Lost coolant, now car wont start.

[mark247 39]

So i drove from Hamilton to Wellington today... all went well until about 2 minutes before getting to my parents place in Wellington. Driving threw down town my car decides to drop all its coolant and steam pours everywhere. Right when it does this I lose power and the car crawls to a halt and I cant start the car again.

I get the car home and I've taken the inlet manifold off and found the hose which decided to blow. It's the one that goes into the head just to the bottom right of the rear inlet manifold. ( my heater isnt hooked up )

So I know that's why the coolant dropped out, but I still dont know why I cant start the car now.

I've taken the spark plugs out and checked to see if there was water in the cylinders.. all are dry.

When I try to start it it cranks normally, not fast or slow, and it sometimes gets going for 2 seconds and then dies. Throttle makes no difference.

I haven't checked for spark or fuel yet, I'll do that tomorrow.

Also, it didn't get too hot before the pipe exploded, it wasn't even at 3/4 on the temp gauge.

Anyone got any ideas what it could be?

Water in the loom possibly?

Any ideas would be great.

[Forrest 35]

Can't add anything knowlegable, but if you need a hand with anything Mark give me a text 0278602624 (new # lol)

[mark247 39]

Can't add anything knowlegable, but if you need a hand with anything Mark give me a text 0278602624 (new # lol)

Cheers bro, if I need a hand tomorrow I'll let ya know!

Also. I just went out and turned they and the ICV hums and the fuel pump primed and fuel came out.

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

may be able to lend a hand come stand around look useful as well, depending where im at tomorrow. wont be till mid/late arvo though

[Jono51 59]

hey mate,

give me a yell tomorrow or pop in

cheers

Jon

21 PAlm Grove

Berhampore

04 3801089

[hotwire 352]

How much water was left in the system?

No, or little water & the gauge won't register hot as no water for the sender to monitor

If no water - Could have done mechanical damage

[Matty104 0]

did the coolant happen to piss all over the alternator?

[hotwire 352]

did the coolant happen to piss all over the alternator?

That won't stop it from starting - or charging for that matter:-

[Matty104 0]

ok sweet as, I for some reason had a thought that the alternator also provides power to the coil.owell was worth a shot to try look smart

[mark247 39]

How much water was left in the system?

No, or little water & the gauge won't register hot as no water for the sender to monitor

If no water - Could have done mechanical damage

The steam just appeared instantly. The coolant light never came on. But I guess this is a possibility. There appears to be some left in the system, but it did lose a lot of it once I had stopped.

It just seems to be strange that one the pipe finally let go, it was exactly at that point that I lost power. Before then it was singing like a bird on the way down from Hamilton.

hey mate,

give me a yell tomorrow or pop in

cheers

Jon

21 PAlm Grove

Berhampore

04 3801089

Cheers mate. If I find this too much, I'll give you a call.

Edited June 24, 2010 by mark247

[pureboiracer 0]

really cant say without looking.. as has been expressed above i am free most of the time. 0274839222 if you want a hand with anything..

[*Glenn* 854]

When you took the manifold off, did you put the fuel lines back on around the right way when you refitted it ??

I'm only asking you this because I don't know where you disconnected your fuel lines while doing this. If you disconnected them at the chassis end you might have them mixed up.

[mark247 39]

When you took the manifold off, did you put the fuel lines back on around the right way when you refitted it ??

I'm only asking you this because I don't know where you disconnected your fuel lines while doing this. If you disconnected them at the chassis end you might have them mixed up.

I haven't put the maniofld back on yet. But I have marked them so I dont put them around the wrong way when I do put the manifold back on.

The no start problem has been since the car's coolant hose blew, not just since I got it home and tried to fix it.

Cheers.

