expansion bottle. If this is the case then you can top it up again and you won't lose any more coolant.
2. You have cooked the heat gasket and the engine is now not worth repairing.

How did you seal the leak? If you sealed it with sealant from the outside then you'll probably find that when the system is pressurised it leaks again.

Ironically, you did the right thing by driving home with the rad cap off. Without pressure in the system it would have leaked more slowly.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I'm taking bets about how many pages this thread will clock...

Or lock.

 

[Rightboy91]

It could have been an airlock from filling up, which only then cleared when being driven, or when the thermostat opened and took a big gulp of water from the tank.

hi, thanks for that information.

I have refilled the bottle 5 times yet the coolant bottle goes empty each time within a few miles...

 

[Rightboy91]

If you did properly seal the leak then one of two things has happened:

1.You had an airlock which cleared itself which allowed the coolant system to fill from the expansion bottle. If this is the case then you can top it up again and you won't lose any more coolant.
2. You have cooked the heat gasket and the engine is now not worth repairing.

How did you seal the leak? If you sealed it with sealant from the outside then you'll probably find that when the system is pressurised it leaks again.

Ironically, you did the right thing by driving home with the rad cap off. Without pressure in the system it would have leaked more slowly.

thank you Lower..

I have refilled the coolant bottle about 5 times but each time after a few miles the bottle is empty again..

I sealed the leak of the coolant pipe with proper sealant from car shop. The old pipe was not even leaking it just looked corroded and rusty which I found out its just surface rust and common on these engines on those pipes. I didn't even need change pipe in first place.

there seems to be so leaking for that pipe, everything seems dry and if it was leaking Id see it under the car ( no under trary fitted ) also it only seems happen under load not idling. at idle the level in the bottle seems steady and doesn't reduce.

I am consideirng if the hg has gone, to fix it myself. I would take my time with it and buy a cheap run around car to get me back and forth while fixing this one.