Hot engine temp gauge high and leak

28th February 2012, 21:00

Okay so earlier tonight my car leaked loads of water, literally the whole contents on my radiator bottle.

I thought this was down to me filling it up literally full a day or 2 ago.

I then drove my brother home (after re-filling radiator) and the temp gauge was half all the way there till I got there and sat in idle and it went up a little bit over half

I then got home and it was alright all the way home

I told my dad and he said turn it on and just sit in it for 10 mins and see what happens

I got to the point it was this high

The fan then kicked in only for literally a minuet
Re-looked at gauge and it went down to this

I then re-looked under the bonnet and there was a little puddle of oil on the rocker cover and looked underneath and no water had leaked

One other thing, this may sound stupid but does the manifold get that hot that if you were to splash a bit of water on it it would make that shhhh sound and turn into steam? Because I accidently did while filling radiator bottle.

Im just a little confused that the gauge keeps going really high, Iv also just installed angel eyes if this helps? May give you some indication on where I have been touching

So yeah why is the engine/temp gauge going soo high while I just sit there? Iv never seen the temp gauge that high as the pic

28th February 2012, 21:09

id take it to a garage and get them to have a look over it.....

......it sounds like youve got a coolent leak either on the rad due to corosion or damage, or a split hose.....

also buy a haynes manual

28th February 2012, 21:23

Is it over pressuring the cooling system? I'd try bleeding it first and checking for external leaks before going for anything drastic like the head gasket. Check under the oil cap for mayo and on the dipstick too, also source where that oil came from on the rocker cover.
And yes the manifold will be hot enough to boil the water that hits it instantly