[oldmanwarrior]

Last night we drove home, a 30 minute drive, without any water in the engine. The only sign that something was wrong, was that the heater didn't work, which we put down to electrical fault. The temp. gauge sat on normal and never showed hot. No sound no steam and engine felt responsive all the way. The only time we noticed anything, was when we got out of the car at home where it smelled warm. I thought maybe the car was low on water and checked the little tank, and it was empty. I then started to put hot water in, and steam came out from the engine somewhere and water started to run on the ground. After some searching I found the bottom main hose where it goes onto the engine had come off. We don't know when it came off and how long a time we have run the engine without water. It never seized or showed any sign that something was wrong. And note that the temperature showed normal. But I noticed the hoseclamp was sitting on the hose but a few inches away from where it should have been. We did take some pictures with difficulties. The car had been in to get front end repair done some months ago and had a 45000 k service done recently and today it has done 54000 k. Who is responsible ? How much damage has been done? How could the hose have stayed on so long ? Beats me......

[asathorny]

very worrying, what do the dealership say, or have you not aproached them...  Oh and welcome aboard.

Lets see what the other members have to say.

Asathorny   

[Dazzler]

That is very scary for you and anyone else with the Diesel.. Hopefully no long term damage done and that you get it sorted without further incident ...  (thanks for the warning) 

Member since June 2009 Asa 

[Shambles]

Just goes to prove what I've always said about these little diesels we have...

They can walk on water run on air

Thanks for posting. Dunno why the temp needle didn't hit the high spot - that's worrying, unless the hose became completely detached just before you stopped.

[oldmanwarrior]

It's sunday here and we haven't spoken to anyone yet. I'm really very upset about this, too because I know quite a bit about engines and I would have thought I should have picked up on it, but there were absolutely no signs whatsoever, apart from losing its heating. No signs of water anywhere, on garage floor or on the street where the car was parked.

That's a very upsetting discovery and thanks for the warning, particularly re the temp guage indicating normal. What's that about?

Even though it was low or dry it suggests it did not over-heat (significantly) and your observations support that also. Not forgetting that the drive was short. How lucky was that?

Just curious, what was the ambient temperature? I'm guessing pretty cool that day.

[rustynutz]

I may be wrong but surely the temperature gauge would actually need coolant in the system for it to function correctly??   

[Surferdude]

If you get a complete loss of water very quickly - as you would expect if the hose popped off all of a sudden - there will be only a momentary blip on the temp guage, then the heated air around the sender unit will keep it pretty close to normal. I had this happen a few years ago on a petrol engine. Unless you were looking at the guage at the moment it all happened you wouldn't notice anything.

I suspect in your case the hose was loose and close to coming off but not actually all the way, then as the engine heated up and pressure built, it pretty much "blew" the hose off with pretty much instant coolant loss.

So if youdidn't notice any "tightening up of the engine, you may have got away with it.
In my case, my wife was driving, it was an auto and when the car started slowing and the temp guage was normal she assumed a transmission problem and continued the three blocks to home. Cost us a head gasket and machine only, fortunately.

[Surferdude]

I may be wrong but surely the temperature gauge would actually need coolant in the system for it to function correctly??   

Geez Rusty. Talk about great minds etc etc.............

[rustynutz]

 ....

[oldmanwarrior]

I took the car for a drive and to see my engine guru. He too was a bit surprised that the engine is still alive, as he said "diesels don't run as hot as a petrol" and therefore water and pressure aren't as high. If it had been a petrol it would have seized. We checked the oil to see if water had gone in to it, but it was fine, and after the car had sat for a good hour, I took the "radiator" cap off and there was still pressure in the systems. Of course we will be checking oil and water vigorously, and I think we got away with a scare. What's missing is a low water indicator. It was a cold night as well.

[Surferdude]

Good news OMW

[asathorny]

That is very scary for you and anyone else with the Diesel.. Hopefully no long term damage done and that you get it sorted without further incident ...  (thanks for the warning) 

Member since June 2009 Asa 

Oops... OK, I am welcoming him back then Dazz   

[Dazzler]

Quite an interesting tread (and one for the memory bank) 

[Pranav]

Almost similar thing happened with my VT Commodore earlier this year. 


