getting hot

[NAG]

Hi folks

Wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this.
Last week, whilst being bored decided to check the coolant/oil levels.
I can never properly tell if the coolant is ok or not.
Anyway, I ended up 'topping up' the with some plain water.

Day after, I was out in the car. After a 20-30 minute journey of motorway/city driving, I'm sitting in traffic and steam is coming out of right side of bonnet, not excessive but still enough to be worried.
Weird, looking at temp gauge and all seems ok.

I've pulled over and looked inside, theres coolant around the coolant holder, so I just figured that I'd put in water when it wasn't needed and its just burning off the excess.

A couple of days after that the battery died, had it replaced.
(original battery that came with the car, not bad eh !)
Since then the temperature gauge has been going a few degrees over 80 C, fan seems to kick in and all, and occasionally some steam comes out.

I'm thinking something ain't right, temperature used to always stick at 80 C.I mean always. I've read here that folks temperature up to 90 etc.

So any ideas on the above would be good, I'm going to get my mechanic to check it over but any information here would be good.


Cheers
N

 

[grober]

I don't know how much water you put in but you should always top up with 50/50 water /antifreeze mixture as recommended in your handbook. Use MB antifreeze as it contains the correct corrosion inhibitors for the surfaces exposed to the coolant. Pure water = internal corrosion. However I doubt if you will have done much harm if you just topped it up. Are you sure the pressure cap/seal is on the radiator header tank correctly since the system needs to under pressure to keep the temperature down.

 

[MangoMan]

Just thought that I would add that anti-freeze contains ingredients that increase the boiling temperature of the coolant, and plus the fact that the system is under preasure the boiling point becomes about 128*C. So this will of course drop if you 1) Have a leak somewhere, and 2) Continually top-up with normal water.

And a little tip here; if you have a condensor dryer, keep the water from that, in a plastic container of course, to use to top up the rad/washer, and dare I say the Steam Iron, as it is to a certain degree de-ionized.

 

[Satch]

normal water.

And a little tip here; if you have a condensor dryer, keep the water from that, in a plastic container of course, to use to top up the rad/washer, and dare I say the Steam Iron, as it is to a certain degree de-ionized.

Next time you defrost the freezer keep all the melt water but do not forget to strain out the peas and sweetcorn

 

[Dieselman]

Rainwater is an excellent coolant as it is naturally soft water.

 

[recycled]

steam comes out of mine only when it is raining and the rain water falls on the bonnet. It is a like a massive geyser

 

[blue190]

steam comes out of mine only when it is raining and the rain water falls on the bonnet. It is a like a massive geyser

I'm glad i'm not the only one this happens to.

 

[Alex Argent]

Rainwater is an excellent coolant as it is naturally soft water.

....................but also far more corrosive than hard water . Soft water is excellent for bathing, showering etc, but for topping up sealed/recirculating systems (e.g. central heating) the electrolytic reaction between different metals is accelerated.

It is best to use demineralised water with hardness about 80-120 ppm. Many commercially available bottled waters fall within this category (the hardness should be marked on the packaging). Don't forget the obligatory anti-freeze though (MB's spec is a higher content of corrosion inhibitors than most) .

PS ------IMPORTANT------ Never, ever use artificially softened water (i.e. from a water softener) for any topping up procedures.

Hope that's some help.

 

[Dieselman]

....................but also far more corrosive than hard water . Soft water is excellent for bathing, showering etc, but for topping up sealed/recirculating systems (e.g. central heating) the electrolytic reaction between different metals is accelerated.

It is best to use demineralised water with hardness about 80-120 ppm. Many commercially available bottled waters fall within this category (the hardness should be marked on the packaging). .

.

Is rain still very acidic given more stringent emissions from power stations?

I once read in a manual that naturally soft water was the recommended coolant mixer and de-ionised water shouldn't be used as it pulls the ions out of the aluminium and can cause porosity.

Don't forget the obligatory anti-freeze though (MB's spec is a higher content of corrosion inhibitors than most)
.

