I got the car home yesterday and it was hissing from the engine, my husband couldn't see anything wrong when he got home so we took it for a short drive, sure enough it was hissing aain but this time it was smoking as well, my husband could see where it was coming from and just appeared to be a split pipe, we went to take the car home and it started making a knocking/cluncking noise and then cut out. We managed to get it started again but it cut out again just as we got home. My husband has replaced the pipe but it does not seem to have solved the problem.

There are no warning lights coming on the dash and the car is staying at an even temperatre and does not appear to be overheating. I have checked the oil and all looks fine and we are not getting any smoke from the exhaust.

We are planning on bleeding the system and replacing all the coolant.

Does anyone know what this could possibly be?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

What Car??

Hissing sound could be few things, air leak in your exhaust but that wont cause the engine to stall. The other is the leak in air intake manifold, easiest thing to check is that all the bolts that are holding intake manifold are tight & that manifold is properly sealed at the bottom & at the throttle body. Air leak can create hissing sound & cause your engine to stall

What Car??Their profile says...

1998 TE Magna Advance - 3.0L 6G72 - Auto
so I'd assume that unless otherwise advised.



...just appeared to be a split pipe... ...There are no warning lights coming on the dash and the car is staying at an even temperatre and does not appear to be overheating. I have checked the oil and all looks fine...
Can you give the members a bit more info...
Which pipe was split?
You said the oil was okay but what was the water/coolant level like?
When the car was running, it hissed, but did it run well or cough & misfire?

Yes thanks its a 98 Magna TE Advance, Automatic

I am not sure what the pipe is or called but it is sort of s shaped and you can see it sort of in the the top when you open the bonnet, the water/coolant level was a bit low. The car didn't hiss cough or misfire when running it just sort of lost power shortly after the knocking/cluncking noise started and then just cut out.

When all the hissing was happening how high did the temperature gauge get? and if it did get very high how long did you drive it like that for?

Only drove it for about 3 minutes like that, the temperature gauge never moved it was still on halfway.

unlikely issue, but the rough running may be caused by water getting into an electrical component or connection. leave the car in the sun for a couple hours with the bonnet up and the sunlight hitting the motor, then go through all the connections and check that there is no more water in them. maybey even give them a little hit with co-contact cleaner. if this fails, check the distriburter to make sure there is no water present in there (although there shouldnt be as it is fairley void from the leak you have described)

Does the pipe sound like the radiator pipe to anyone else?

she said that she has replaced the broken hose. the issue now, if i understand correctly, is that the car is running rough....?

Yes my husband said it is the radiator hose, that is now replaced and he is now draining the system and going to replace the coolant in case there is any air trapped.

The hissing went when he replaced the hose, the problem is still the knocking/cluncking noise and the car stalling.

Because if it overheated that could very easily cause what you're describing, and the fact that this was the radiator hose is making me think it's likely.

Best bet if the problem doesn't go away, get it towed into a workshop and have them check it out.

Knocking/clunking noise, loses power and cuts out....had exactly those things when my head gasket packed up. Tried checking the compression yet?

Definitely test the compression, also look for bubbling in the actual radiator (no the overflow bottle) but you need the car running for that unfortunately. Check for any signs of milkyness in the oil on the dipstick and also around the oil filler cap..