Just had our Zafira MOT'd, aircon regassed and new front discs and pads fitted as part of preparation for a couple of longer holiday journeys that are coming up. Yesterday the wife embarked on the first of those journeys down to Cornwall, with a freind and 4 kids in the car.
An hour and a half after they left, she rang me to say they'd broken down on the M5 near Bristol
Apparently there was a popping noise and the engine temp then increased rapidly, so they immediately pulled over onto the hard shoulder, whereupon there was smoke or steam coming out from under the bonnet
AA man came to have a look and spoke to me on the phone, saying there had been some sort of cooling issue, the top hose had blown off, and the whole engine compartment was now coated in oil/coolant/water mixture, and that it could be terminal
They were relayed back home, and when I opened the bonnet, there was black sludge sprayed everywhere near the dislodged top hose, through the radiator and oozing out of the coolant/water header tank
I have arrange for the local garage to pick the car up to have a look at tomorrow. They suggested it could be anything from a head gasket, to a completely trashed engine....I hope it is the former if anything
The car is an 04 DTi with only 64,000 on the clock, and fully serviced
Any thoughts, help, suggestions gratefully received. I don't want to have to scrap the car, but I don't want to pay what it is worth for a new engine either.........