Hi. I just had a cooling hose split on me with the inevitable overboiling (smoke from the rear and steam/smoke from the bonnet. Got a tow back, but wondered if there is likely to be any lasting damage to the engine (as there seems to be some oil "spillage")?
Thanks
Vi
There may be internal damage, without a strip down you won't know. Get the leak fixed, refill and bleed the coolant and see what happens, you might be lucky, maybe not. Some vehicles are much more likely to have problems than others, also the damage may not show up for a while, if for instance the head warped or cracked. Severe overheating can damage the pistons and rings and you will get a lot of smoke straight away.
Mrcheerful
The AA ad with the white Previa always makes me laugh. As any Previa owner knows, overheating on one of those means a new head gasket if you're lucky, a new head if not. I'd like to see the AA man that can do either of those jobs by the roadside!
Following this up - it turns out my head gasket is blown. Engine runs OK but gets gradually hotter. No smoke to start with, but exhaust shows a little white smoke (steam?) as it heats up.
Anyway, question is, is this worth fixing? (have been quoted around 400 quid). The car is an 11 year old Escort and I only paid 500 for it.
Vino
I guess that depends on how much you can buy another 11 year old Escort for.
And you have to *ask*?
No, unless you can fix it yourself. Buy another 500 quid banger instead.
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