Car Coolant empty

Nozebleed

Hey lads just had a major (hopefully minor) issue occur..went for a short spin earlier 3km or so and parked the car up for 1hour or so...when i stated the car up the coolant indicator was on..
i had a look and to my shock the coolant was empty..completely empty not a drop..just a puddle beneath the engine. so i drove to halfords (at no stage did the car overheat) and bought 5L of coolant,while there i filled the resevoir in the hope id make it home..but the stuff just pissed out from somewhere beneath the engine..by the time i got to the end of the shopping centre car park the coolant was gone again. so i refilled and ran the engine to have a loo where it was leaking..hoping it was a hose or something that could be fixed quick and cheap! but i cant find the exact spot where the coolant is leaking out. anyone got any idea what might have happened.

the oil level is fine.
car has not overheated.
basically its not retaining coolant,which is leaking from beneath the fly wheel area/timing belt area.

thanks.

wildefalcon

Well, it depends. Help us a bit: Some information is needed.

Firstly: What type of car is it, what engine, what age?

dgt

First, what car is it and what year?

Second, you better hope you haven't an alu head or any heat will warp it into oblivion

Third, don't even think of starting it without coolant

wildefalcon

Also = if there's no coolant then the gauge may not work - they measure the coolant temp, no coolant, no temp!

Nozebleed

wildefalcon wrote: »

Well, it depends. Help us a bit: Some information is needed.

Firstly: What type of car is it, what engine, what age?

ok..

Opel Vectra 2008,1.6L

please no scaremongering!! it christmas!

Nozebleed

Lads i took a pic if this helps.

Alanstrainor

Nozebleed wrote: »

ok..

Opel Vectra 2008,1.6L

please no scaremongering!! it christmas!

Its not scaremongering, but driving without coolant is a sure way to kill an engine.

DO NOT TURN THE CAR ON! You're going to have to get someone to look at this who knows what they're looking for. Could be anything really, you can google around about that specific model/engine and try and see yourself, but in all honesty, you're just going to have to get a mechanic to look at it regardless.

Nozebleed

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Its not scaremongering, but driving without coolant is a sure way to kill an engine.

DO NOT TURN THE CAR ON! You're going to have to get someone to look at this who knows what they're looking for. Could be anything really, you can google around about that specific model/engine and try and see yourself, but in all honesty, you're just going to have to get a mechanic to look at it regardless.

yep..i understand. it would be nice to get a rough idea of what the problem is so i can attempt to sound like i know what the story is when i have a mechanic look it over. y'know.

dgt

Hard to tell from that pic what's going on. How does the rad look from the front?

Nozebleed wrote: »

ok..

Opel Vectra 2008,1.6L

please no scaremongering!! it christmas!

It's not scaremongering, it's the reality

The head warps, gasket becomes weak and blows between cylinders

Technoprisoner

probably water pump is gone

cml387

Waterpump, surely?

Nozebleed

cml387 wrote: »

Waterpump, surely?

water pump? would that cause the coolant to empty?

arleitiss

Nozebleed wrote: »

water pump? would that cause the coolant to empty?

I thought if water pump is broken - the coolant wont circulate = not heating up = no coolant light?

toyotaavensis

it would if it was leaking

Nozebleed

lol. thanks guys. i'll check it out in the morning..much appreciated

Technoprisoner

when the bearing collapses on the water pump the coolant will come out through that....did you notice a different noise coming from the engine bay over the last while?

cml387

Not sure about the Vectra, but if it's the water pump it might be worth changing the timing belt as well if it hasn't been done recently.

Nozebleed

not really..to be honest. i did give a friend of mine a jump start about a week ago! would that have caused the water pump to blow by chance? lesson learned if that was the case.

Alanstrainor

Nozebleed wrote: »

not really..to be honest. i did give a friend of mine a jump start about a week ago! would that have caused the water pump to blow by chance? lesson learned if that was the case.

Nope. Wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference. May have been due to be changed, or it could have failed prematurely.

Nozebleed

cml387 wrote: »

Not sure about the Vectra, but if it's the water pump it might be worth changing the timing belt as well if it hasn't been done recently.

The car currently has 135K. changed the timing belt on 92K. would it be wise to change it again do you think?

cml387

Nozebleed wrote: »

The car currently has 135K. changed the timing belt on 92K. would it be wise to change it again do you think?

Ask the garage. It depends on whether it is the water pump that's faulty,and whether it requires removal of the timing belt:D

Nozebleed

Just to end the thread. Mechanic confirmed the water pump had failed. Total cost for parts and repairs €105. + 30 for coolant. No need to remove or replace timing belt either which is a bonus. Thanks for the replies..much apprecited.