TU3, 1.4 petrol overheating - no coolant

On a C3 2007 Desire 1.4 petrol TU3 engine last night I heard 3 beeps without any warning lights. On inspection, there was no coolant in the expansion tank. I poured in 2 litres of coolant when the engine was cold.

I then drove about a mile and the car overheated with 3 beeps. Drove it back home.

Back home, I idled the engine with the coolant cap off, and could not get the fan to kick in. The fan did not work on the 1 mile test drive either.
Am I correct thinking that the problem with the car is that the fan is not working properly?
How can I bleed the system to refill the car to drive to a garage?

When I idled the car with the coolant cap off on the expansion tank, the engine ejected substantial amount of coolant following with bubbles.
Is this because I did not have the cap on, or is this is the indication of another problem?

Thank you all.

martonkangur wrote: ↑Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:35 pm Back home, I idled the engine with the coolant cap off, and could not get the fan to kick in. The fan did not work on the 1 mile test drive either.
Am I correct thinking that the problem with the car is that the fan is not working properly?

Could be the fan, the engine temperature sensor (for the fan) or a lack of coolant at the sensor.

martonkangur wrote: ↑Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:35 pm How can I bleed the system to refill the car to drive to a garage?

If the garage is not very far, just fill it best you can, put the cap on and drive it there.

martonkangur wrote: ↑Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:35 pm When I idled the car with the coolant cap off on the expansion tank, the engine ejected substantial amount of coolant following with bubbles.
Is this because I did not have the cap on, or is this is the indication of another problem?

Bubbles of what? It could be combustion gasses, so the head gasket is blown or if its air, it may just have a lot of air in there.

Use one of these head gasket test kits from Amazon to do a cheap and quick test for head gasket failure before spending any money with a garage

Do I have to bleed the system? Because it will now need a lot of coolant. If yes, how do I do that?

To the untrained eye, it looked like air bubbles, did not smell of anything.

Also, checked the dipstick. Dry as a desert. Service was done about 8k miles ago, did not see any leaks over the course of 6 months.
Oily residue on the expansion tank, but that was already there when I bought the car 9k miles ago. The engine is running smoothly and very well. Did not have any problems before.

martonkangur wrote: ↑Thu Jul 05, 2018 6:13 pm Do I have to bleed the system? Because it will now need a lot of coolant. If yes, how do I do that?

There are some bleed screws on some engines. Look on the thermostat housing after removing the air cleaner assembly. Also have a look on the heater hoses that are between the engine and bulkhead.



The procedure for refilling the system is in Citroen C3 Coolant refilling.

martonkangur wrote: ↑Thu Jul 05, 2018 6:13 pm To the untrained eye, it looked like air bubbles, did not smell of anything.

The test kit is cheap.

martonkangur wrote: ↑Thu Jul 05, 2018 6:13 pm Also, checked the dipstick. Dry as a desert.

This is not good. There should be oil in there.

martonkangur wrote: ↑Thu Jul 05, 2018 6:13 pm Service was done about 8k miles ago, did not see any leaks over the course of 6 months.

Very strange, the oil usually never needs topping up between services. The wrong grade of oil or a seriously worn engine can change all that.

martonkangur wrote: ↑Thu Jul 05, 2018 6:13 pm Oily residue on the expansion tank,

This should not be there. If oil is mixing with the coolant, suspect the head gasket with this engine. The petrols are prone to head gasket