total coolant loss engine damage ?

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crickard33
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total coolant loss engine damage ?

Post by crickard33 »

Hi everyone,

We took our bus out dg1.9 drove for about 10mins, I noticed the temp gauge was a little higher than normal but only maybe 5mm further to the right, oil light came on at low revs but drove as normal.
When we got back I checked and found no coolant in the header or expansion tank, the engine was hot so allowed it to cool.
I found a pipe to the radiators clip had corroded and so the pipe had pushed off, so we lost all coolant fast.

Obviously I don't know when this happened, as the temp gauge did not move much.

So is my temp gauge faulty, always rises to middle, obviously sensor or light is not working as it did not come on, and what damage could have been done to the engine, as it must have been hotter than the gauge showed.
There is signs of small amount of oil spots on engine, before it was clean

It seems fine if I start it no smoke, have I got lucky ?

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Ian Hulley
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Re: total coolant loss engine damage ?

Post by Ian Hulley »

crickard33 wrote: oil light came on at low revs but drove as normal.

These vans aren't some modern run-around that have warning lights you can ignore. You do NOT drive round with the oil light on :shock: You need to do daily checks on the fluids until you know your van really well and get to know it's ways and then maybe change that to weekly checks depending on consumption.

You need to put the vehicle details in your signature so we know how old the van is (OK, so from reading your previous posts you have a 1987 van) ... on a late cooling system the level indicator should have flashed when the coolant dropped below the end of the prongs.

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Re: total coolant loss engine damage ?

Post by CovKid »

Had a boil-out myself 3-4 years ago. Runs fine albeit lumpy at idle, but the almost certain damage is to head seals. The rubber gets over-cooked. Mine tends to seep now as engine cools down but I keep everything topped up and it runs ok - until I do a conversion. In other words, you MAY get away with it.
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Re: total coolant loss engine damage ?

Post by crickard33 »

Many thanks.

Seems to run fine at idle, I will be keeping an eye on the oil level now, and will change all the clips, and sort the sensor light out .
The oil light only came on in this trip obviously oil had thinned so low pressure

Chris

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Re: total coolant loss engine damage ?

Post by bigherb »

crickard33 wrote:
So is my temp gauge faulty,
No, it measures water temperature, no water nothing to measure accurately.
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Re: total coolant loss engine damage ?

Post by crickard33 »

That's what I thought , so I just need to sort the low level water light, so I don't get caught out again,

Many thanks

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Re: total coolant loss engine damage ?

Post by T25Convert »

crickard33 wrote: The oil light only came on in this trip obviously oil had thinned so low pressure

You might of got lucky, you might not, only time is likely to tell. Engine life expectancy will definitely be reduced though, as once the low oil pressure light is on, bad things are happening internally. When the oil light is on, oil pressure is dropping past the point at which full hydrodynamic lubrication occurs - i.e. the rotating parts are no longer sliding separated by a nice oily film, but are potentially just starting to contact with each other. Bearing wear ensues, along with more heat and more wear and more oil thinning etc etc etc.

A lot will depend on why the oil light came on - was it the oil overheating and loosing viscosity, or was it the bearings suffering overheating which has cause some premature wear and hence lower idle oil pressure? Unfortunately no way of knowing.

All the doom and gloom aside, the oil in the engine is cooked, so needs changing before you drive it again.
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Re: total coolant loss engine damage ?

Post by crickard33 »

And in reply to Ian, we are on holiday going home tomorrow, checked oil and water before we left and when we arrived , went out for the day and did the same, went to the shop and it happened including oil light.

I have personally changed the coolant oil many times, replaced cracked header tank, radiator, fuel tank and breathers, full carb clean with rebuild kit,plugs leads etc, heater blower, new propex heater and water heater, fridge and many things I cant remember


But i would like to say you are correct in what you say, i was however asking for advice on the possible damage to the engine as i learnt a lot about our bus and believe she has a good original engine wth 120k on the clock, and obviously know what the cause of our issue was and the clip was near the gearbox and corroded from above, so could not see the problem

But
Many thanks chris

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Re: total coolant loss engine damage ?

Post by crickard33 »

Many thanks George,
Good information, need to get home about an hour away, going to chance it with cooked oil and water, we have rac cover , and will change oil , and coolant when we get back.

Many thanks for your time and information

Chris

Ps the oil light was only flickering at low revs and only happened in the last couple of mins so hopefully just oil thinning

But great information

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Re: total coolant loss engine damage ?

Post by T25Convert »

crickard33 wrote:Many thanks George,
Good information, need to get home about an hour away, going to chance it with cooked oil and water, we have rac cover , and will change oil , and coolant when we get back.

