So a small update… not the best update but its an update…
Over the weekend I was driving, I noticed the thermo fan was kicking in almost every time I stopped driving, now some might think "Thats the purpose of a thermo fan, it turns on when you are idle...."
, It is pretty fucking cold in Canberra right now, majority of today for example has been 5 degrees or lower, mainly lower and the fan usually kicks in around 30 seconds - 1 minute idle
So that was on Sunday, when I got home on Sunday I topped up the radiator with about a litre of water, I ran the engine whilst topping and it burped and burped and burped many times, but eventually it stopped bubbling, I noted one of the t-piece hoses had a bubble being produced, I remove the clamp and hose and readjusted and tightened it again … Started and ran for some time and watched, no signs of leaks or bubbles so considered it ok.
This morning I had to drop my daughter off at school and take my other daughter with me to work as she was unwell. I dropped of daughter 1 and continued to work with daughter 2. When driving with the engine cold and kids in the car I generally take it pretty easy but even so the car kinda felt like it was slightly down on power.
Not long after we left the school I noticed the heater was much warmer then normal as during winter here the heater is barely enough, maybe 10-15 minutes driving I am feeling some warm, this had been no more then 5 minutes of driving.
So upon inspection of the gauge which I was unsure if actually worked due to it always sits religiously just under half, it was at a tad over 3/4 so I pulled into a nearby shop. I topped the radiator up with some water and some more and more, estimated 1 litre again… I decided to retreat home rather then attending work and work from home.
During the time home the gauge remained at half mast and don’t think any harm was done. When I lifted the bonnet when I got home I noticed more bubbles coming from said T piece and also noted a large amount of bubbling into the overflow…
I then decided to put registration onto the Rodeo so I could drive to work, I then tried to start the Rodeo and its battery completely dead… so yeah was a shit of a morning…
Anyway I figure the issue is, in order of severity.
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A split hose or lose hose somewhere, potentially from me fucking with the cooling system a few months back when I had the high idle.
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Finally potentially a failed water pump??
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The head gasket has popped and is increasing pressure into the cooling system. The oil is fine, no extra fluid in the oil or any signs of milk in the cap
Won’t have time to inspect further until the weekend, hopefully its just a split hose but the bubbling from that T piece almost seems to indicate its over pressure…