BXProject

[stu]

Driving home last night I got caught in traffic. Not for long, maybe 10 minutes or so. Just long enough for the temperature needle to rise a little, and for the fan to kick in.

Suddenly I noticed steam rising from around the edges of the bonnet and the unmistakeable smell of coolant. Odd, I thought, it's running warm but not overheating. I pulled in to the side of the road and found coolant gushing out from somewhere under the engine. Of course, at this time of year, it's pitch dark and I only had the headlamps of the cars going by to see by so I have no idea where it was coming from.

After a couple of minutes the water stopped gushing out. There was still water in it and I wasn't far from a Halfords so I drove there and bought some coolant, with the low water warning light just coming on. It took somewhat less than a litre to top it up.

It didn't seem to lose any more on the journey home - no traffic, so no fan.

My best guess is that a return hose has split so it's only losing water when the thermostat is open, or when it gets hot sitting in traffic.

This time of year though, I only get to see the car in daylight at the weekend Shame - my girlfriend is away on a course about 30 miles away and I was hoping to visit her tomorrow evening. Not sure if I'll risk it or not.

[Vanny]

there is of course a quick fix, buy a BX because they are infinately reliable


I'd be finding out where the water has come from before driving it too far, sounds like its a pipe issue so check them and there connections!

[docchevron132]

hhmm.
If it stopped leaking on it's own...
then I'd be looking to top up, bleed the system and run it with the bonnet up having a good look around.
It could be that coolant was being pushed out through the filler neck, and the fan is coming on late.
The temp gauges are actually pretty reliable in the XM, but if the HG is gone / going then a bit over the odds in temperature could cause major "output" from the filler...

It could of course just be there was an air lock in the system (they can be bastards to bleed) and getting it a bit warmer than usual caused the air to expand and throw some coolant...

[stu]

Cheers guys, I'll take a look at the weekend. There's no way to see the car in daylight during the week at this time of year

Where should I be looking for bleed screws Doc? I haven't got hold of a Haynes Joke Book for it yet.

I don't think the water was coming from the filler neck, but it's hard to tell in the dark. That's why my first suspicion was a split hose somewhere.

[docchevron132]

Er, should be one on the rad, two on the stat housing (on teh end of the head), one on the small pipe that runs across the front of the engine, and it *might* have one on the upper heater pipe across the back of the engine bay depending on year and air con and the such..

[stu]

Finally borrowed some ramps today and got this sorted.

The hose that runs from the bottom of the engine, wiggles about and hides everywhere, and connects back to the expansion tank had become very frayed at the engine end. As a temporary bodge I've done the old cut-the-end-off-the-hose-and-stick-it-back-on jobby. Cue lots of dirty chemically water rubbing up my arm. I still smell of antifreeze. The car seems to be OK!

[charlie]

eau de xm, cant beat it stu

and i think im gonna get some splashed all over myself

[docchevron132]

Anti=freeze adds a certain something to beer too. Changed the stat in the TD today, since the old one (3 months old) had jammed open, and the heater was shite, quite apart from having to do 130+mph to get the bugger near 90Deg C, anyway, got some anti-freeze in the beer whilst draining the rad, tasted foooking dreadful. Still finished it though.
Hic

[stu]

Oh yeah, plus I cut myself (the tongue of the jubilee clip on the adjacent hose sliced into my thumb) so I now have antifreeze in my bloodstream. Probably not a bad thing at this time of year when I regularly have to wait 40 minutes for a bus home!

[docchevron132]

*SERIOUS FOR A MO*
Anti-freeze in the bloodstream is generally considered a bad thing....
Wash it out well.

*EVEN MORE SERIOUS*
You use public transport??
What the fucks wrong with you man?
You seemed so normal in person....

Tish tish.

[Vanny]

actually, that reminds me, i never did get round to flushing the coolant in the valver

[docchevron132]

Get it done man....


Have I got to do EVERYTHING??

You'll all have to move to Stroud.

[Vanny]

no thanks!

i acutally have coolant and everything, just sorta forgot

[docchevron132]

How on earth can you forget about that?
I mean, forgetting to pick the bird up from the airport, or paying the TV licence, or forgetting to double bag "the chap" before entry, all perfectly acceptable.
But this your car man.
Get your priorities right!

[stu]

*SERIOUS FOR A MO*
Anti-freeze in the bloodstream is generally considered a bad thing....
Wash it out well.

I did, as soon as I'd realised what had happened. Worry not. Plus (and I appreciate that as a heamoliphiac you might not appreciate this) it's one of the things that bleeding is designed for - we bleed for a few minutes specifically to wash any toxins out.

*EVEN MORE SERIOUS*
You use public transport??
What the fucks wrong with you man?
You seemed so normal in person....

Tish tish.

Yah. It's part of the price of working in Brighton, unfortunately.

If I drove to work it would cost me somewhere between £160 and £200 per month in parking fees (my hours are slightly flexible). Plus I'd have to go out and move the car every lunchtime, because parking times are limited.

So I could get the train, which would cost £85 per month.

Or the bus, which is £40 per month. Journey times are similar (the train is much faster but the stations are much further away from house/job so I would have to walk further).

When I sleep at K's (who lives in the middle of nowhere) I drive to Brighton, park at the nearest free parking to my work, and get the bus in. It's about an hour's walk from the nearest free parking to my work so I use the bus pass that I've already paid for.




I am looking for another job.

[docchevron132]

*SERIOUS FOR A MO*
Anti-freeze in the bloodstream is generally considered a bad thing....
Wash it out well.

I did, as soon as I'd realised what had happened. Worry not. Plus (and I appreciate that as a haemophiliac you might not appreciate this) it's one of the things that bleeding is designed for - we bleed for a few minutes specifically to wash any toxins out.

I quite like bleeding actually, I'm really good at it!

*EVEN MORE SERIOUS*
You use public transport??
What the fucks wrong with you man?
You seemed so normal in person....

Tish tish.

Yah. It's part of the price of working in Brighton, unfortunately.

Lots of stuff about pubic transport (yes I did mean PUBIC)



I am looking for another job.

Good man! Cars rule, buses are FTL.

[stu]

Yes and no.

Sitting on a bus with a seat to myself for an hour with a book, an MP3 player and my hip flask is considerably nicer than driving in heavy traffic for an hour. I actually like that part of the commute.

Those occasions when they randomly cancel my route ("because of congestion") and I have to stand in the freezing cold waiting for 45 minutes, on the other hand, are not nice.

Until now I've always walked to work in 15 minutes or less. This whole commuting business is new and scary and I don't like it.

[docchevron132]

There's only one good seat on a bus. The seat up front.
The rest tend to be full of window lickers.

[Terry]

There's only one good seat on a bus. The seat up front.
The rest tend to be full of window lickers.

Is that why every time I get on a bus I always end up with a f'kin idiot sat beside me.
I kid you not ........the last time I took my BX to the local "Cit Specialist" was the first time for years&years I'd been on a bus .........I caught the bus home .............at 9.30 in in the morning .........I got the 'kin local tramp offering me a can of 'kin cider and a smelly incontinant ol' woman sat next to me.. [ I thinkthe drunken bsatrad pulled .............it turnsme guts just to think of them ]
Never again .............I'll fcukin' walk it next time.
T.

[docchevron132]

Yep, see normal people like us attract window lickers on a bus, like a fly on shit.

If I absolutley HAVE to use a bus (and I avoid this at ALL costs) then I make sure I'm able to fart at will, and I keep swotting imaginary flies, people tend to leave you be then!