So today my car exploded...

[Spinal]

Well, not really... As in not today It exploded yesterday!

Exploded you may say? Impossible! Well, it sure felt like it! This is what happened;
- drive from Uxbridge to Barbican, 1hr 10mins stuck in traffic practically
- pick up three ladies (friends from way back, ones a doctor, one a professional footballer and the other a friend of the footballer who is trying to become a footballer; anyhow)
-strart driving back, get onto the ring road... there I encouter the mother of all traffic jams
- sit in the sun for 30/40 minutes, inching forward in first gear every few minutes...
- BOOM!

Yes, boom. My first thought was "it wasn't me! I still have my handbrake on! it wasn't me! I didn't hit anyone" (I had an accident a couple of months ago, its still on my mind...) then I saw nothing... or better put, I saw white, and ALOT of it. My radiator was dumping all the water/anti-freeze all over my windscreen. I had steam coming out of everywhere... The ladies scream, I put on the hazard lights and get out of the car (traffic was not moving at all).

After a few minutes of trying to get the bonnet open (it was hot), I get it open. I was thinking "probably the pressure release popped and sprayed steam all over", but that seemed to little, I had 3 dents in my bonnet from the inside! I finally open the bonnet and I realise that the black reservoir avobe my radiator is in pieces, and that the random white and black plastic pieces all over my engine are actually from that... Charming...

Disheartened, I called the RAC (well, I really couldn't just top up the radiator and keep going could I? ) They quoted a 2 hour wait, and a £150 surcharge to tow my car home (26 miles). With very little options, I payed them over the phone and waited with one of the ladies (the other two went as they had a football match to attend).

We had a wonderful picnick based on burger king on the sideof the road, and we listened to the match on my radio

Anyhow, my car is out of commision for a few days (going on holiday soon, so I might get my mecchanic to pick it up now and return it when I get back...). From what I saw, the black reservoir on top of my radiator needs to be replaced, as well as some of the white pieces of plastic in that (they were shot on my engine, so I have no idea where they would go ). My bonnet will also need a smoothing and a respray; so including the rear bumper from the motorbike, and the scratch against my mothers roses; I'm pondering on getting a whole colour change while I'm at it...

I'll get some pics of the radiator tomorrow when the sun comes up... In the meantime, enjoy my pain (I'm in a great mood you might notice, college is nearly over, thesis is done and my private life is quite good )

<will add pics...>
Michele

 

[Parrot of Doom]

heh, bet that was entertaining

Still, at least you know what was wrong with it, it could have happened during winter in the middle of the night, on a mountain road, with no mobile phone coverage

 

[andy_k]

heh, bet that was entertaining

Still, at least you know what was wrong with it, it could have happened during winter in the middle of the night, on a mountain road, with no mobile phone coverage

tee hee - it probably wouldn't have got that hot under those circumstances

Bad luck Michele but at least you had a good picnic

Andy

 

[Spinal]

Yeah, when I'm in a good mood I try to make my stories entertaining

As for the picnic, twas qutie fun I caught up on alot of gossip (for some weird reason, she is specialising in dentistry.... <ewww>)

The only thing I'm a little bummed about is my new form of transport,... i.e. a Chrysler Voyager (3.3lt, automatic...). Visibility is... well, let just say unless you are gonna hit it within a few seconds, you won't see it... and its gonna drink so much... figures I've seen on the dash are 15/20 litres/100km...

As for my car; the only advice I can give (having now learnt it) is to go out right now and make sure that the metal cap on your radiator will vent steam if the pressure gets too high and its not jammed into the shut position...

Michele

(can't sleep, looking for mirrors/valets for the chrysler)

 

[DieselE]

Just a couple of thoughts as it's likely that your header tank exploding is a symptom rather than the cause.

When the temperature gauge started to rise, did your cooling fans cut in? The cooling system should have been able to handle the heat so if the fans were running you might have problems somewhere in the system e.g. thermostat or water pump.

 

[Spinal]

Just a couple of thoughts as it's likely that your header tank exploding is a symptom rather than the cause.

When the temperature gauge started to rise, did your cooling fans cut in? The cooling system should have been able to handle the heat so if the fans were running you might have problems somewhere in the system e.g. thermostat or water pump.

I thought of that... I will be grank, I wasn't really keeping an eye on the temperature gauge of the car; so don't have a clue how hot it was running when it popped...

My course of action now is to get the resrvoir back on, replace the fan guard (which I realised also broke off) and get a mecchanic to check the rest. I also noticed that some W202 have an extra 2 fans in front of the radiator, while mine has only one large one behind

Ah well, better get some work done...

 

[Vlad]

The two fans infront are air-conditioning fans.

You may need to get your mechanic to also check that you haven't blown the head gasket in the process as it sounds as if your engine got very hot.

 

[jeremytaylor]

I caught up on alot of gossip (for some weird reason, she is specialising in dentistry.... <ewww>)

Hey, don't knock it! Dentists earn good money. She'll soon be able to afford her own Merc., and a nice shiney new one at that.

 

[Spinal]

Hey, don't knock it! Dentists earn good money. She'll soon be able to afford her own Merc., and a nice shiney new one at that.

So will I, and without having kids biting my fingers (I know I used too ) nor having to look at skanky teeth

 

[A-AvantGarde]

Hey, don't knock it! Dentists earn good money. She'll soon be able to afford her own Merc., and a nice shiney new one at that.

Wow, so if she's allready a Doctor and she's speciallising in Dentistry she's probably looking at becoming a Maxillofacial (MaxFax) Surgeon. If you think Dentists earn a lot you should see what MaxFax offers! Mind you they do have to work darn hard, at least an extra 4 years at Med School plus additional training!!!