Just when I stopped, water started pouring...i first thought it was condensation from AC.


But it was so much, that I called RACV.  The mechanic said the same thing that the hose was out...but the clamp was still in place...so no idea really why.

I just got it clamped back...it didn't happen again... at least till the kept the car.

[eye30]

All I'll say is:

LUCK was on your side.

More than likely if this happens again to you or another the engine will seize...

[Surferdude]

I know this has been moved to "Diesel" section but I honestly reckon it has a wider appeal. Both Pranav and I have had something similar as posted above, in petrol engines.

[Shambles]

Move it then!

[Surferdude]

Move it then!

Done - sort of. The "Move Topic" panel is more sophisticated than I'm used to.

[beerman]

The 45,000k service is where they flush the radiator. Perhaps this might throw some light on when it happened?

[Lakes]

just check water & oil & tyre pressure before you drive.

[Talking Hoarse]

Your car may have overheated (probably has). 
If it were mine I would change the oil as that might have been affected by the extra heat.
Good luck with dealer, and if in any doubt sell the car.

[Lakes]

after reading this i checked my new i30 CRDi hoses they all have self tentioning clamps so all i could think of is poor workmanship on the service team. as if clamp had lost tention should be replaced  if hose had been removed & refitted they might not have put the clamp in possition. but i'm very sorry it did happen to you. just lucky it did not seaze up or warp head.

[2i30s]

very,very lucky.    now that you've mentioned the temp gauge not moving above normal, it's reminded me of the temp gauge on my 2.0 petrol doing a similar thing. i have a scangauge and it has water temp showing me that normal temp on a 2.0 petrol is 84 deg c.  last Summer i was stuck in the city in heavy traffic on a 40 deg c day and the temp on the dash showed normal, but my scangauge said the engine was 98 deg c.  could it be possible our temp gauges don't go any higher than showing normal running temp?   

[unfamilia]

98 is within normal specs- excess of 110 would be hot and coolant would possibly boil

[2i30s]

98 is within normal specs- excess of 110 would be hot and coolant would possibly boil

very true,but you would expect the temp gauge to go up a bit higher than normal running temp. 

[WylieCoyote]

Just on the analogue temperature gauges in modern cars.  The gauge will show normal temperature over a large range.
EG My diesel Kia Sorento - normal range as displayed by the dash gauge is anywhere between 75C to 115C. That is, between those temperatures the dash gauge does not move. (I use a scangauge in the Sorento to monitor a range of things, including water temperature. Normal running temperature by the scangauge is 92-93C, which IMO means that the diesel runs hotter than a petrol engine.)

For interest, once 116C in the Sorento is reached, the engine will go into limp mode as the ECU has determined an overheat situation.

[unfamilia]

Lucky Kia is the new Hyundai lol 

So should be similar parameters for Huyundais 

[WylieCoyote]

Yep, I'd be guessing that they would be similar as for most new cars.

With the scangauge in the Sorento, I also monitor Air Intake temps. Notably under turbo boost the air intake temp increases rather quickly (Air Intake temps is the temp of the air after it has passed through the intercooler). Accordingly so too does the water temps although not as much but the water temp does rise.

Similarly I would expect the I30 water temps to rise a little under turbo boost conditions.

But the temp gauge on the dash does not move once 'normal' temp is achieved !!! 

Non movement of the dash gauge does not truly indicate what is really happening.  It's a feel good thing for most people.   

..But the temp gauge on the dash does not move once 'normal' temp is achieved !!! 

Non movement of the dash gauge does not truly indicate what is really happening.  It's a feel good thing for most people.   

I find this unlikely although I do wonder why the scanguage offers a different view. Surely if the actual temperature is available this would be shown... why hide it? Our Getz has a "cold" light that goes out before I reach the corner... that is useless... maybe there's a similarity in the policy.