Engine Has Died

[coombsfh 2]

I was just driving my car...Hard, well very hard.

 

The Stop (oblong at top middle of dash) light came on and i immediately slowed down and did the 2 miles to home after a short break for the light to go off.

 

My Findings were:

>The water temp was through the roof so (somewhat stupidly) I released the cap on the header tank and water, hot water gushed everywhere for about 30 secs.

>I then refilled the header/expansion tank, left it a minute or two and then attempted a start.

>It did start but sounded horrendous and died shortly after.

>the oil pressure gauge is reading low, With the low pressure warning light on and the water temp gauge is reading in the middle BUT the warning light at the top is on permanently.

 

I have left the car to cool off and i am unsure what has happened. It sounds incredibly rough to start then perks right up then dies.

 

What have i done?

 

Please advise, any help greatly apreciated

 

many thanks

Fred

[PsychoSimon 0]

how do you mean rough? knocking or just poor running?

Any smoke? wierd smells?

[Guest RickGTIBaker]

Wait to see whats happened, once cooled, bleed the coolant system FULLY.

 

Check oil and if all seems ok, start up. report back the findings.

[TEKNOPUG 3]

Blown head gasket?

Blown rings?

 

If you've got hueg engine temps and low oil pressure then it sounds pretty catstrophic to be honest

 

Do not start the engine with low/no oil - you'll destroy it in no time.

[coombsfh 2]

There was no smoke.

 

Please could you advise on how one might bleed the coolant system?

 

I have just checked oil level, that is fine. The breather pipes leading from the oil filler cap are perished and shot to pieces, does this hint at anything?

 

I have not tried to start it again but in my haste to refill the water i used a bucket full of cold water and splashed the alternator which i just removed and dried.

 

I am not mechanically minded and am only 17 so any advice on what could be the matter is greatly appreciated.

 

many thanks for advice this far.

 

fred

[Guest RickGTIBaker]

It'll run like a bag of spanners if your gushing water has dampened your leads!!!

 

Cough - Cough - Splutter!

 

Agreed with Teknopug though, Low oil pressure is a worry, unless you have magnatec in it and i'll not be surprised by low pressure, mines 100% the same!

 

OK, here's the deal then.

 

On the Bulkhead there is a pipe with a nipple on it, one infront of the dizzy on a pipe too. these need opening to allow air out as you fil.

 

The crap running will be your wet leads and alike. reason for the overheat will be either a nasty little internal problem, or something like a pants radiator.

 

If it cant cool enough, this'll happen.

[smckeown 1]

was the oil pressure low on idle or when driving ? A compression check would be useful

[Guest shane]

Adding cold water to a hot engine could crack a head

[coombsfh 2]

I am giving up on it this evening.

 

I will let it settle, cool right off and then get someone over tomorrow to look at it.

 

I hope it is not catastrophic but if the worst comes to the worst then a new engine will be on the cards and an excellent oportunity to drop a 1.9 into it.

 

what is a head gasket to replace?

 

Many thanks to all who have helped.

 

Fred

[Guest RickGTIBaker]

Let it dry, replace the shot pipes and breathers and it'll be right.

 

Sounds nothing more than a poor rad and a numpty opening a hot water cap

[coombsfh 2]

The wounded beast is being laid to rest for the night to dry off, cool off and hopefully get well.

 

What i don't quite understand is how it ran fine when mega hot but as soon as it was stopped and the water had exploded from beneath the cap and then been replenished it wouldn't go.

 

Status update

>oil pressure very low still

>water temp normal but warning light on (what does this mean?)

>Car refusing to start

>when it started it sounded like a tractor

>alternator dried off and no joy.

>leads being left to dry

>contemplating phase one 1900 transplant

 

>frustrated as i am running out of time and money and i am mightily sure that sod's law had sometinh to do with this as i just got 4 new F1's to fit and now the car is dead.

 

Ah the joys of pug ownership

 

Live and learn

 

Many thanks

 

Merry evening to everyone who has been helpful, greatly appreciated.

 

Fred

[hengti 2]

it's not sounding good unfortunately

 

the warning light might still be on because of the low oil pressure - how low is it on the gauge? i guess you won't be able to tell again until the engine is running

 

it sounds like hg failure to me - except for the oil pressure issue - ?

 

have got got water in your oil?

 

if it is the hg, it'd likely cost in the region of £500 to have a garage fix it - s/h engine is probably a better bet

[coombsfh 2]

Though drastic sounding i fear that is sound advice chap.

