ago in Volkswagen by
Wanted to do a full coolant flush (going from G12 to G13 and wanted to flush to be safe), I disconnected the lower radiator hose and put a bucket there for drainage, turned the car on and let it temp. I started pouring distilled water in the reservoir, car was on for about 10-20 minutes. I was constantly looking at the dash to make sure it wasn’t overheating.

As I’m finishing up all of the liquid coming out of the hose is water, no coolant left so I stop putting water in and go in the car to watch for it to overheat and plan to turn it off as soon as this happens. I notice it’s already flashing and says stop on the dash so I turn the car off right away, the rest of the water drains out.

I connect the hose and make sure everything is sealed, fill the reservoir with new coolant, go to start it and it just clicks and makes a cracking type sound like an electrical shortage or something.

Did I totally f up my car? By the looks of things it seems like it’s toast, maybe needs a new pump but most likely toast right?

4 Answers

+1 vote
ago by
It would be the coolant level sensor telling you to shut it down. Was the car ran at all with low coolant? It doesn't take much time to overheat an engine without coolant in it. It's not a recommended way to flush coolant. But as long as you replaced the coolant as fast as it was coming out I don't see the issue. Have you tried disconnecting the battery terminals and holding them together for 30 seconds to drain the computer memory?
ago by
I was replacing it right away, maybe once the reservoir was briefly empty but I filled it again right away.

I just tried that and the same thing, it clicks when I try to start. The temp gauge is halfway between 0 and 90, I’m wondering if I let it completely cool down if it will work.
ago by
No chance battery could have went low? Maybe key was left forward for a bit? Usually a click is a sign of low battery. Unless engine is seized and starter can't turn it over... But that's worst case scenario, let's not go there yet lol
ago by
It’s possible, I’ve had some battery corrosion issues in the past but cleaned it all up and never had any issues since. I’ll test it and get out my charger to try that. Thanks for your help.
+1 vote
ago by
That's a potentially expensive way to flush coolant...

If you ran it and left the system open, the water level would probably not have got as high as the sensor that triggers the warning. Did the temperature gauge say cold the whole time? The flashing might have just been the level sensor.
ago by
Yeah, I’ve never done it before and just read through a few DIY’s that said to do this so my fault there.

It got up to 90 but never over that or anywhere near the red zone. Before it got to 80-90 it wasn’t pulling any water out of the reservoir.
ago by
In that case there could have been a bit of coolant still up near the thermostat. That would explain the extra flow when it got to temperature.

If it starts up when it's cold, you might have caught it in time and you turned off just as it was starting to stiffen up a bit. 20 minutes of compromised cooling is near the danger zone. You can only really safely run with no coolant for a few minutes on a petrol engine. Diesels are a bit more generous.

It maybe worth finding someone with a pressure tester or a combustion dye test to see if there are any problems on the way. Or just watch out for coolant level for a while.
+1 vote
ago by
Did you run the car for 20 minutes with the radiator hose off? You didn't have water in the engine the entire time. Putting it in the reservoir was just going from tank to radiator to ground. A coolant temperature sensor doesn't work unless its in liquid. When in air they only read when the metal they are made from is so hot the internals heat up and give a reading, normally nothing to pegged out instantly. If this is what you did the engine was severely overheated.

Let the engine cool a few hours and see if it turns over or not. Check if the oil is really overfilled. (from water displacement) If not turning over, try turning by hand. If still not remove plugs and try again. If water comes out, the head gasket is really blown. You will have to teardown to determine if the engine is salvageable. With the plugs out if it still won't turn over its really f'ed. Water pump has nothing to do with car turning over or not.
ago by
About 10 minutes with it off.

I’ll check the oil now thanks, right now it just clicks when I try to start and then it locks me out, like the key won’t turn. Thanks for the help.
ago by
On many German cars once you turn the key to "crank" you must turn it back all the way to "off" before trying again. The switch can't turn to crank twice.
+1 vote
ago by
I think you destroyed your engine. If you took your lower radiator hose off, I would assume you were just pouring coolant straight into the radiator and out the bottom. No coolant was circulating through your engine.

Maybe your car is setup different but what you did sounds crazy.

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