LHD_Kid

Well, yesterday I took out the thermostat, seems to work fine (by dropping in hot wter on string, etc) flushed out whole system, refilled, took all day with car on lumps of wood... Has made no difference at all. Still as bad as before. This morning I removed the head unit and rear speakers, drove the car to a layby just outside the village, removed the Apexi filter and the wheels and left it there. Lets see how long it takes the locals to come and dismantle all the rest........... Thanks for your suggestions, but now its gone and I am not sorry. Regards, Chris

Just to clarify, the car was parked, and the whole area flooded, we were too busy saving people to be able to move all the vehicles, etc. It sat in water for 2 days, just soaking. I started the clean up after a week and a half.... I didn't drive into a flood, so the engine wasn't running when water went over the top...!

Oh, and I have had to try and flush out the auto transmission fluid too, using an air compressor, has taken 3 goes, by the 4th it seemed clear of water evidence..... I think there is a breather on the auto box which water went into.... One day I will show you some pictures of it when it was getting cleaned up, you wont believe it runs at all.......

I think what I'll try is a full flush, using a system I have found on TTnet, this looks like a hell of a job, but does at least put clean water through everywhere... Yes, water did make it into the intake, I removed the air filter( cone type) and water was sitting right at the top of the pipe the AMM is connected to... I took it all apart, including the bits behind the wheel arches (something to do with the emmissions, emptied out the water, cleaned out the mud (which drfies like concrete) and have at least got the engine running... It starts fairly badly, quite lumpy, and after running for a few minutes with your right foot stopping it from dieing every now and then it idles ok, albeit with a bit of hunting. I reckon this could be due to the air lock which there has to be somewhere... Anyway, I will let you know how I get on. I will need to find some way of attatching a hose to a water well...! Seriously, a guy from town said I can borrow an electric pump for a hose connection. How do I check if there is exhaust gas in the coolant system? If I flush every single bit of it, surely this will be flushed out too....? Cheers guys, will check back soon. Chris

Many thanks for that, I think I will try and remove the thermostat. Whats the worst that can happen? I remain with an undriveable car, like I started with...! Worth the risk... I had a leak in the EGR valve, and blocked it ot, that was a hell of a job with an old socket set and some Aluminium window frames...! Thanks again for advice, and if anyone else has any suggestions I would love to hear them...!

The leak appeared while parked and bonnet up, so was noticed quickly, this was following a flood wiped out the car, and I have had to nurse it back to health. Water and mud was up to the top of the headlights. Suffice it to say, after 6 months work my not being able to fill it properly is the last straw...! I had to completely remove the interior and hose it out, replace engine ECU, gearbox ECU, and get all the water and mud out of the intake system and exhaust, etc.... Bearing in mind I had to dig a hole in the garden and lie in it, pulling the cvar over me whilst I laid there to work on the underside... There really is nothing here... This is my main problem, along with my own lack of knowledge (I am a carpenter) (not that carpenters lack knowledge, but lack mechanical knowledge sometimes...)

Well, I fill like that, with the nose up, and the rad cap and bleed screw removed. The matrix pipe gets hot and the top rad hose gets hot too. I think there is circulation, but there must just be a huge air lock which is impossible to get rid of (as I say, I have tried this for some time now) The engine didnt overheat, The nearest garage is about 2 hours away, they deal with mainly 1970 Renault 12's. I fill with the 3 litres or so, waiting for the level to drop, or for it to circulate properly and idt wont. Can I put a hose on anywhere and 'push' the air out? then refill with the correct percentage of additive? I need a solution. I think the thermostat is working, as warms up the top hose, and if you rev the engine slightly the water rushes past the rad filler quite quickly...

Hi everyone, I have a big problem with my Zed... I am in Romania, which also means I am on my own, with nobody knowing anything about cars at all (much like me..) I had a bad problem with the car, which ended with one of the hoses to the heater matrix splitting. I thought this was ok, replace hose, refill with coolant... NOT I have been trying now for almost 3 weeks to refil the cooling system. I have read for a week on various sites about the best way to do this, and am none the wiser with my problem. I have tried parking nose up, trickle filling with engine on, and off, filling with heater set to on, and nose up, with engine running, also with engine off. Tried with all caps off , all but rad cap on, and every permutation I can think of. I am now running out of patience, and if I cant fill it I will be leaving it on the roadside somewhere. I disconnected bottom rad hose and let all the coolant that was left fall out, refilled as above, and can only ever manage to get 3 litres (max) of coolant in the rad. The car runs ok, temp guage reads normal, heater obviously doesnt work, running till the engine is warmed up, waiting for the level to drop as the air is expelled causes the water to boil and fountain out the rad about a foot or so. This also makes it hard to see exactly how much coolant goes in, as most of it inevitably ends up on the floor...! Please help with an idiots guide as to exactly how to fully empty the water system and refill (I have no idea whether the heater is opening the valve to the matrix or not - I would guess not) I have no more money for more coolant additive, as I am a charity worker over here, and dont exactly get paid a huge wage...! Thanks in advance for any advice...! Chris