 

many thanks

 

fred

[ALEX 98 1 Cars]

By a compression tester (£11ish) to check for any engine damage.

Edited September 3, 2006 by ALEX

[luggy 13]

Hi Coombs

If the stop light is still on with the engine cool DO NOT START IT. It sounds like youve HG problem or even worse cooked the head which means that there is now a hole in it which would show a loss in compression and thats why your engine wont start and sounds really rough. With the engine cold and the stop light still illuminated that indicates that there is a possible problem in the bottom end it may be possible that water has got into the combustion and down into the sump and thinned ur oil thats why ur possibly getting low oil pressure. Do a compression test as Alex suggested and see what results you get.

 

Luggy

Edited September 3, 2006 by luggy

[Guest RickGTIBaker]

Im not convinced, at all the HG has gone.

 

If it had it would of smoked like never before!

 

The lad took his cap off, expansion tank cap, therefore the HOT water and steam would of soaked the nearby components.

 

LEADS, DIZZY, COIL. These wet will make it run horrid and do the crappy start up's he's getting.

 

Mine runs hot, but what is HOT in your book? Mine runs 2 white clicks from red. The STOP light could be alsorts too.

 

 

PRessure WILL NOT build until it is running right either, you'll get some but not alot. What grade oil is it, mainly - how old is the oil?

 

Dry it out completely, relax and have a cuppa. I doubt it's as bad as it seems.

 

One last thing, How much water did you force into it after it had boiled? There is a slight possibility it cracked it, but it would still run.

[willxs 0]

head gaskets dont always smoke alot... cant remember mine doing so. it depends which part of the gasket has gone i guess.....

 

theres always a good possibility of the HG as the water shouldnt be that pressured. and if it was just the rings, wouldnt it be losing pressure from the cooling system?

[sorr 0]

If you get stuck give me shout and I can pop over and see if I can help. But as said dry off all the ignition components and go from there. Start with the basics, do you have spark, fuel and compression?

[pugrallye 0]

Blown Head gaskets do not necessarily go at cylinder bore, would be very advisory to fully bleed cooling system through, check oil for any water in it, then start it up and let it idle whilst you check everything, if its serious it will become apparent rather quickly! LEaving coolant cap off while you idle it and feel for any excessive pressure, and do the same at the dipstick tube, (you will get a bit of pressure, bit of a tricky one to describe!) And opening up an expansion tank cap whilst system is pressurised is a bit silly, remember when by old boss did that, and he had his face in a bucket of cold water for three hours after!

Edited September 4, 2006 by pugrallye

[coombsfh 2]

Progress Update

I have tried again to start it in vain.

The wather temp is very low now (cool engine) but the warning light is still lit at the top of the scale even though the needle is almost at the other end.

The oil pressure is still low and the warning light is still lit, even with only ignition on.

plan to bleed the coolant system once i know how and then try again.

 

Many thanks to all who have advised or helped, really appreciated

fred

[pugrallye 0]

your oil/ water warning lights will be on if your igntion is just switched on, are they on with engine running? and which water light is on? the one at the end of the temp gauge or the radiator light in the middle of the speedo/revcounter?

[coombsfh 2]

The one on the temp gauge is on, the stop light is on, the oil gauge low pressure light is on and i found one of the two bleed screws but cant find the second.

 

many thanks, do you have a phone no i can ring?

Understand if you dont want to divulge it.

 

fred

 

EDIT-The engine will not run at all currently so i dont know if they are on when running or not-EDIT

Edited September 4, 2006 by coombsfh

[sorr 0]

I would not worry about the bleed screw at the moment. I think that you should get the engine running for a few seconds first, as you need the engine running to bleed teh system. Also I have only ever needed to use one bleed screw, namely the one on the heater pipes that goes through the bulkhead and is found at the rear of the engine.

 

I also would not wory about the stop lights being on and the oil pressure being low as these will not go out until the engine runs.

[jackherer 543]

you are seeing the low oil pressure, stop light AND water temp lights because you have low oil pressure, the water temp light always comes on with the stop light for some reason known only to Peugeot.

[Rob_the_Sparky 9]

Are we looking at a faulty warning light plus water all over the electrics here?

 

Could also be looking at a loose crank bolt resulting in low oil pressure + water all over the electrics.

 

As Kieran says for reasons only known to Pug should you get low oil pressure all the lights come on so there was probably never a problem with the water system (although there my be now as cold water in a hot engine isn't a good move).

 

Rob