Forum:
Mother-in-law has an old 1999 Sirion 1.0 4WD that she drives here in Reykjavik Iceland. It’s a right-hand drive (continental) if that matters…
It overheated and when I checked it for her there was no (or very low) coolant. I filled it up and didn’t see any leaks. I then let it run for 3-5 minutes and there was a steady stream of coolant leaking from somewhere low down on the right side of the engine (right side if sitting in the car looking forward – left if standing in front of the engine looking at it).
It’s a tight fit so I couldn’t clearly see where it was coming from but seemed very low and seemed to be coming from a joint – possibly a faulty seal. I couldn’t see any lose hoses in that area.
Never had any cooling issues before. Don’t know the age and condition of the coolant.
The night before was extremely cold with temperatures going below -15 Celsius and about -8 over the day.
Any ideas what might be going on?
There is no white sludge under the oil cap, no white smoke and no loss of power so I doubt it’s the head-gasket.
And then the head gasket went south!
So I changed the water-pump. The old pump was functioning but worn so changing it was a good idea. The real issue however was the gasket between the pump and engine that was worn to pieces and leaking heavily.
This was a lot more work than I expected!
The car drove fine for about a day and then the head-gasket started leaking.
My theory is that the coolant was bad and froze in the -13 frost; expanding and destroying/weakening the gaskets. Once the gasket at the water-pump was replaced then the head-gasket gave way to the pressure.
Next job is changing the head-gasket…
Two questions:
(1) Is it safe to tow a Sirion automatic 4WD (AWD) for short distances?
The car is about 1 km from my home and I want it in my garage.
(2) Based on experience how extensive is the damage of a blown head-gasket in the 1l Sirion? Wondering if it will be worth the cost of fixing and if a semi-proficient DIY mechanic (think Wheeler Dealer fan) can do the task.