Went to Brackley yesterday to have dinner with the son and family. Anyhow, it is 5.00am and we have just arrived home from Brackley, which we left at 10.15pm. We got as far as the Esso garage roundabout on the A43 and the car just died. Steam pouring out under the bonnet. I managed to get it started and turned left into the A4100 towards Bicester. Got about a mile, temp gauge started climbing so stopped. This was in the 2.5 Elite Estate
Phoned RAC who arrived at 2.15am !!!! Luckily a passing ambulance crew turned up, and offered to push us into the big layby so we were not in a dangerous place. They also gave us blankets. Bugger me....they turned up again, bringing us hot tea. About an hour later the police screeched up, big 4x4 thing, and parked across the front as though in a car chase and asked what was wrong. told them we had broken down. Asked when the RAC were expected....did we need any water to drink, etc.
When the RAC bloke got there, he found the top hose had blown off. Then the police turned up again to check that the RAC had turned up.
After filling with water and checking all round, the engine, now cold, sounded sweet as a nut when started. But he got a bottle thing with blue liquid in it. He put it on the top of the expansion tank filler hole, and it turned green/yellow. Head gasket he said. So I said, I thought the V6 gasket very very rarely blows. He said exhaust gasses were getting in the water which turns the liquid yellow.
So I did not argue, so we had a tail lift on the back of a transit back here, at 40mph, that transit struggled!!!!!!