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Storm77

Help!...smells expensive!

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Whilst driving the C this morning, I noticed that whenever the car was stationary, acrid smoke was coming from under the bonnet. When I pulled over and flipped the bonnet, I noticed that the coolant was really low and smoke was coming from the back of the engine behind the rocker cover (above the exhaust manifold). Topped up the coolant, drove ten minutes down the road and the smoke came back. Lost about half litre of coolant again and when the engine was turned off could hear a quiet suction noise coming from where the smoke was being emitted.

 

Could it just be a split hose leaking onto oily bits on the manifold causing steam or could it be something worse?!

 

What should I do today?...take it to the stealers down the road?

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Bet you a pint it's the rubber hose that goes from the head to the heater matrix split down by the head..

 

Mine did the same thing.

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Bet you a pint it's the rubber hose that goes from the head to the heater matrix split down by the head..

 

Mine did the same thing.

 

Sounds bout right. Did you do the repairs yourself or did a garage do it? - how much did it set you back? I'll need to add on the cost of a pint! :)

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The hose is about £40 from the dealer, but I got a local garage to replace it. You have to take the cable guides off the top of the engine, and then the hose clips can be kinda fiddly. I didn't have time to faff around, needed it sorted...

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It might not brake the bank...but it's still a bugga that they can charge £40 for a rubber hose...Gits :roll:

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After 10 years of VW ownership, nothing on the pricelist suprises me anymore!..think £120 for a boot carpet for my MK2 Golf was the best!....got it for a tenner from the scrappy in the end!

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The hose has a flow restrictor, and a branch rubber welded into the middle of it. I think that's why they think they can justify the expense.

There's another one that costs about £120, much bigger, with many more junctions ...

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Just got her back from the garage. You were right dr_mat, it was the exact part you mentioned!...big split in the hose. I've been advised to watch the water levels over the next few weeks cos there may have been some engine damage......is this likely? I only drove it 15 minutes in the pissing rain, then a few hours later for another 10 minutes to the garage. Surely I couldn't have cooked the head gasket in that short period????? :?

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Doubt it. Did you lose much coolant? Mine got down to the point where the light came on on the dash, I'd lost a litre or more by that point, but I basically saw the light (erm, as it were), killed the ignition and coasted to a lay-by. I've had no further problems..

 

Oh btw, that hose often goes first, but it's also often helped on it's way by sloppy engine mounts. Primary one to go it seems is the gearbox one, resulting in lots of engine movement on the overrun, pulling on that hose and weakening it..

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The light started flashing just as I rolled into the garage. Probably lost about a litre. For some reason the light doesn't start flashing on mine until the level's about 2 inches from the bottom of the header tank - surely it should flash when it goes past the minimum marking?

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Oh btw, that hose often goes first, but it's also often helped on it's way by sloppy engine mounts. Primary one to go it seems is the gearbox one, resulting in lots of engine movement on the overrun, pulling on that hose and weakening it..

 

Its gotta be said, that was spot on! Just looked at the advisory note on the receipt saying that the rear gearbox engine mount is worn. So that was probably the cause of the split! You certainly deserve your doctorate, doctor.

 

Engine mounts next then.

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