What does this symbol mean...?

[Six6siX]

This may seem like a very simple question, but I have no idea...

I drove to work this morning no problems. When I'd finished about mid afternoon, I got into the car to go home, and started the diesel preheat - as you do...

All fine, and then a strange symbol came on the dash after the coil light goes out:

Wierd, never seen that before...so I start the engine and it starts fine - the red symbol goes off, car performs as normal.

Went out this evening, and the light never came on any of the times I started the car.

So, what does it mean, and should I be worried about any impending disaster...?

 

[Six6siX]

Think youv'e got a whale in your tank, Not sure though i could be wrong.

lol

I'll check coolant in the morning, but I am quite sure it was relatively full when I changed the oil and filters last month.

Could the hot weather have had a big impact on the level? I did do a fair bit of driving round derbyshire last week.

 

[Six6siX]

Not trying to scare you or anything, but last time I saw that light on my Dturbo, I was having to refill my coolant about one a week! In the end the bugger needed a new radiator and water pump Apparently the rads are a weak part on 306's.

Eek. Well this is the first time I've had to specifically check the coolant in the 5 months I've had the car, so fingers crossed its nothing serious.

I've just been reading up about dturbos and cooling - and as you say, the weak points appear to be rad disintegrating and/or leaking pipes. I'll give the whole system a check tomorrow and see if anything seems out of place.

The water pump *should* be fine as it was changed at 70k along with the cambelt (car is at 108k now), and the car doesn't overheat. I'll check for pressure in any case.

 

[Six6siX]

Look in the manual?

I did. It doesn't mention it.

Anyway, I topped it up this morning and had a look around for potential leaks but nothing seemed cracked/broken/loose.

However, the bottom part of the rad itself looked to be a bit worse than the top. Tried to take a pic but its hard to tell just by looking at it - actually looks worse in the picture than it is - anything to worry about?

 

[Six6siX]

Yeah its a 306 DTurbo, no LCD or plasma dials for me - just good old backlit jobbies. Wish I had some though

I'll keep an eye on the coolant level more carefully over the next few days/weeks. Hopefully haven't developed a mystery leak...