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• Heater matrix pressure valve recall VW G 29 Nov 2004 (Forum)
  Hi all I've got a lot of condensation in the cabin of my VW Golf Mk2 GTI, there's a funny smell when the heater is turned on, and the coolant level is dropping. It doesn't take a genius to work out that there's something amiss with the heater matrix or associated plumbing. However, I have heard that the mk2s were subject to recall for a presure valve to be fitted to address a weakness with the matrix.
• White smoke from M Reg Astra 1.4 2 Aug 2004 (Forum)
  Having major problems with M Reg Astra 1.4. Was blowing out white smoke, going through hell of a lot of coolant and temperature gauge was hitting the red mark after only a few minutes stationary. Head gasket had blown so set about replacing it. Had head skimmed, replaced the thermostat, water pump, cam belt and used all new bolts tightened to the correct torque.
• cavalier derv cooling problem 28 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  The build up of pressure has forced a small leak in the car\'s radiator, which has been temporarily cured using \'Rad-Weld\'. Today I fitted a new thermostat, re-filled the coolant and ran the car with the heaters on hot, full fan speed. The offending hose still balloons and the system will not bleed itself, or allow me to do it. I can release the build up of pressure via the expansion bottle lid but within a few minutes of the lid being re-tightened the hose again expands.
• Pug 306 Head Gasket? 4 Nov 2003 (Forum)
  Second was on Saturday I noticed that the radiator cap wasn't sealing correctly. A replacement sorted that out straight away & no more coolant loss, but I am getting pressure in the radiator after the car has cooled down. Not a lot of pressure, but I've heard that this is the first signs of a blown head gasket. Any advise or signs to look out for are welcome, I've never had any issues of this sort before so I am a little unsure.
• Vauxhall Omega 2.0 16V 3 Oct 2003 (Forum)
  About a week ago I noticed that there was a patch of water on the garage floor just left of centre in the engine compartment. I assumed that I had been losing water for a while as when I checked the coolant level I found that it needed to be topped up with around 2 litres of water. Since then, although the car still seems to be losing water I haven't noticed any more patches on the garage floor. Another, possibly unrelated, symptom is that over the past couple of days the car seems to shudder/judder a little when just started and whilst idling; I don't remember it doing this a week ago.
• Not getting top speed mph 27 May 2003 (Forum)
  Also, at start up, there is a lot of white smoke coming out of the exhaust which clears after a few mins. Oil level is okay and so is the coolant level. The engine is also quite erratic at start up but once warm, is okay. Someone suggested that I should change all of the glow plugs as one maybe faulty - would this make any difference. I seems to "drink" quite a bit of diesel as well but maybe this is because I am recently doing a lot of short stop/start journeys in it.
• Dandy Highwaymen? 28 Nov 2002 (Forum)
  Replace choke unit. Clean out inlet manifold. Sounds fair enough - the inlet manifold is preventing sufficient coolant circulating round the carb. What wasn't fair enough was the price! 200 quid for parts plus four hours labour (at 55 quid an hour). Plus obligatory VAT. I've done my own research on the parts and know that they were marking up them up by 100% - I am just interested whether that seemed to be a fair estimate of the labour involved.
• Ford Ka Misfire 6 Sep 2002 (Forum)
  I am reluctant to shell out for a set of HT leads (does anyone know how much they are?) especially since the problem seems to be temperature related. There are no warning lights, the coolant level/colour is fine and the rad fan is also fine. On the subject of taper fit plugs: I have always been told to install any set of plugs with a smear of copper grease on the threads, after gapping the electrode of course...
• Servicing BMW 318i 30 Aug 2002 (Forum)
  I have phoned the BMW dealership which has serviced it during the last 2 years and they very helpfully went through their computer records. Coolant has been changed in the last 12 months, but no mention of brake fluid. Should this be changed as a precaution? 5. Does this engine have a cam chain? 6. Anything else I ought to consider doing? Thanks in anticipation.
• Fiesta watery oil 1 Apr 2002 (Forum)
  I changed the head gasket a few weeks back, there was no sign of damage or of a cracked cyliner head, that I could see. And the coolant level seems to be stable. And a mechianic friend tasted the residue and said it isn't coolng fluid as it wasn't sweet (which anti-freeze apparently is). I'm now aware that the emulsion also builds up on the inside top of the rocker cover, so my quick paintbrush clean has to be supplemented occassionally by cleaning that out too.
