Top radiator hose like a rock

Hi when my car warms up the top hose from the radiator going into the thermostat goes hard,and when im driving the heater matrix makes a glug glug soud.Hope it isnt the head gasket thats going because i dont really have the funds to be doing it and the weather aint the best.Anyone have any ideas on to what it might be?If it is the head gasket is this kit any good as the price seems to cheap? EBAY CLICKY. Any help would be greatly appreciated cheers Adrian

Is there any white deposits on the inside of filler cap or oily residues in the water? Does sound like its presurising, ie possible head gasket failure. Hope I'm wrong.

There aint any oil in the water or vice versa.Was going to change the thermostat and flush the coolant out.Or run it with no thermostat!But wouldnt that mean no heat in the truck?Cheers Adrian

hi mate, 1st of all if the stat is stuck closed the top hose wont get hot & it will overheat once running temp is reached , if its stuck open then you will struggle to keep much temp at all this weather, the gurgle from the matrix is air in the system, are you getting white smoke when the engines up to normal operating temp & are you loosing coolant ? you can try flushing the system 1st you might just have a blockage somewhere if your lucky but from my experience i hate to say it mate but i think its the dreaded head gasket failure

i know yours is a later model & quite low mileage if i remember rightly as is lloyds so it sounds as if vx didnt manage to improve this particular fault on the 2.2

have you read lloyds thread - viewtopic.php?f=32&t=30434

im sure mines gone again & i must admit i think when the weather improves im going to give k seal a go, it might not work at all or it might work in the short term untill i can afford to get it changed again so for the sake of £10 theres not much to loose is there ?

Mine hasnt over heated and is loosing coolant from the radiator the expansion bottle level never changes.Think i will replace the thermostat coolant and give k seal a go.I will completely flush the system and heater matrix and fingers crossed it will get me through till summer then i might do the gasket if the k seal stops working.

Got k seal for £6.95 from my local motor factors.Its stopped the leak and white smoke.Put im not sure on wether the pipes are to hard!As im still getting like glugging noise from the heater matrix when i rev the car.I have just ordered a thermostat so going to change that.If that fails i will have to put a headgasket set on it.Not looking forward to it though as the weather is pants.

the gurgling means theres still air in the system, you will need to clear it or the water wont flow properly

i dont think im going to bother with the k seal now, i think its only putting off the job temperarly

Well i bled the system,after driving through town it dumped its coolant everywere,the expansion bottle was full and pressurised.I think it could be head gasket time.Is there any chance the head could be cracked.there still isnt any mayo in the oil though,and not loads a white smoke just smoke through it being -3.

you wont always get mayo in the oil, it depends where the gasket fails, in your case [ and in mine both times] its gone so the water is going into the water jacket which explains the white smoke from the exhaust, at least you wont have to do an oil/filter change as well :wink:

i think its hit & miss as to whether your heads cracked but its worth getting it checked before reassembly incase it needs skimming, rather that than finding out after the rebuild.