well im done

drove to work today, car cut out wont start, got started again then just outside work cut out at a junction and wont start just keeps cutting out, im gonna sell it as i cant afford to be breaking down everyday

No :-O :-(
This related to your overheating !?

not sure im not that knowledable about them, just keeps cutting out when i start it, coolant expansion tank is empty but not overheating, no smoke as far as i can tell. cant really afford for it to keep breaking down totally gutted

Pull the plugs & see if any have noticeable colour/clean difference between them, post pic perhaps. also look at piston crowns with torch.
You not the most lucky GTiR man !

Terrible news! Chin up mate, check out a few things and it might be an easy fix. Sit on it a little while and make sure you are making the right decision

Worth just getting another shit car as a run around, I used to run a 306 turbo diesel only cost me 500 quid and you'll balance the money out pretty quickly if you were commuting in your R.

Paz

you know what it has been trouble free for the last 2 years, never had an issue with it at all i was amazed with it, everything just seems to be happening now, i have spare plugs at home ill check them out, keep meaning to change them

My first one was like that, did about 5 years of commuting sometimes 30-40 miles a day. It was more or less standard though, no messing with the boost etc. Current ones been pretty good too, thats 320ish bhp. Guess its just luck of the draw!

Hope its something simple for you anyway

Looking at plugs & piston crowns could show evidence of headgasket issue.

even though my gauges dont work it looked like my oil pressure before cranking was sitting below 1bar, like 0.8bar, cranking it spikes, dont know if thats something

well checked car on my lunch, coolant in radiator just not in expansion, looks very clean, oil is fine also, no sign of coolant leak in oil, ive not checked the plugs yet however the car started first time, really wtf :/ so i drove it around a little to let the battery charge and hopefully it starts again tonight.

Ive got more coolant and i have a set of bcr8es plugs at home which i will change over tonight, then i will service it as its overdue in that department.

ive had this issue before, well similar, i was at home once and started my car and switched off again instantly, had to call the aa and they got it started and said i flooded the engine, when i stopped at the shop and restarted it sort of felt like the same issue but i dont know why it would have cut out at a junction. I was suppose to change my plugs then but totally forgot about it

pm sent sye

just read the thread and you may find its something very simple
as said try changing main service parts first then report back if still a problem

will do thanks bob, hopefully its not the head gasket

When my head gasket went it was pushing coolant & bubbles into the expansion tank after I'd been using boost.
Hope its something simple & electrical!

When you say cutting out .... how do you mean it stalls or just goes completely dead no electrics etc ????

Stalls and wont start again, kinda like the engine is flooded, just cut out at a junction then refused to start, turns over but as soon as it starts it just cuts out again, surely cant be flooded if it already running?.

Pulled the plugs and ill upload pics in a minute, car drove home fine and no loss of power, no overheating, pistons look fine aswell, no smell coming from expansion bottle or radiator

Coil breaking down? Ecu?

well lol seemed the radiator wasnt full, looked like it was but it too 2 litres of coolant :/ car started better with the new plugs, let it run for 20mins no no air in the system and no overheating, the bottom hose was soft and cool (dunno if thats good or not).

here was the plugs i took from the car.

i had the same issue with bottom pipe cold and no pressure either... i also replaced thermostat!!! i tried another thermostat and got rid off a air lock in the coolant system by squeezing both tubes with cap off radiator and did eventually start to flow and got heat and pressure from pipe!!! worth a try

did the fans cut in after the 20 min warm up.

Does all plugs look the same ? The tip looks ok to me ...

no fans didnt cut in but didnt overheat either, i was running out of fuel so switched it off so i could get to the petrol station in the morning, the fans have been cutting in when the heat was high yesterday as ive been keeping a close eye on them. so the cool soft hose is not a good thing? i thought it was as its to cool the engine so thats where the cold coolant enters the engine and no cap on the rad so no pressure, or am i wrong? ive ordered a new thermostat as well just to make sure

nomad wrote:Does all plugs look the same ? The tip looks ok to me ...

yes plugs all the same and all the pistons look the same as each other too (didnt really know what i was looking for on the pistons though lol but this missus thought i knew my shit

Lol aslong you look like the boss a

Not really any evidence of head gasket but you need work on the over heat issue.
With your elec issues , gauge reading & cutting out could be related.
Hard to say really as not much clues at moment.