There a hole in my expansion tank dear liza

Guys

Just purchased a 2002 Micra Tempest as a runaround. Condition is generally good but I've noticed that it get up to temperature very quickly. Further investigation reveals a 10p sized hole in the radiator expansion bottle? I've also noticed that the bottom hose from the radiator is not getting hot which tends to suggest to me that there is no water circulating around the engine :(

Changed the thermostat this morning but having just tested the old one, it worked perfectly. I really do need some words of advice here. Do I need to replace the expansion bottle and if I do, has the hole been punched to hide a more sinister fault? Be gentle with the replies Guys
 
Guys

Just purchased a 2002 Micra Tempest as a runaround. Condition is generally good but I've noticed that it get up to temperature very quickly. Further investigation reveals a 10p sized hole in the radiator expansion bottle? I've also noticed that the bottom hose from the radiator is not getting hot which tends to suggest to me that there is no water circulating around the engine :(

Changed the thermostat this morning but having just tested the old one, it worked perfectly. I really do need some words of advice here. Do I need to replace the expansion bottle and if I do, has the hole been punched to hide a more sinister fault? Be gentle with the replies Guys
Is it just getting up to temp quickly or is it overheating? Maybe as you have just got the car you aren't used to how quick it warms up compared to other cars you have experience with? Bottom hose usually doesn't get too hot, it carries COOLED coolant from the radiator, hot coolant goes in the top :)
 
OP
OP
Yowfailed
Top hose appears to get 'Warm' rather than really hot. Left the car running this morning whilst parked outside the house in an attempt to get it really hot. The top hose didn't really get that hot, the radiator didn't get hot at all and when the fan did come on it didn't go off again :(
I fear that all is not right with the Micra. As for the hole in the expansion bottle, how can the system pressurise with the hole?
 

frank

Club Member
Top hose appears to get 'Warm' rather than really hot. Left the car running this morning whilst parked outside the house in an attempt to get it really hot. The top hose didn't really get that hot, the radiator didn't get hot at all and when the fan did come on it didn't go off again :(
I fear that all is not right with the Micra. As for the hole in the expansion bottle, how can the system pressurise with the hole?
it does,nt pressurise (the radcap is pressurised), its made from eggshell, and renowned for disintegrating, its just a catch tank and there is a rubber 1 way valve in the cap to allow the coolant to return
 
Top hose appears to get 'Warm' rather than really hot. Left the car running this morning whilst parked outside the house in an attempt to get it really hot. The top hose didn't really get that hot, the radiator didn't get hot at all and when the fan did come on it didn't go off again :(
I fear that all is not right with the Micra. As for the hole in the expansion bottle, how can the system pressurise with the hole?
Have you checked coolant level? Does heater get hot? Or heater hoses that go through bulkhead? Possible airlock? Any running problems at all?
 
OP
OP
Yowfailed
Guys
Never experienced anything like this before :confused: Heater pipes through bulkhead get hot and heater works perfectly. Top hose gets reasonably hot but actual rad always feels cold. Bottom hose is always cold. Gauge inside the car shows in the middle. There is however a slight tell tale smell of burning water occasionally. Am I being paranoid here??
 
Guys
Never experienced anything like this before :confused: Heater pipes through bulkhead get hot and heater works perfectly. Top hose gets reasonably hot but actual rad always feels cold. Bottom hose is always cold. Gauge inside the car shows in the middle. There is however a slight tell tale smell of burning water occasionally. Am I being paranoid here? I found that when I was having cooling problems with my 10 that the heater was a really good indicator when something wasn't quite right, your heater sounds ok, maybe it is a bit of 'new car paranoia' Smell of burning water? What is your exhaust smoke like? Any white smoke or sweet anti-freeze smell?
 
OP
OP
Yowfailed
Surely you've experienced the horrible stale burning smell just before the car boils over, or maybe not :) Nothing at all wrong with the car in terms of heater function, no smoke etc etc. Just the water pipes under the bonnet and the strange way in which they get hot, or not as the case may be. Oh, and the hole in the expansion tank. Other than that a great little runner apart from the return spring in the gearbox, doesn't spring the gear lever to the natural position of 3rd-4th if you know what I mean.
 

r-reg-sr

-------
Site Supporter
see if you get the bubles with rad cap off and start eng from cold. could be loose hose clips air getting in / out. i got that smell when that happend
 

Guy

Has gone over to the oily side...
Club Member
Sounds to me like the water pump's on it's way out if the hot water's not getting through the rad properly?
 
OP
OP
Yowfailed
Thanks for all your replies Guys, much appreciated. I think its gonna be a suck it and see :rolleyes: The gearbox return spring is annoying though.........
 
OP
OP
Yowfailed
Just received a very informative message from pollyp via another thread where I asked this specific question. Soooooo easy, thanks MicraPro. Having said that i've just spoken with a mechanic thats usually ok. He said that the spring was inside the gearbox so it would be expensive :(
What do they really know...........
 

MicraPRO

Part Of The Furniture
Well i might not be in the trade now due to redundancy but I'm still a mechanic... Yh there expensive if bought brand new I live and breathe for the breakers yards tho :)
Anything I can help with just drop a message.
 
OP
OP
Yowfailed
By 'What do they know' I did mean the mechanic I took the car to, not you ;) I really need to get this gearbox looked at with regard to the return spring. Strangely the gearbox is quite free when its cold but when it warms up it gets a little sticky. I know that to get the spring done I need access to a ramp, and there's the problem. Any help you can off MicraPRO would be welcome.
 
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