Omega Owners Forum

Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: daley on 23 January 2009, 00:29:12

Title: Elite dumped coolant at 55-60 mph
Post by: daley on 23 January 2009, 00:29:12

Hi all.

I was driving home from work tonight and came to overtake a slower car at around 45-50, The car hit kick down as usual and then dumped all the coolant in the process.
It looked like a white cloud behind me :)
I parked up pretty much straight away and opened the bonnet to see the engine smoking.
There were no unusual noises or warnings from the car prior to this with only low coolant warning after.
Is it possible for the HBV to pop?
Any ideas welcome as I have had to leave the car on a side road near my place of work.

Thanks in advance.

Oh and to the nice police officer in the BMW estate if you are on here I wasnt trying to burn it.....yet :)

Title: Re: Elite dumped coolant at 55-60 mph
Post by: belldarr on 23 January 2009, 05:15:05

Hi there - it sounds like you popped a hose off somewhere, or one has split -  maybe at the back of the engine where the HBV lives but I guess it would be hard to tell with all that steam etc etc - have a good look in daylight but I am sure you will be back on the road soon if you managed to pull over very quickly - AA or RAC etc should be able to help.   :y


Regards

Darren

Title: Re: Elite dumped coolant at 55-60 mph
Post by: Entwood on 23 January 2009, 09:54:31

Agreed , you've probably split a hose or similar, HBV's don't seem to give way in one fell swoop.. good look in daylight should find the problem, and with luck you've not "cooked" anything.

Minor point ...  your avatar is a tad wide and covers the first part of all your posts ...  max size should be 110 x 110 .. :(

Title: Re: Elite dumped coolant at 55-60 mph
Post by: daley on 23 January 2009, 13:48:04

I have just been back to the car and gave it a once over.
It looks like the rocker gaskets are leaking at the back near the hbv causing the smoke so at a guess the breathers are blocked, must have been the foot down that pushed them over the limit..
The other thing I cant figure though is why it lost roughly 1 litre of water at the same time. At least it wasn't all of the water like I first thought.

Managed to get the thing home (15 miles) with no bother except the smoke coming out from under the bonnet at stands still.
Its amazing how far away people stay when they think your car is on fire :)

Thanks for the replies, I will be getting the car looked at on Monday so know for certain whats wrong.

Fixed the avatar now Entwood, thanks for the heads up.

Title: Re: Elite dumped coolant at 55-60 mph
Post by: Entwood on 23 January 2009, 17:30:55

Rocker cover (Cam cover) gaskets and breathers you can do your self, allow about 5 hours for the first time.. it is easy on the drivers side .. trickier on the passenger side.. the guide tells you "how to" .. and when it tells you to remove the cable guide ... DO IT ... I thought .. nah I'll be ok .. but then had to do the passenger side all over ... :(

Tie the cable bundle to the bonnet support strut to keep it out of the damned way !!

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1152564281

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1159298765

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1152598350

These are the guides you need ... I printed them off and had them by the car ... next time I did it I laminated them .... I could then clip them to something to stop them blowing away !!

Not a difficult spannering job ... just a little awkward the first time

Title: Re: Elite dumped coolant at 55-60 mph
Post by: daley on 23 January 2009, 19:33:17

Thats a mass of info there mate thanks a lot.
Seriously considering doing the job myself if work will give me the time off, will do some creeping to the boss :)
All printed just in case.

Title: Re: Elite dumped coolant at 55-60 mph
Post by: daley on 30 January 2009, 22:36:36

Time for an update.
Rocker gaskets done and good job too as there was loads and loads of silicone sealer on the joint.
Oil leak now cured but now the thing has a water leak from the back end of the engine  :'(
Going to change the HBV as matter of course at least to eliminate it as the source of the leak.

Its driving me mad cos I cant use the miggy.

Title: Re: Elite dumped coolant at 55-60 mph
Post by: Turk on 30 January 2009, 22:52:03

Quote

Time for an update.
Rocker gaskets done and good job too as there was loads and loads of silicone sealer on the joint.
Oil leak now cured but now the thing has a water leak from the back end of the engine  :'(
Going to change the HBV as matter of course at least to eliminate it as the source of the leak.

Its driving me mad cos I cant use the miggy.

I had a leak that appeared to running out from the bell-housing. Traced the leak to a hose that runs just under the screen area in the engine bay