grey smoke coming from Ford ka after coolant added.

moneysavvy35

Hey Guys

I recently filled up my car with antifreeze/coolant as it had run dry. Before I do this a good indicator for me is that a funny smell comes from the car and the heating dosent work.

So I have done this. I ran the heater on full blast as a test... and after a while grey smoke starting coming from the vents in the bonnet nearest to my windscreen. As I have filled it with the coolant why else would the smoke be thier. Do I need to put water somewhere also? It's a ford ka by the way

Thanks in advance

George_Michael

Please tell me that this is an attempt at a Saturday morning wind up!

moneysavvy35

George_Michael wrote: »

Please tell me that this is an attempt at a Saturday morning wind up!

unfortuatnely no its not....i don't understand why it would be funny....do you know what the problem could be?

Car_54

If you really did let it "run dry" then you may well have caused serious damage.

The coolant shouldn't ever need topped up: if the level is going down then something is wrong and needs attention.

marlot

Coolant should never need topping up. You have a leak. Best option is to get a garage to do a pressure test and work out where the leak is.

m0bov

Run dry... oh dear..

George_Michael

moneysavvy35 wrote: »

unfortuatnely no its not....i don't understand why it would be funny....do you know what the problem could be?
...
...
Do I need to put water somewhere also

It's not really funny, more just sad.
Sad in that someone is allowed to drive a car without having even the most basic knowledge of routine and preventative maintenance.
Before having to totally refill the system, didn't you at least wonder where all the fluid that should have been there had actually gone?

As it got to the state where you had "a funny smell" coming from the engine, there is an extremely good possibility that the engine is totally knackered.

Just as an aside. You do know that tyre pressures and conditions need checking on a regular basis and there is also oil in the engine that also needs checking and not just topping up when totally empty.

matttye

Why do people on the motoring forum in particular feel the need to berate people all the time?

Bunch of grumpy old men I swear...

arcon5

Grey smoke? Or steam?

Did it overheat?
If so could be bad news when the garage quote for the repair - new HG, head skimmed, leak or whatever it is repaired and hopefully you've not cracked your engine.

If not, could be a faulty reservoir cap and what you see is steam escaping.

Needs looking at asap.

bigadaj

matttye wrote: »

Why do people on the motoring forum in particular feel the need to berate people all the time?

Bunch of grumpy old men I swear...

Grumpy certainly, old probably not in many cases, men pretty much without exception.

mgfvvc

moneysavvy35 wrote: »

I recently filled up my car with antifreeze/coolant as it had run dry. Before I do this a good indicator for me is that a funny smell comes from the car and the heating dosent work.

A better indicator is the Max/Min marks on the reservoir. You should do POWER checks weekly (full disclosure, I rarely manage to do them that regularly). If you don't know your POWER checks research them on Google, or discuss with friends who do know them.

If you let it get to the point where the heating is not working and you get funny smells you are likely to damage your engine. In the worst case it could seize while driving at speed and cause a nasty accident.