4 months ago in my Citroen Berlingo multispace petrol 1.6 (2009) the temperature gauge shot to the top and car warned me to stop, I was in slow traffic and had to continue for 10 minutes as on a dual carriageway. In this time the dial would go back to normal and then a couple of minutes later would shoot to the top. I was by a kwik fit so took it there for advice and was told it sounded like the sensor. They rang at work to say cracked radiator and replaced for £300.

Yesterday creeping in very slow traffic and temperature gauge shoots up, car overheated, radiator water very low.

Took back to kwik fit who now say nothing to do with radiator but need a new head gasket.

No oil in radiator water, no **** in oil.

Car losing water and overheating.

Is this a case of I have just been very unlucky???

It is very common for the cooling system to find the next weakest point to leak, especially if the Rad has been replaced, it'll just exploit the next weakest point, shame it wasn't just a hose!

No it's a case of Kwik-Fit not diagnosing the problem to start with. £300, you have been ripped off well and truly.

If they replaced the radiator, I would hardly expect any further water problems to be caused by the radiator unless it wasn't fitted properly.

Anyone who has a sudden problem with a vehicle could be said to be unlucky.

The system should be pressurised and the location of the water loss visually determined. If it is coming from between the head and block, then yes, the head gasket will have gone, but that's not the full extent of the problem, what caused the head gasket to go is the main problem.

The next test here would be a cyclinder pressure check.

It is normal in cases like yours, especially having gone so long after the warning without stopping, for the head to warp so should be skimmed as well as the gasket replaced.

Take it to a reputable repair garage so that the proper procedure and Citroen guidlines are adhered to like changing the headbolts. It's nice to keep the bill low, but not at the expense of having it done again further down the line.

Thanks for the replies.

Will take to another garage on Tuesday for a second opinion and take it from there.

Car needs a few bits doing so weighing up if worth repairing or getting rid although I guess will be hard to get rid off in this state!!

Will you let us know how you get on ?

Well garage taken too says it is the water pump, they will change cam belt aswell whilst stripped down.

Collected car, said nothing wrong with head gasket. Showed me water pump, fins have all come off and gone into the engine.

Mechanic had to leave quickly so message left to call me tomorrow. He did say on phone that as they are metal they should sink in engine and hopefully not cause a problem.

Anyone know if they are likely to cause problem? Should I get shot of car now just in case?

Cross that kwik fit gave wrong diagnosis. They told me that it was definitely not the water pump. Feel was taken for a mug as there quote of £730 did enclude changing the water pump so they would have sorted the problem and I would have been none the wiser if I had let them carry out the work.

It is wrong of them to just come up with a problem without first checking if that was actually what was wrong with it.

If they believed it was that gasket they should have done a cylinder pressure test to prove that point.

I would always suggest changing some associated piece of equipment while stripped down, especially the cam belt and tensioner while pump was out just as I would recommend changing a clutch plate, (or even the whole clutch), if the gearbox had to be removed for some reason.

I can't see the wp fins being a problem unless they made it into the header tank of your radiator and it's getting on a bit and the car has been running without anti-freeze for some time which will speed up corrosion of the core. But even then the core would have to be pretty soft for that to happen.

There is always a chance that something could go wrong, it could go wrong with the new pump, so you will have to way up the likelyhood and if you feel it's not worth the risk, then sell it on.

The flow through the engine isn't very fast or with any discernable pressure so the fins will more than likely sink and stay there. The waterpump is the only real thing internally that could be damaged, but of course if it jamed, then it's very likely the cam belt will be damaged and result