Vauxhall Vectra coolant system?

Sounds like head gasket gone and pressurising cooling system , that's why you are getting whistling from header tank , water loss and overheating .Could check thermostat not jammed shut . Check for any external leaks with a pressure test and a sniff test (block test )will tell for definite if head gasket gone .

pressure test the cooling system and check all of the system thoroughly.check down inside the V on the block as you could have a leak here and the heat of engine could be burning the coolant off,its hard to see down here as you have the inlet manifolds in the way,you may have to start stripping the inlet manifolds off to get a proper look,if you can`t see anything leaking externally then check your head gaskets,is the water mixing in with the oil?check the oil isnt a sludgy brown colour,if still unsure then get a block test done,are you getting any smoke from the exhasut at all,check your expansion cap is`nt faulty

2145simion- yes m8 there is smoke coming out of the exhaust but only when i first start the car and it doesn't do it all the time.
ive noticed the car isn't running the same, it seems to be dragging abit and its lost alot of acceleration.
when i put my foot down you can hear a hissing noise for about a second then the car accelerates.

hiya, just noticed this thread and interested as our 2004 Vectra 2.2 Design has a similar problem. 4 weeks ago, after a 5 mile journey the coolant light came on with no previous warnings, and as I'm a bit ott with the car when things go wrong I immediately looked up the manual and arranged to leave the car into the garage in the morning. The temp gauge started to rise quickly and the water was bubbling out the top so we kept the bottle topped up and drove the 7 miles to the garage where the car has been now for 4 weeks!!

Firstly the mechanic hoped that as it had only just happened that things wouldn't be too bad and his first thing was to check the thermostat which he said was stuck and he got a replacement. Still same problem with overheating so replaced water pump? and then the radiator - all in the hope that these would be the root cause and eleminate any further trouble. Now he is arranging a pressure test as he feels the only thing left is the head gasket! and hopfully not need a complete new engine! :-(

I'm totally scundered as we have been without the main family car now for 4 weeks, it passed MOT in June and had been serviced by both the local garage and the main Vauxhall dealer but I feel it is going to be an expensive job (although he is not going to charge lots for labour). I won't mind so much if this means that we once again have a reliable car(as far as Vauxhall's are concerned) as it's nice not having any finance to pay as we are both self-employed and I am cautious about taking on a new car and finance payments... but will the car be ok if all this work is done???? and how much are we likely to be out with all these parts??? will it be worth it???