Noticed temp gauge needle skipping to the right from dead centre. Quickly(matter of seconds) followed by swift surge to the red. Stopped engine (in traffic). Managed to pull over.
Opened bonnet to discover the pulleys, belt and driver's side of engine bay front and rear soaked in coolant. No steam and no puddle under car. Expansion tank was empty. Kept poking around in case a hose had popped off but there was no puddle.
Turns out that the long hose running from the bottom of the expansion tank, along the inner wing and down to the bottom of the rad had been worn through in one particular place.
Where this hose takes a vertical dive it had come into contact with the front, topmost belt pulley and had been ever so slightly sliced through so as to create a pinprick sized hole in the hose. Thus explaining the location of escaped (whole expansion tank contents) coolant in the bay. It had been chucked front to rear by the belt.
This is a very long hose and tricky to find on-line. I managed to cut out one inch of hose where the hole was and fitted a four inch aluminium auto heater tube (fits perfectly one inch into both ends, making sure to burr the edges) to join both ends back together again. Secured with Jubilees this was a 15 minute job under the bonnet. Took a while longer to identify though
Check that hose chaps! It sits very close to the pulley.......
Opened bonnet to discover the pulleys, belt and driver's side of engine bay front and rear soaked in coolant. No steam and no puddle under car. Expansion tank was empty. Kept poking around in case a hose had popped off but there was no puddle.
Turns out that the long hose running from the bottom of the expansion tank, along the inner wing and down to the bottom of the rad had been worn through in one particular place.
Where this hose takes a vertical dive it had come into contact with the front, topmost belt pulley and had been ever so slightly sliced through so as to create a pinprick sized hole in the hose. Thus explaining the location of escaped (whole expansion tank contents) coolant in the bay. It had been chucked front to rear by the belt.
This is a very long hose and tricky to find on-line. I managed to cut out one inch of hose where the hole was and fitted a four inch aluminium auto heater tube (fits perfectly one inch into both ends, making sure to burr the edges) to join both ends back together again. Secured with Jubilees this was a 15 minute job under the bonnet. Took a while longer to identify though
Check that hose chaps! It sits very close to the pulley.......