 

[rees_A]

Same thing happended to me last year, If the top black box gets blown-up as mine did, you have to replace the radiator as its integral..

 

[Spinal]

Same thing happended to me last year, If the top black box gets blown-up as mine did, you have to replace the radiator as its integral..

Just found that out... I took a break from my thesis (due tomorrow! nearly done, just some final editing! :bannana: ) and took some pics, removed some screws/pipes and sensors...

Oh well, I guess it simplifies my life, I saw some on eBay aready, tomorrow I'll call mercman, see which one costs me less...

Out of curiosity, rees_a, was anything else wrong? Or did it just randomly pop? Was your pump ok? The thermostat on my car is fine, as are the pumps (just starting the engine sends the dashboard crazy, low water in the radiator (no sh*t...), engine temp shoots up within 2/3 seconds, fan kicks in...

I also realised that the fan guard (what is it called, the round black plastic thing around the fan - it clips onto the radiator back) has its clipped snapped, so I will need one of those...

Ah well, I'm still in a good mood Monday a valet is coming (found him through cleanmycar.com); hes doing a premium valet on the chrysler (I didn't remember it that dirty... I guess when you are smaller sitting in the back and spilling stuff becomes an integral part of the car ), and outside clean on the merc (I'll do the inside myself when I have the radiator back in, for now I just want it looking pretty )...

Soon I'll probably post a poll on what the new colour of my car should be... I've decided to go with the full respray as soon as I get a job/salary (speaking of which, I have gone through the first stage of IBM's screening and now need to take an online aptitude test). I'm looking at the same colour, black (maybe even a very dark metallic grey, kind of like anthracite), or some deep metallic blue... I'll go around looking at car colours some time and post pics/options

Oh, pics of my "blast"... (or of my "picnic maker" not decided on the name yet ) www.europoli.net/All/carPics/boom

Michele

 

[rees_A]

The root cause the the fan clutch assembly had failed. I knew it wasn't working properly .ie. car wuold overheat in traffic. Problem was I left my car at a friends house whilst I went on hols and he started it for me the night before I came home to check the battery was ok etc. He went indoors and left it running, he then heard a bang and I got a 300 bill for new rad and I got the fan clutch assembly done at the same time..

oh forgot to mention It also dented the bonnet. I got a body shop to knock out the dents

 

[glojo]

Just a couple of thoughts as it's likely that your header tank exploding is a symptom rather than the cause.

When the temperature gauge started to rise, did your cooling fans cut in? The cooling system should have been able to handle the heat so if the fans were running you might have problems somewhere in the system e.g. thermostat or water pump.

I'm with you on this, hopefully the damage is not too expensive. Us folks from the West Country are used to sitting in traffic jams, under the baking hot sun. Things might have changed, but crazy as it might sound, a good tip aleways used to be that if the temperature guage started creeping towards, or into the red.. turn your heater on full (HOT), turn the fan control to maximum and open the windows. You'll get uncomfortably hot, but the heat is coming from out of the engine. The other alternative is to take to the back roads Or if your with young ladies, perhapd take a break!

Good luck with the repair, they always say that incidents come in three's!

Regards,
John

 

[Satch]

Is there no form of excess pressure release mechanism built into the system? Always assumed that the cap on coolant tanks had some kind of failsafe bit like ye olde spring loaded radiator caps that allowed venting if pressure rose too high.

Otherwise you end up with something exactly the same as a pressure cooker with no safety valve and potential for not just cost but serious injury!

 

[Spinal]

Is there no form of excess pressure release mechanism built into the system? Always assumed that the cap on coolant tanks had some kind of failsafe bit like ye olde spring loaded radiator caps that allowed venting if pressure rose too high.

Otherwise you end up with something exactly the same as a pressure cooker with no safety valve and potential for not just cost but serious injury!

There is... problem was, mine was clogged with antifreeze (or some other blueish goop)...

I've been out all day, so haven't had a chance to call mercman... Oh well, I'll do that tomorrow, meanwhile I'll drve the monster around... (I must add, I was VERY surprised at what insurance cost me for the Chrysler... it was due for renewal these days, so we added me as a second driver...
we have;
main driver with 40+ years no claim bonus (full EU licence)
second driver (me) with a UK licence since 2 years, an accident, and a court case/pending conviction...

Barclays insured the lot, fully comprehensive for £330(ish) !

Now my merc is due for renewal, and I'm being qupted £400+ by direct line... might take the chance to switch

Michele

 

[sagalout]

Out of interest, what is the normal operating temp for these cars? Mine tends to be about 85 when driving normally, but does rise to about 90 - 95 if stuck in traffic in the sun for a long time. Still a fair way off the red mark.

Is that fairly normal?

 

[Will]

Out of interest, what is the normal operating temp for these cars? Mine tends to be about 85 when driving normally, but does rise to about 90 - 95 if stuck in traffic in the sun for a long time. Still a fair way off the red mark.

Is that fairly normal?

I'd say so

Will

 

[DieselE]

Out of interest, what is the normal operating temp for these cars? Mine tends to be about 85 when driving normally, but does rise to about 90 - 95 if stuck in traffic in the sun for a long time. Still a fair way off the red mark.

Is that fairly normal?

My E320CDI, once it's warmed up sits at 85 come rain or shine, traffic jams or empty roads. Mind you it's the first car I've ever had that seems unaffected by sitting in traffic jams.

 

[Spinal]

My E320CDI, once it's warmed up sits at 85 come rain or shine, traffic jams or empty roads. Mind you it's the first car I've ever had that seems unaffected by sitting in traffic jams.

Are you sure your temp. gauge works? It might be a little affected by that flag