Hiya, after driving nearly 700 miles by accident yesterday on return home back from Uni, A few miles away from my house whilst in traffic on a hill a plastic hose connector for the AC system melted and broke for the AC coolant system (running coolant to the AC unit) which I'll be getting replaced. It broke off in traffic making a small steam puff from both left and right sides of the bonnet. When  the lights changed, as I was passing a speed camera on a roughly 7% incline, the vehicle behind me flashed his full beams (about 5pm at night) at me to tell me there was the white ish grey smoke from the exhaust which is a normal indicator for a blown head gasket / burning coolant inside the engine. 

 

When i got home, i checked the oil dipstick (showing plenty oil - brown oil. not milky, not cloudy), I checked the wiper tank liquid (still had some liquid in it although isnt used for coolant / engine so doesnt make much of a difference), but the coolant tank was completely empty. There was a few l;ittle puddles of coolant (presumably when the pipe connector broke and it had spilled) which didn't suprise me but also small puddles of oil at the bottom in gaps and the underside of the car was visibly covered in oil. during these tests, the radiator was blowing at full blast to cool the engine and didn't stop for about 15-20 minutes.

 

The smoke being emitted from the exhaust wasn't constant (like constantly blowing out the smoke), it only came in "batches", basically when the car was being run at high revs (like when climbing through the gears approaching the hill), and i believe it is just the engine overheating (correct me if i'm wrong)? The temperature gauge on the dashboard was reading the same temperature (the middle) the entire drive including as I was reversing the car onto the drive (after the smoke).

 

10 hours later whilst on the drive and after a small shower of rain, i checked the oil level again. before the journey the oil was just below full, whilst now the dipstick was reading overfull (took reading 3 times just to double check). The exhaust pipe has no residue on it. The back box is broken (but i knew about this for a while). The oil itself in the engine is brown and has no clouds / impurities within.

 

Anyone else had an issue similar or could advise what to do? I'm a bit scared of driving the car incase of a blown head gasket but it could be just a leak / multiple leaks?

 

 

Whatever you do don't drive the car with no coolant.

16 hours ago, PinguForTheWin said:

Hiya, after driving nearly 700 miles by accident yesterday on return home back from Uni, A few miles away from my house whilst in traffic on a hill a plastic hose connector for the AC system melted and broke for the AC coolant system (running coolant to the AC unit) which I'll be getting replaced. It broke off in traffic making a small steam puff from both left and right sides of the bonnet. When  the lights changed, as I was passing a speed camera on a roughly 7% incline, the vehicle behind me flashed his full beams (about 5pm at night) at me to tell me there was the white ish grey smoke from the exhaust which is a normal indicator for a blown head gasket / burning coolant inside the engine. 

 

When i got home, i checked the oil dipstick (showing plenty oil - brown oil. not milky, not cloudy), I checked the wiper tank liquid (still had some liquid in it although isnt used for coolant / engine so doesnt make much of a difference), but the coolant tank was completely empty. There was a few l;ittle puddles of coolant (presumably when the pipe connector broke and it had spilled) which didn't suprise me but also small puddles of oil at the bottom in gaps and the underside of the car was visibly covered in oil. during these tests, the radiator was blowing at full blast to cool the engine and didn't stop for about 15-20 minutes.

 

The smoke being emitted from the exhaust wasn't constant (like constantly blowing out the smoke), it only came in "batches", basically when the car was being run at high revs (like when climbing through the gears approaching the hill), and i believe it is just the engine overheating (correct me if i'm wrong)? The temperature gauge on the dashboard was reading the same temperature (the middle) the entire drive including as I was reversing the car onto the drive (after the smoke).

 

10 hours later whilst on the drive and after a small shower of rain, i checked the oil level again. before the journey the oil was just below full, whilst now the dipstick was reading overfull (took reading 3 times just to double check). The exhaust pipe has no residue on it. The back box is broken (but i knew about this for a while). The oil itself in the engine is brown and has no clouds / impurities within.

 

Anyone else had an issue similar or could advise what to do? I'm a bit scared of driving the car incase of a blown head gasket but it could be just a leak / multiple leaks?

 

 

Sorry I can't help with your issue but I need to know how you - "drove nearly 700 miles by accident "

I was driving back from uni (250 mile  journey) when I realised about 3 hours in (approx 200 miles in) that I left something vital for my Christmas studies back at halls. So I turned around at the next junction and drove back. Picked up what was needed and just wanted to go home... accidentally wasting 400 miles of time and fuel

Just realised I have two accounts....

55 minutes ago, PenguinMk4 said:

Just realised I have two accounts....

Noot noot...

Which engine is it?  Guessing 1.3 petrol?

Driving the car with little to no coolant may have warped/cracked the head, block or headgasket. Check the oil again today now it's had the change to settle.  You're lucky it wasn't modern EcoBoost as it'd have been toast within seconds once the coolant hose snaps! 

All you can really do is repair the hose, fill & bleed the coolant, and then run it to see if any long term damage has been caused.