Overheated car due to thermostat leak

[Anita]

Hi RCZ experts ....

Been quoted 600gbp for a new thermostat housing for my 1.6 petrol RCZ

It went into limp mode two weeks ago. Briefly.
Took it to local garage near work thinking it was an ignition coil issue. They couldn't find anything and said safe to drive but return if any issues.

Been fine. Drove it via rubbish Sussex traffic as council messed up roads over Easter i.e longer than usual in traffic. To supermarket.

Smoke from under bonnet when stopped at car park ~ guy next to me was an ex mechanic and he helped me add water as coolant was all gone ( NO warning signs but could've been because it was all gone ).

Drove it 5 miles to my usual garage.
Needs new thermostat housing due to leak.

Was fine until arrived when started playing up.

Sorry for long message but does anyone here have experience of similar issue ....Not sure whether to spend the money and er pray, or whether there are any clues that tell me that this will be a wasted job and just quit while am ahead and get new more reliable car.

Been using it for work and it's erratic ie probs needs a sensible Honda like I drove for years for work...

Thank you for any tips hints or shared experiences....Love this car but need to spend my life caring for it which isn't afforded to me right now....

Anita

 

[Pedro]

These are a known failure on all these Prince engines not just in the RCZ but £600 maybe down to labour charges ? Once this part is replaced & there are no other visible leaks everything like heater coolant tamp should return to normal

 

[Anita]

These are a known failure on all these Prince engines not just in the RCZ but £600 maybe down to labour charges ? Once this part is replaced & there are no other visible leaks everything like heater coolant tamp should return to normal

Hi thanks so much for your reply....I will hope I didn't 'burn' the engine while I was driving the miles I drove back from the shops, to the garage...and become very religious and say lots of prayers....

 

[Pedro]

I doubt you may have burnt anything as you were still driving the car & when overheating any engine the fan will trigger on at full blast which can help lowering the temp somewhat the thermostat is enclosed in a plastic housing which has a habit of the joins splitting & leaking alternately the thermostat inside can be a problem as they are electronicky assisted but you may just hopefully have a leaking tank

 

[Anita]

I doubt you may have burnt anything as you were still driving the car & when overheating any engine the fan will trigger on at full blast which can help lowering the temp somewhat the thermostat is enclosed in a plastic housing which has a habit of the joins splitting & leaking alternately the thermostat inside can be a problem as they are electronicky assisted but you may just hopefully have a leaking tank

Thank you for taking the time to let me know this. Appreciate it. It seems like am being charged around 3-4 hours labour. Can I/should I ask them to also check the electrics at the same time? The orange 'engine fault repair required' light crops up randomly and has done since I purchased the car. Originally the people I bought it from would look it over when this happened - as I worked next door to the garage that sold it to me. Now we've moved and have gone to a new garage. I know this orange repair message coming up a lot is a theme of this model. But any advice at all on this truly appreciated....
Than you.

 

[Pedro]

You need to have the car scanned to find any issues as to why the EML lights is on I suggest you take it back to whoever sold it & tell them to fix whatever is wrong ?

 

[Retec]

Thank you for taking the time to let me know this. Appreciate it. It seems like am being charged around 3-4 hours labour. Can I/should I ask them to also check the electrics at the same time? The orange 'engine fault repair required' light crops up randomly and has done since I purchased the car. Originally the people I bought it from would look it over when this happened - as I worked next door to the garage that sold it to me. Now we've moved and have gone to a new garage. I know this orange repair message coming up a lot is a theme of this model. But any advice at all on this truly appreciated....
Than you.

Hi Anita,
Recent problem(s) with my RCZ too.
I'd diagnosed the thermostat housing needed changing after coolant & temperature failure..
Housing cost me £80 and it took me 3hrs to change.
The engine fault light came up on mine with a missfire on 2 & 4... the code was P008 (if I recall correctly).. low fuel pressure.. This ended up being the HPFP (high pressure fuel pump) which is on the same side of the engine as the thermostat housing. I'd previously eliminated the low pressure fuel pump (located inside the fuel tank) that read a pressure of 3bar for a specification of 3.3bar .. so in the tolerance range.

 

[Anita]

Hi Anita,
Recent problem(s) with my RCZ too.
I'd diagnosed the thermostat housing needed changing after coolant & temperature failure..
Housing cost me £80 and it took me 3hrs to change.
The engine fault light came up on mine with a missfire on 2 & 4... the code was P008 (if I recall correctly).. low fuel pressure.. This ended up being the HPFP (high pressure fuel pump) which is on the same side of the engine as the thermostat housing. I'd previously eliminated the low pressure fuel pump (located inside the fuel tank) that read a pressure of 3bar for a specification of 3.3bar .. so in the tolerance range.

Well, you sound like you are a person who knows what is going on with your car! Big up you I say as I am clueless....I've just had good news in part - car is driving fine after new housing for thermo and a new pipe as one was cracked, but - block test shows some gases are going into the coolant as they did a block test....so it looks like the head gasket is possible having an issue and may be on its way out...
About to go get - they've told me to drive it and keep an eye on over heating/coolant changes
My lights/dashboard and me are going to become v good friends and will have to check the coolant daily

Do you hvae any advice on driving a car that might have a head gasket problem.....
Just fyi - my new thermo housing + pipe + labour costing me 700! Gbp.....you are saving yourself a lot of cash

 

[Anita]

You need to have the car scanned to find any issues as to why the EML lights is on I suggest you take it back to whoever sold it & tell them to fix whatever is wrong ?

Yeah I wish....moved out of London to the seaside and can't reach them for love nor money....Mea culpa as should've kept those numbers inscribed on my forehead right?

 

[Anita]

Thank you for taking the time to let me know this. Appreciate it. It seems like am being charged around 3-4 hours labour. Can I/should I ask them to also check the electrics at the same time? The orange 'engine fault repair required' light crops up randomly and has done since I purchased the car. Originally the people I bought it from would look it over when this happened - as I worked next door to the garage that sold it to me. Now we've moved and have gone to a new garage. I know this orange repair message coming up a lot is a theme of this model. But any advice at all on this truly appreciated....
Than you.

Hi again......So - am about to collect car, it's driving fine - they've driven for a few miles in the area - but - the block test showed some signs only minor - but of gases leaking into the coolant.....They say to drive it but keep an eye and stop if there are any signs of over heating...
I was hoping it might be some residual gases from when took it in but that's me being very hopeful and it's not basic physics I think - that one...
Any advice on driving a car that might have a head gasket about to go?

 

[Anita]

You need to have the car scanned to find any issues as to why the EML lights is on I suggest you take it back to whoever sold it & tell them to fix whatever is wrong ?

Yeah I would've done this...small local garage next to where I worked..can't reach them for love nor money at moment....they were care taking it for me when things were playing up...Moved out of London in 2022 and v stressful plus had to get new phone in a hurry so was a bit screwed and lost the critical mobile numbers but there miles away now anyway but yes they should really in a fair world be dealing with all this for me...