Please Help!!!!

[Dannielle]

Hello im in need of abit of advice today i was driving home from picking my kiddies up from school. I have a VX wagon and all of a sudden on my dash it started beeping and come up on the dash HOT. I pulled over and lifted the bonnet and on the driver's side underneth the brake fluid thing there is two thick rubber pipes that go into the firewall and into a part of the motor behind the belt.. Those rubber hoses also have a round cylinder thingy. There was coolant spurting out of the plastic thing that the hoses were connected to. PLEASE if anyone knows what the problem is or wqhat i need to fix it i would love to know. Sorry about the description but im a female and you know us we know nothing about cars. LOL

Cheers
Dannielle

[social]

probably just a radiator hose (coolant runs inside it) has cracked over time and the pressure just gave way, should cos much to get one replaced, the piping shouldnt cost more than $10 and take 15mins of a mechanics time to replace for you

[greenacc]

Sounds like you have blown up your heater tap. ... as the name suggests it is a valve tyep thing that lets hot water into your heater when you tern your heater on.
They are about $35 from Holden , plus hoses and new coolant.

[dannyn12]

i think it could be your hot/cold water tap thats under your brake boost,you can pick one up from repco

[Dannielle]

What would be the cause of this heater tap blowing up?? Does it have anything to do with the air con being on?? As i havent used the heater only the air con. Thanks

[banga]

they go brittle with age , its one the things that go on these cars , they are easy to fix and only cost $20 from repco or a spare parts place get whoever changes it to change the squeezy hose clamps with screw type clamps as well if they havent been changed already , you always have coolant in the hoses there ,it has nothing to do with the aircon

[Dannielle]

thanks mate.. Also is ok for me to drive the car to holden in the morning the way it is. Holden is about 4 k's for here?? i topped the radiator up with water .

[Lumps of cheese]

Depends on how bad it is leaking.

[Dannielle]

oh ok is there anything i could do to be able to get it there?

[greenacc]

4 k's isn't much. double check the water and top it up again in the morning. if the hose has come loose plug it with something and tape it up.
If its just cracked the heater tap just tape that up if u can.

[Dannielle]

ok but it didnt lose that much water today when i topped it up with about 3 litres of water. i will try that thanks mate

[davway]

3 litres of water isnt much - its a LOT.

[Dannielle]

oh i thought it wasnt much seeing that they hold 12 litres LOL see you can tell im female

[bj-1981]

so many diff people given diff answers instead of doing everything they have said best to get a mechanic to check it gl and hope it isnt anything serious

[davway]

thats 1/4 of your cooling capabilities - still doesnt sound like much?

[Dannielle]

are you being smart Davway cause if you are i asked for help not to be thrown shit at...

[davway]

not being smart, just making sure you realise that 3 litres is not a little bit at all.
a loss of 3 litres is enough to reduce the cooling capacity and cause some major problems - at worst a cooked engine.
sure, it wont cook with just 3 litres gone, but if you had have kept running it, it would have emptied out the cooling system even more, to the point youd be walking till you rebuilt the engine.
fill it up, travel the 4kms and get it fixed asap.

[Dannielle]

oh ok mate thanks for the advice i will post up tomorrow what they say at holden is the problem cheers to everyone for there help

[OzJD]

Might be worth taking a 2l bottle of water with you... if the car temp gauge gets really hot... let it cool down and refill

[accentstencil]

Is there no-one that can change the tap for you? It is a simple job which will cost you about $20 for the tap and around $30 for good coolant. Holden is going to charge at least double that. If you are handy with a screwdriver we could guide you through it, if you want to give it a go.

[NORTI]

I limped a couple of them home with stuffed heater taps. Danielle, you will need to take water with you. You may need to stop more than once. Just depends on how much of it is gone. Best bet is if you block it, that way you wont lose coolant, but if you cant, then just lots of water & keep any eye on the car & temp as you go. Also Im concerned about how your post read, in that it appears you are just putting in water normally?

Being that you will lose a lot in the limp to holdens/other spare parts place, then water is fine. But please ensure that you flush & refill with coolant after your done.

Fitting is easy enough, just undo the hose clamps & make sure you get any of the corroded tap out of the hose, & fit the new one & do up the clamps, then flush & refill.


I will also try not to be offended at your comments about being female & therefore unawares of how things work.

[Dannielle]

A big thanks to everyone that offer to help in regards to my post. I took it down this morning and got it fixed it was the heater tap. I also got them to flush and replace with new coolant. Thnaks again to everyone

[banga]

how much did they charge you?

[Dannielle]

$180 thats included the heater tap plus flushed and replaced the coolant and pellets

[greenacc]

thats holden service for ya... least its fixed tho.