It’s all going wrong. Low coolant? No coolant!

[sgould]

Well things go wrong in threes.

Firstly, my new woolly jumper came out of the wash with big holes in it.  It's supposed to be machine washable.

Then I grabbed the laptop as it was sliding off my lap and the screen went black. It's cracked from top to bottom and side to side

Then, this morning, we got in the Carlsson to drive to have lunch with the family, and "Low coolant alert" appeared.  I went top up, but the coolant tank was completely empty.  We didn't risk a 100 mile drive, so we decamped to the 9-5 which has worked OK so far!

Happy Christmas!

[Steve McF]

Oh no - hope you made it there OK in the 9-5. Hope the 9-3 coolant leak is a simple fix (pipe come loose or split). Not what you need at any time, let alone on Christmas day!!!

Other than all that, wishing you a lovely Christmas with the family.

[carrera]

So sorry to hear that Will, of those 3 items, I'm absolutely convinced that the 9-3 can be fixed, prospects less good for the jumper

Hope you had a good time

[sgould]

Apart from that, all seems OK...  We saw the great-grandchildren yesterday, they are 18 months old and four years old. My wife is decamping for two days to sing the services with her choir at  St Edmundsbury cathedral.  It's at least a two hour drive but it's started to snow here!   The choir are standing in for the regular choir who get the weekend off after big festivals.  I shall remain and be pampered by No.1 son and daughter in law.  All the internet access is restricted to my phone until we get home.

[sgould]

Back home tomorrow.  I think I'm going to have a problem checking for the leak.  The obvious way is to fill with water and see where it comes out.  If that works, I will have to wait for any parts needed. But we live in a hollow.  It's cold.  When we left on Christmas day, the forecast was for 6 deg C, but we were much colder and the car was frosted over.  The forecast for this week is even colder, so I don't think I can risk leaving plain water in the engine overnight; even partially filled, as there will still be pockets of water in several places.  Roll on summer!

I would try the old light bulb under the engine, but I don't have any tungsten bulbs,
and they don't sell them any more.

[carrera]

From up here in the frozen North, I was a bit worried by your reports of snow & cold weather. I was working on the 107 at 9 in the morning yesterday, putting some new rear light seals in place to prevent water ingress. T-shirt and fleece, nowhere near frost temperatures.

You mentioned the old light bulb under the engine technique, but don't have any bulbs

What if you knew someone who, before they became illegal to sell, bought "a supply" of 150W incandescent bulbs.

Drop me an email with address details if that be useful 

[sgould]

I may have a couple of tungsten bulbs.  My wife says that she thinks there are a couple of odd ones under the stairs.  I will know tomorrow!

Our house is in a hollow.  When things are calm, the cold air runs down from the Heath which is 500 ft high.  We are still 250 ft high, and under those conditions at least 3 deg C colder than the forecast. Next week its forecast to get down to -6 deg, so I may have to protect the 9-5 as well.  I think it's anti-freeze is OK to -3 deg.  I have a tester that works on OAT coolant.

The other problem is how the leak has occurred.  When OH got home on Christmas Eve there was no low coolant warning, yet when we got in the car 12 hours later the tank was empty.  It shouldn't have frozen as the antifreeze is (was?..) quite strong.

Fingers crossed.

[carrera]

I'll be going into the loft this evening, I think, so I'll grab a couple when I put the Xmas wrapping paper up.

The antifreeze should be good down to at least -20C with a 1/3 mix, or -40C if 50/50

[sgould]

I've mixed up the coolant info and the screen wash info .....

It's the screen wash that's mixed to -3 deg...  The coolant is a 50/50 mix so it will be OK. Phew!

A check of the Met Office forecast shows night time minima as 0, 0, 1, -2, -3, -3 up to the weekend.  As we have two cars, I could wait until it warms up. But hopefully the leak is obvious. There may be enough fluorescence left in the coolant for my UV torch to find it easily.

[carrera]

I reckon it'll be a split pipe, or failed clamp.

If it is then probably an easy fix as I think you have done the header tank quite recently anyway...

[sgould]

Yes, the header tank was done in the summer before we went to IntSaab in Switzerland. 

One further thought, as it seems to be a sudden overnight failure, I hope it hasn't been chewed by a squirrel   so I had better check for teeth marks

[carrera]

If there are teeth marks, let's hope it appreciated the slightly sweet taste. You won't then have the same problem on a second occasion ....

Got a pair of 150W bulbs down. They're big things, much bigger than the 100W ones I still use for everyday use, 2090 lumens apparently, which seems to match modern LED floodlights    Let me know if you would like them sending

[sgould]

Thank you!  I'll be home late afternoon, and probably won't have a chance to look until tomorrow.

I haven't seen 150w bulbs in ages.  My parents used them in the single light fitting in the front room of their old Victorian house. 

[TomPaine]

I haven't seen 150w bulbs in ages.  My parents used them in the single light fitting in the front room of their old Victorian house.

(Snap. We used 150w in the larger rooms in our previous [Victorian] house, till we realised they were melting the fittings!)

[sgould]

Our house was so old that the light sockets were still brass!!

But we got home earlier than expected. Daughter in law had to do an emergency grandchild babysit this morning as the regular sitter one was ill.  So we left when she went out.

But, back to the chase, as I have had time to do a quick check around.

1.  I have found a pack of 6 100watt bulbs at the back of the shelf!! Thanks for the offer of the 150w bulbs, but these will be fine, if necessary (see below).

2.  I think I have a better source of heat available.  I remembered that we had an electric food warming tray.  It's not been used for a while, but it still works and it will sit under the engine an produce 200 watts

3.  But, it may not be necessary.  I used the pressure test kit I bought back in the summer to check the coolant tank.  I put this in the tank in place of the yellow cap.  Pumped it up to half a bar (7.5psi) and it's held that pressure for 30 mins...

4. Topped up the tank with a litre of coolant and put the old yellow cap back on.  I will check things out more leisurely tomorrow.  I can't see that the cap has failed though, because there's no sign of any coolant exiting the overflow pipe.


Still confused, but hopefully some cause may be discovered tomorrow.