Only to give it a longer life. The standard fill is rated at three years as opposed to two for most fills.

Please don't take this as disagreeing with you, but your comment contradicts information I read. Do you have any further information regarding this issue.

I suspect the most important thing is to change the antifreeze mix regulalrly using a quality antifreeze. My wifes last car had regular changes and suffered no problems in sixteen years, which was long enough for me.

P.s. The internal waterworks appeared in excellent condition right upto the day we disposed of the car. Absolutely no scale, corrosion or errosion.

 

[Alex Argent]

Hi Dieselman,

Firstly, I'll qualify my position on this topic . I spent nearly 30 years in the water treatment industry, specialising in anti-corrosion/anti-scaling additives. One of my company's customers was MAN (trucks) in Germany, and we developed an additive for them that to all intents and purposes met the same initial DIN (German) and ultimately CEN (European) specifications as that of Mercedes-Benz.

Is rain still very acidic given more stringent emissions from power stations?

I wouldn't go as far to say as it's very acidic otherwise every time it rained, there would be a plethora of external corrosion (and skin related ) problems as a result. However, analyses over the past 20 years or so certainly seem to indicate that higher pH levels are being recorded than was the case previously. It is obviously higher in large, very industrialised areas of the planet, but rainfall doesn't necessarily fall in the area in which the pollution was initially absorbed into the rain cloud . (Just avoid Guanzhou in South East China )

I once read in a manual that naturally soft water was the recommended coolant mixer and de-ionised water shouldn't be used as it pulls the ions out of the aluminium and can cause porosity.

There are a few schools of thought on this.......the two main problems encountered from an engine manufacturers perspective are hard water scale and corrosion. The former doesn't usually cause many problems as there simply isn't sufficient hardness salts in a few litres of coolant water to create deposition, and most of that will be around the point of highest temperature (much the same as scale forming on a kettle element, but that is constantly being filled with fresh water therefore far more prolific). However, corrosion is a big problem, especially with the advent of more aluminium engine blocks, cylinder heads and ancilliary components. Aluminium is very prone to corrosion which is why it's sometimes used for sacrificial anodes in industrial water applications (magnesium is also used, but it's far more expensive). However, without going into the theories here, the various hardness salts present in hard water do actually act as an inhibitor therefore slows down the corrosion reaction! In a small, sealed recirculating system (e.g. car engine) then; Hard water = little scaling/lower corrosion rate, whereas Soft water = no scaling/high corrosion rate. At the end of the day, it's partly a compromise, but always erred on the corrosion reduction side.

Only to give it a longer life. The standard fill is rated at three years as opposed to two for most fills.

Yes, but that is because the enhanced inhibitor package within MB's anti-freeze (the latter which ironically in itself is pretty corrosive, especially with aluminium) allows it 'additional capacity' before it becomes 'exhausted'. (Other products are also available that meet the same EN standards, and are recommended not only by MB). Hence the 3 year recommended change.

Please don't take this as disagreeing with you, but your comment contradicts information I read. Do you have any further information regarding this issue.

Corrosion and scale reference books galore here

I suspect the most important thing is to change the antifreeze mix regulalrly using a quality antifreeze. My wifes last car had regular changes and suffered no problems in sixteen years, which was long enough for me.

P.s. The internal waterworks appeared in excellent condition right upto the day we disposed of the car. Absolutely no scale, corrosion or errosion.

Absolutely in total agreement......in fact given the potentially high cost of MB ownership, this is definitely one area where I would adhere 100% to their recommendations on change frequency and type of anti-freeze used.

That's my tuppence worth.....now I'm going to bed

 

[NAG]

wow guys, some great information there.
i've read about thermostats being part of the equation here also.
not sure if that would be something that could have got reset with the new battery.
I'm not even sure that when I topped it up that there was a shortage of water.
I'll be taking to my regular independent dude, some time this week,to look over.
I'm thinking a maybe flushing the coolant and re-filiing with proper mix would be a good start here.