LairdScooby

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Here you are Tony, a day late but unexpected things happened yesterday! You can just see the level of the coolant there, easier to see with the access panel lifted off : In that one, you can see the coolant is level with the seam between the top and bottom halves of the expansion tank, this is the MIN cold level.

You should be able to see the coolant in the coolant expansion tank Tony, no tube should be on it. I'll try and get a photo of mine tomorrow - my coolant is orange, i believe they changed coolant requirements over the course of production and different colours were used but i don't think pink was one of them.

It sounds to me that the DCCV (heater) valve is working as it should Tony. I'd sort the top hose, get the coolant level where it should be and repeatedly check it for at least 7-10 days while cold and top up to the level if necessary. Because of the design of the system, it can take several days of shorter trips to get the coolant level to stabilise. I'd also suggest a new expansion tank cap, as linked to above.

Maybe Tony, it depends how badly blocked it is. It could also be that you've lost a lot of the cooling vanes between the radiator runners (that go between top and bottom tanks) which would reduce the ability to cool. Gentle driving at moderate speeds would reduce the need for cooling but going up a lot of hills, being stuck in traffic or motorway use would increase the cooling needs. Before you shell out on a new rad, i'd suggest getting a compression test done and also a cooling system pressure test. If you can find someone that can flow test the rad as well then so much the better. It could be you were just unlucky with the top hose and the relief valve blew on the new one (i assume it was brand new?) because of insufficient coolant and an airlock becoming pressurised to the point where it popped the valve.

You're low on coolant, did you top it up after the first episode? No, it doesn't work that way. As i pointed out a bit further up, the system is designed so you can use or not use the heater and it doesn't alter the engien cooling at all. At the risk of making a snap diagnosis, i'd suggest the main radiator is either blocked or leaking if the head gaskets have been ruled out. Also worth trying the radiator expansion tank cap. I had a similar thing with mine where the coolant would be at the right level but the heater was blowing cold, it turned out the cap had gone weak so was allowing coolant to escape when it shouldn't which created airlocks. Because the heater matrix is so high on the S Type, that's where airlocks show up first. Worth trying one and topping the coolant up to the cold mark before you use the car each day to see if it's as simple as that : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403748795978 If nothing else, it will eliminate that as a possible source of coolant loss.

I have a probable fault in mind Tony but can you tell me, during your journey today, was it longer than the other journeys and did it involve motorway work and/or extended town work? The heatr valve simply opens up to allow hot coolant to flow to the heater matrix, the system is designed so that if cold is selcted, the heater valve is powered to close and the system runs as normal, regardless of the position of the heater valve.

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