Many thanks for your time and information

Chris

Ps the oil light was only flickering at low revs and only happened in the last couple of mins so hopefully just oil thinning

But great information

Your current oil is almost certainly not providing the level of lubrication you would want or need it to. The oil light might go out, and the engine may run, but I think you run the risk of doing more damage than you might have already if you now drive it for an hour. If the oil light has come on through oil degradation, then the oil won't have fixed itself when its cooled, its now had it as it will have permanently rearranged itself in a less helpful layout on a molecular level.

Depending where you are I'd go very gently pulling low revs and low engine load to the nearest place selling oil and a washing up bowl (and suitable socket if you don't have one, but if you are quite handy I'd assume you have at least a travel tool kit with you), and for the sake of 10 minutes and less than £25 I'd drain out the old and refill with fresh. 1 litre drinks bottle cut open makes excellent funnel. Supermarkets, B&Q, Homebase, Wilko, Halfrauds, motor factors, some petrol stations, GSF and Eurocarparts are all scattered across the UK (in order of common-ness). Any 15x40 or 20w50 oil will do (without wishing to open an oil debate, its an emergency, any oil of around the right rating will do more than whats in there now!)

In a perfect world you'd do filter as well, but its not as critical as just getting some better lubrication back in the engine. I'd hate the next post to be that the oil light came back on more permanently coz then its not just new oil and a coolant flush, its new main bearings and big ends time and no one wants that....
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Re: total coolant loss engine damage ?

Post by crickard33 »

Yes we have been thinking the same, plotting a easier route home , and will pick up some oil on route, need g13 coolant as well or equivalent, had her running to check for leaks for about 20mins and then to top up behind number plate, about 10mm lower than max, no oil light but just on tick over with a little lite revving.

All seems ok at the moment but it may change on the road under a bit of load, so will do an oil change on route , supermarket close by , and Halfords about 15mins away.

Thanks again for the advice and your time , you never stop learning , I haven't been complacent with our bus and have always have a list of stuff to sort out, but a 50p hose clip and non working water light caught me right where it hurts

Well here's hoping we get home with our sally in one piece, and she gives us many more years of pleasure.

Ps i have always wanted to do a rebuild so if the worst happens I will have some fun , minus the expense obviously , and if the Mrs lets me

Thanks again

Chris

Made it home, no oil light before or after oil change.
So got lucky we hope

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Re: total coolant loss engine damage ?

Post by crickard33 »

Many thanks again for all the information,

I have today repaired the temp light which was not connected at the dash missing a nut to tighten the circuit ribbon to the lights positive, added engine flush and coolant flush ran for 20 mins and the refilled with both oil and coolant and got the air out only managed to get 10 ltr of coolant in, but that is all i have ever managed in any past refill, radiator hot to the top and heater matrix chucking out hot air so all good.

so now we have a flashing temp light as well as oil light and battery at startup, all go off after the engine starts , took it out for a run , over an hour drive in total all good, everything as it was , no flashing oil light at low revs, temp gauge bang on the middle , pulled over a few times to check levels, last time i pulled over i left the engine running, temp needle stayed still, fan didn't cut in so not hot but the temp light started flashing , pulled away and it went out.

checked the levels when i got back and down about 20mm on the expansion tank so topped it up .

not sure why the temp light was flashing at idle, i was on a hill front end up but will keep an eye on it.


kind regards

chris

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Re: total coolant loss engine damage ?

Post by RogerT »

Flashing temp light is meant to mean that the coolant is low (beyond the prongs of the sensor) in the main coolant tank with the dalek cap on (not the one behind the number plate). I’d advise you check the function of your coolant level sender - start the engine, then remove the connection from the top of the coolant level sender. After about 15 seconds the temp light should start flashing. The coolant in this tank should be absolutely brim full and as the coolant contracts it draws coolant from the tank behind the number plate (or pushes it in when it expands). So properly working dalek cap and leak free connections to tank behind new numberplate are needed. Then if you get a coolant level drop triggering the temp light, you know you have another problem... :|

(Sorry if you already knew all this)
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Re: total coolant loss engine damage ?

Post by nevill3 »

After doing some cleaning in my engine bay recently, my coolant level light began flashing intermittently. This was due to a slightly insecure/improper connection at the level sensor, so pulling the connector off and reseating it has cured the problem.
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crickard33
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Re: total coolant loss engine damage ?

Post by crickard33 »

Its all working as it should, temp good and water level correct, I was muck about with my speedo and as I have bodged the connection to the light it may have set it off .

Anyway I now have a temp light flashing when starting , as the oil and battery light did.

This has not been working like this since we bought the van 3 years ago,

Many thanks

Chris

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