Hi all
Not into cars at all as you'll probably find out! I have a 1998 R reg Vectra 2.5 V6 Estate. It has done 107,000 miles.
Driving home on Thursday night I had a bit of difficulty starting, but got it started fine. My Coolant Level warning came on as I was beginning my journey, about 20 minutes in to a 40 minute journey. I thought I could top this up when I got home.
I then drove at 70mph for 11 miles before my engine totally quit on me. The temperature was well over 100 degrees and there was steam coming from the engine. I ended up blocking the outside lane of the A38 for an hour in rush hour! I had lost all my coolant and I was unable to start even when the engine was cool. When I topped up the coolant it had gone within an hour.
I got a tow home and we have found the top hose from the radiator to the coolant system (left hand side) was split. My father in law replaced this for =A312 (genuine Vaux part). There is no water in the oil. We filled up the coolant, let the air out and topped up again - the engine turns over but doesn't actually start (it feels like it's about to but it doesn't). The cooling system was pressurised full of gas after just turning over a cold engine.
He thinks this is the head gasket that's gone, and I'm resorting to the fact we'll have to get it done. Does anyone know how much roughly it would cost, and the chances that it would have done any further damage to the engine? I'm going to have to get it towed to the garage but am not paying main dealer prices for it. We have another car to use for now, so it isn't a rush job.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give!
Noel