Zafira -Engine Cooked after Coolant system Failure

mark55man

Appreciate your ongoing thoughts - I will update once I have spoken to garage tomorrow.

I have had a difficult conversation with OH, stating the views from here, she is adamant that there was no period of rough running, that the time from noticing the cold air to losing speed and then power was barely longer than time required to get in from fast lane to inside lane, and that the warning spanner symbol only went on just as she coasted to stop.

However, lets wait for further responses until I have made my calls Monday - I will try and update lunchtime

mark55man

Ranger 8 - Seriously now if I did want to recover some value with a second hand engine - what would that cost and how much would it take to fit

Strider590

Heater running cold can be something as simple as the thermostat jammed open (a fairly common occurrence on an older vehicle), allowing water to run into the radiator constantly. It's far from the first sign of anything at all. Dealer says it was a "catastrophic" failure, suggesting it happened in seconds.

Well I hit a badger at 11pm one night, ran out, couldn't avoid it, it literally shredded my radiator, the car was losing water faster than it could have been replace by a garden hose, i'd call that fairly "catastrophic", but the car still got me home more than 15mins away.

I'm merely suggesting that the car had a very slow coolant leak and that OP should take actions to check whether this was the case, at the very least check the MOT history for faults, if the garage found none of these faults but they still exist, then the garage faked the MOT and regardless of what the driver should or shouldn't have done, there could be a course of action against the dealer.

AdrianC

mark88man wrote: »

Appreciate your ongoing thoughts - I will update once I have spoken to garage tomorrow.

However, lets wait for further responses until I have made my calls Monday - I will try and update lunchtime

You still haven't said whether you'd checked the fluid levels during that two month and 2,000 mile period. Can you please answer that?

AdrianC

If they had been checking the fluids regularly - as the owner's handbook will advise, together with basic common sense - and the fluid level hadn't been dropping over time, then they'd have a far stronger argument that a sudden failure would cause total coolant loss and unavoidable engine damage.

But if they haven't checked it once in two months and two thousand miles? No. Any damage arising from a small weep gradually dropping the coolant level is entirely their own fault.

BillyMansell

I remember from many moons ago cooking the engine of my first car, a Citroen Visa, in exactly the way the OP describes. A loss of power but with no temperature gauge by the time the warning light came on it was too little too late.

Taught me a lesson I've never forgot. My latest vehicle has a low coolant alarm, which has already proved its worth in highlighting a leak that could have led to engine failure, and added engine temperature sensors to highlight any anomalous temperature rises.

AdrianC

It depends on the engine. On some, the head may warp relatively quickly. That may then just require a light skim and an HG, it may make repair economically unviable - which is all is meant by "die". I don't know the GM lump in question.

Strider590

AdrianC wrote: »

If they had been checking the fluids regularly - as the owner's handbook will advise, together with basic common sense

And therein lies the biggest problem of the modern age :rotfl:

Ranger8

mark88man wrote: »

Ranger 8 - Seriously now if I did want to recover some value with a second hand engine - what would that cost and how much would it take to fit

From £250 and £100 fitting
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2055359.m570.l2632.R2.TR6.TRC1.A0.H1.Xzafira+1.6+engine.TRS0&_nkw=zafira+1.6+engine&ghostText=&_sacat=9884

maninthestreet

In my experience, complete loss of coolant results in the water temperature gauge registering 'Cold'. The heater blowing out cold air seems to agree with that, but OP's wife claims the gauge was registering normal operating temperature when the problem occurred.