• Jeep Grand Cherokee - Car dangerous 2 months after sale 19 Aug 2016 (Forum)
  (i did test drive it before buying obviously and all seemed ok maybe the steering a bit wobbly but thought nothing of it at the time as it had just gone through the mot) Ok so after having the spray job etc i was using it for about a month and loads of issues started coming up. there was knocking and whining from various areas and the cars abs light came on and the digital display kept flashing randomly with coolant sensor bad. the cars handling was terrible and it became a battle to steer....all the time. i took it to a local garage i use all the time this week and explained the issues.
• Golf 2008 - 2.0 TDI Diesel - Spark Plug Light and Limp Mode - Recurring Issue 11 Aug 2021 (Forum)
  It has done around 110000 miles with full service history. First couple of days the car was superb but all of a sudden I had a coolant fault and it needed topping up. This happened a few times and was took back to dealer. They replaced the EGR cooler and a resistor (resistor for the air con which was separate). Then the main problem occurred.
• Ford Fiesta Titanium X (EcoBoost 125) - EcoBoost Compression Loss 29 Aug 2019 (Forum)
  I've had a basic diag done at Ford dealership who confirmed loss of compression, but the car apparently passed all of the tests related to coolant issues. Any ideas?    
• 2011 Mercedes C220 BlueEFFECIENCY - Thick White smoke from exhaust and burning smell 5 Jan 2018 (Forum)
  I’m waiting for the AA to come and called the dealer I bought it from, who had a “meh” sort of attitude, still waiting for his call back! ( it’s been a long 10 minutes!!) I’ve checked the engine, coolant is still there, checked the oil, no residue around the cap but smells a little. No warning lights at all and engine sounds fine, no loss of power or any detected leakage underneath. I’ve had numerous head gasket and cylinder head failures on other cars and this is my uneducated guess it will be a head gasket failure.
• ford 2012 mondeo titanium x sport (Auto) - 2.0 ecoboost piston destroyed 5 Jun 2017 (Forum)
  Result no sign of a piston in cylinder 2, whats left of the con rod is dangling vertically from the crank, spark plug smashed. 47000 miles on clock, pretty sure its legit. owned for 2 months, selling ford dealership have been very good so far, can not fault them. No engine faults warnings or codes diplayed prior to failure, coolant display temp normal. Sudden fluid ingress into cylinder would explain this sudden failure without prior signs/ warnings. Possible reduction in mpg over last 2 weeks. Now the questions. Can a head gasket fail suddenly to the extent it causes hydrolok?
• SEAT Ibiza SC - paid holding fee for mis-advertised car 28 Sep 2016 (Forum)
  The windows were electric and wouldn't even go back up. Under the bonnet, all reservoir's i.e. the coolant was overfilled. Didn't even take it for a test drive as I dared to think what the engine was like. This car was nothing like it was stated in the advertisment. I also made a list of all the faults from what they advertised and the substancial evidence.
• Ford Mondeo - Idling / Revving Issues 9 Oct 2015 (Forum)
  I thought this resolved the issue but it hasn't. It might have improve it slightly I guess. I've also swapped the Engine Coolant Sensor . This hasn't made a lot of difference either. Does anyone else have any other ideas? It is a real pig to drive at the moment!! Cheers Nick 
• 96 Fiesta 1.8D awkward water hose access 7 Oct 2015 (Forum)
  Actually it's not a Fiesta, it's a Courier van, but I assume they're the same. Has anyone come across this before? It's the Ford 1.8 NASP diesel, and the coolant hose from the water pump has split. This hose goes into a metal T-piece, the other side of which has a small hose going to the thermostat housing, and the bottom of which connects to the bottom radiator hose, and another small hose to somewhere I haven't bothered to find out.
• Fiesta Ghia 1.4 Durashift - Strange one - radiator blocked??? 10 Sep 2015 (Forum)
  However, the engine does not overheat, the heating and air-con work fine, the fan woks with direct 12v to it but never comes on and the bottom rad hose is hot when the bottom one is clock cold. I've emptied the coolant, and can't get a full amount back in (short by a couple of litres). But I can't find a cold spot on the rad, it drains out of the drain plug and out of the bottom hose, and I can put water in the expansion tank or the top pipe and and comes out both the drain plug and the bottom hose.
• Mazda 6 - Engine cutting out when cold then running cold 24 Mar 2015 (Forum)
  The old battery had gone totally flat. Does this sound like a thermostat problem or a coolant temperature sensor or something? Doesn't sound like a big deal, but it seems to be hammering the car's MPG.