[*Glenn* 854]

You'll have to fix the hose, put the car back together and then check for spark & injector pulse, check fuel pressure as well the two faults may be unrelated. How well insulated is your wiring loom on the car and is the loom behind / above where the hose blew ? Does the M50 wiring loom have any joins in this area ? You can give me a call at work if you like I'll be there in an hour (09)2722546 Just looked at your signature picture, the loom is high and then runs down into the cabin area, pull the plug off the DME and see if coolant has come down the loom into the DME

Edited June 24, 2010 by *Glenn*

[mark247 39]

You'll have to fix the hose, put the car back together and then check for spark & injector pulse, check fuel pressure as well the two faults may be unrelated. How well insulated is your wiring loom on the car and is the loom behind / above where the hose blew ? Does the M50 wiring loom have any joins in this area ? You can give me a call at work if you like I'll be there in an hour (09)2722546

The wiring loom isn't well insulated, but I just find it amazing that water instantly caused it to stall. I've had the engine soaked before and water has never caused any trouble. In saying that, it will be the first thing I look at tomorrow morning. The hose only has a smallish split on one side, so it is possible the jet of coolant coming out was quite strong and going directly at something important.

I'm going to check the wiring, check for spark, check fuel ( it did pump some out when the fuel pump primed ) and then work from there. If I do find water in the wiring, I'm going to cut it all open and let it fully dry out.. hopefully that will sorted it.

Cheers for the offer, might take you up on it if I have no success.

[*Glenn* 854]

Check my edit ^^^^

[mark247 39]

Ok so I have now replaced the coolant hose so that is out of the way. Now it's just a matter of getting the car running.

I removed the ECU and found that the plug did have some water in it. I think when the steam enter the cable it must of got into the plug and caused havoc. I'm not sure if the ECU is fried or not so I have borrowed one of John ( cheer for that mate ) and once I have dried out everything I will give it a go. I think I will leave that until Sunday. I have the heater going in the shed so hopefully that will get most of the moisture out, also I will give it all a going over with the hair dryer..

Once I have that ECU in, I will check for spark and fuel and if they are both strong I will throw the manifold back on and try start it...

Does that sound like a good plan?

Cheers Nathan for lending a hand and giving me a lift into town, also cheers again John for lending the ECU, much appreciated.

Edited June 25, 2010 by mark247

[Forrest 35]

^ No worries man, hopefully it gets sorted soon as.

Let me know if you need anymore help.

Thanks to Mark also for turning me into Harry Potter ripping my forehead to shreds pulling injectors out

Edited June 25, 2010 by Brams

[mark247 39]

Thanks to Mark also for turning me into Harry Potter ripping my forehead to shreds pulling injectors out

lolololol wrong place wrong time! haha. soz bol!

[*Glenn* 854]

Open the DME and dry it out with a hairdryer.. you can,t hurt it if you are carefull with the heat.. use low heat or no heat. You will also have to do something about insulating the wiring loom properly. Put the manifold back on ...it's unrelated to your problem

Edited June 25, 2010 by *Glenn*

[mark247 39]

Open the DME and dry it out with a hairdryer.. you can,t hurt it if you are carefull with the heat.. use low heat or no heat. You will also have to do something about insulating the wiring loom properly. Put the manifold back on ...it's unrelated to your problem.

Will do. I will do my best to save this ECU but if I cant sort it I will have to just get another one.

I will certainly insulate the loom properly at some point, sooner the better... I need to get rubber bung to put around where it goes through the firewall because that is where it would of got through to the ECU/plug. I think a few of these things are going to have to wait until November.. I'm off overseas next week for 4 months and I dont think I'm going to have time to do anything but just get the damn thing running before then. I'm thinking I'll have a long "to do" list for when I return!

I will put the manifold back soon, I just want triple check there is no water which got into the wiring hidden under there as well.. I think i'm going to get the hair dryer out soon..

Edited June 25, 2010 by mark247

[mark247 39]

Also, I got some oily dirt on the end of the injectors by mistake, is it ok to soak them in meths?

[*Glenn* 854]

Also, I got some oily dirt on the end of the injectors by mistake, is it ok to soak them in meths?

Clean them with petrol.. but don't drop them.

BTW: Hairdressers and hairdryers come in helpfull ??

[kerry 10]

that would explain your perm glenn

mark you can always save up for my ecu

[*Glenn* 854]

that would explain your perm glenn

You can't perm a bald landscape Kerry