Zafira -Engine Cooked after Coolant system Failure

Marktheshark

If its the Petrol, they had a issue with thermostats sticking shut and issued a fix at service where they fitted a new thermostat with a bypass nipple insert that was designed to push out if the pressure got to high.
If the thermostat has been changed since, the bypass one is about £18 and the generic old style one about £6 so people fitted the cheaper one which then fail stick shut and boil the engine.

forgotmyname

Being a good driver and no undue stress is not the issue. The fact that she kept driving it until damage was caused is the issue.

How often was the coolant level checked? Where is is leaking from?

You already mentioned she possibly never checked the gauge.

My sister pulled in a Fiesta one day. She had just bought it and i said it smells hot, she said no the gauge reads normal.

It was overheating badly.

ess0two

mark88man wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your comments - something to think about.

OH says no burning/hot smell - although not necessarily sure that the gauge would have been checked

Will check for the gradual loss, but our local garage topped it up with coolant and it ran out very quickly so supports major leak rather than gradual erosion unless that could have happened as a result of the cooking.

Does the sale of goods act apply here. I mean its a car, so its going to get driven, and my OH is a good driver not going to put undue stress on the car

Will check the old MOTs but they are at the garage at the moment so cant do that until Monday

If it was topped up and ran out??you should have addressed the issue asap,too late now the engine goosed.

Marktheshark

If there is no visible leak, it will be the head gasket, the water gets drawn in to the cylinder.

colino

If it was topped up and, "it ran out very quickly" there is a big system leak, (that may or may not have led to HGF) unless you failed to notice the massive cloud of steam generated by such a huge water jacket to bore coolant leak that would account for such dramatic water consumption.

mark55man

To be clear - my local garage didn't top it up and then it broke (hadnt been in the local garage at all until it was recovered there) some time later - it broke and then my garage diagnosed that there was no coolant and when they refilled it, rapid leakage followed

also I checked with my OH - she said
* there was no warning light until she had lost power and had to pull over on the hard shoulder
* it was a cold night so she noticed that there was no hot air coming out of the heating vents
* because of the above she specifically checked the temp gauge and it was reading normal (middle of the gauge, not in the red)

We had both used the car normally for 2 months with no overheating or other indications, so I do not believe in the absence of temperature readings, clouds of steams that it was negligent to carry it on

I also dont think that wear and tear is an argument as I bought a used car, I think it is reasonable to expect longer than a 2 month life - that is why the garages do the service - its to protect themselves, not me

Finally, I am a reasonable judge of character, I do not think the selling garage owner sent it out knowing it was faulty - however that it is how it turned out so I will be pursuing this further - I do appreciate your help, as I am now clearer about what might have happened

motorguy

Strider590 wrote: »

After 2 months?

Yes after 2 months. Old parts wear old, so an old pipe could finally have cracked and burst. I've seen it happen.

Also, when you're doing 60 mph and a little stone gets flicked up into the engine bay, guess what speed that little sharp stone is doing and guess what it might hit before it falls out? Radiator? Hoses?

Strider590 wrote: »

Sounds to me like it had a slow leak, took 2 months to drain and the final journey killed it.

All the more reason why the O/P or their wife would have picked up on it then? Leak on roadway, leak on driveway, leak in garage, temperature rising, heater not as hot as it was, warning light on?

OR as you say it could have been the garage knew there was a minor leak, chose to do nothing about it, and decided to let the engine fry at some point down the line?

Strider590 wrote: »

Essentially yes i'm saying the garage must have known about it.
It's worth having a look underneath, OAT coolant gradually leaves red crystallised marks on the area of the leak. If these exist then the fault was known.

Also check the MOT history (available online), leaking coolant should always go down on the advisory section.
If it had previous advisory noted for coolant leaks, but not on the recent MOT, then you have the garage by the balls.

Well sadly your conspiracy theory has been proven wrong as the O/P has subsequently come back and confirmed rapid fluid loss.

You can take your aluminium foil hat off now - they're not out to get you after all

motorguy

Marktheshark wrote: »

If there is no visible leak, it will be the head gasket, the water gets drawn in to the cylinder.

Typically a head gasket failure is a symptom of overheating (usually by coolant loss) NOT the cause of the coolant loss.

If the head gasket had taken all the water from the coolant system, you would know about it in the driving of it prior to failure

motorguy

mark88man wrote: »

I also dont think that wear and tear is an argument as I bought a used car, I think it is reasonable to expect longer than a 2 month life - that is why the garages do the service - its to protect themselves, not me

You do know the parts on your car are actually 12 years old, not two months old?

Garages do a service because (a) the engine needs the oil change and (b) to have a look around and generally make sure the car is roadworthy. They certainly wont replace rubber pipes and radiators as part of a regular service.

mark88man wrote: »

Finally, I am a reasonable judge of character, I do not think the selling garage owner sent it out knowing it was faulty - however that it is how it turned out so I will be pursuing this further - I do appreciate your help, as I am now clearer about what might have happened

To have it described as a fault it would have to have been a failure of a part not related to general wear and tear. You will find it very hard to make it stick as a "fault" for that reason. Put simply - the part in question has lasted 13 years so its fairly reasonable to assume there was no manufacturing fault with it.

Also, i would have thought even if you could prove liability for the part in question, the engine failure was caused by your wife driving on at the car - no heat from the heater would be a big clue that theres a coolant problem - and again there may well have been clues to a problem had you been checking fluid levels regularly.

Pipe burst, stop car immediately. Perhaps a £10 fix.

Pipe burst, drive on at it until the engine phsyically seizes - £1,000 fix.

Why would your wife driving on at it make it the dealers fault?

Westmead_Fan

to even try & blame the seller you need to find out exactly what caused the fault. if whoever drove it may have caused it then you cant blame no one else.

find exactly why it over heated then better advice can be given.