It's getting hot in here . . .

[furiosteve]

Morning :)

My Furio seems to have developed a bit of a heat problem. It started yesterday, basically the temperature gauge in the car rapidly heads upward after running from cold and by the time I hit the motorway on the way to work this morning the temperature warning light came on :flamed:

The radiator fan seems to be kicking in correctly, I have checked the oil level and the coolant level both of which seem top be fine (although the expansion bottle is so dirty on the inside it's hard to check!).

The strangest thing is that when it gets really high, the heater actually seems to get colder! Which leads me to this theory (which is welcome to be rubbished):-

If a temperature sensor were faulty and telling the ECU that the engine is hotter than it actually is, the ECU would make the fan kick in behind the radiator to cool it down, if it were trying to cool an already cool engine on a very cold morning then this might make the heater feel cooler inside the car?

Anyone had similar issues?

Thanks,

Steve ;)

[stevo67]

I would say you`ve got an air lock that needs bleeding if don`t work change the thermostat.


Steve.

[Peejous]

Do you actually have coolant or just water?

[furiosteve]

Thanks guys . . .

Steve: How would I go about bleeding an air lock? I am very experienced with doing this on the central heating ;) Which is the thermostat? I can see a couple of things sticking out the right hand side of the engine block with wires, I presume it's one of them? Thanks.

Peejous: I'm not sure on this one, I've occaisionally topped it up with water, I've never put anything else in it and I've had the car just over 2 years.

Thank again,

Steve

[furiosteve]

My wife has just been to ask a mechanic near her work and he said he reckons it'll be the head gasket, I would have expected to see some steam coming from the exhaust if this were the case. Any opinions?

Cheers.

[Peejous]

http://www.saxperience.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98877

Suggest using some coolant/antifreeze too not just water.

If this doesn't fix it check thermostat.

Costs about £5 to replace from shitreon.

Headcast may be another case.

But dont expect the worse just yet :y:

[furiosteve]

Thanks for that :y:

Whereabouts is the thermostat located? Sounds like a worthwhile attempt for a fiver :)

[Peejous]

Cheers for the pic Ferg lol
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/Da_Peej/therm.jpg

3 bolts and it just comes off :y:

[furiosteve]

Ta very much for that, i'll go and have a look in a mo and then i'll get on the phone to our french friends ;)

[stompin-sarah]

yeah same thing happend to mine only 2 days ago with the heaters going cold too ive bled the system and all is looking good now!

[furiosteve]

yeah same thing happend to mine only 2 days ago with the heaters going cold too ive bled the system and all is looking good now!

Did you also have to change the thermostat or did you just bleed it?

Ta :)

[stompin-sarah]

no steve i just bled it till the water poured out of the bleed screws with no air bubbles in it..... used an upside down coke bottle cut the bottom off and put it in the radiator bottle and just kept filling and filling. as soon as there was no air bubble in the bleed bits i screwed them back on whilst water was pouring out. then left it on drive with engine running and kept eye on temp guage... it seemed ok... so then took it for a run later then checked water level again and it needed topping up. topped it up then took it out again last night and all today checked water level again and its sound!

heres links to my post with people helping me

http://www.saxperience.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182552
http://www.saxperience.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182592

look at them both in the 1st one theres someone telling me how to do it and the 2nd one has pics of the bleed screws on it for me

hope that helps you.

also im a new driver and have not a clue about cars but i managed to do it on my own!!!!

[furiosteve]

Thanks very much guys. I managed to bleed the system on Friday afternoon, drove home up the motorway the temp stayed down! :)

However . . .

I took it to a mechanic anyway and he tested for CO2 coming out of the coolant system which there was, so, the head gasket had gone :(

Anyway it's in the garage still now. I'll get her back tomorrow but my wallet will be lighter, still I reckon that bleeding the system will have saved some wear and tear on the drive home from work so thanks very much guys :y:

Steve

[furiosteve]

Got her back now, all done got a right bargain;-

Head gasket set
Timing Belt
New Oil / Oil Filter
New Antifreeze

also rear brake shoes changed

all for £200! Am pleased :)

[Peejous]

Seriously good price that is mate.

Well done :y:

Did they skim the head do you know?

[Ben_L]

that is unbelievably cheap for a head gasket! and the extra work there! yeah as above did they skim aswell?

[furiosteve]

It has indeed been skimmed, that was why my car was away so long. I dropped it off with them last Friday evening after I had beld the radiator etc. They said they would have the head off and send it to the skimming guy on Saturday and he normally turns them round in half a day but they didn't get the head back until Monday late afternoon, not gonna complain too much! :)

[Ben_L]

thats good stuff then mate :)

last thing u want is for them to do it n then realise ur heads fcuked after coffin up 200 notes...

[Prickle]

Do you actually have coolant or just water?

does that make any difference ??, ive just have tap water in my radiator

[Ben_L]

coolant or otherwise know as antifreeze is important stuff tbh. stops water from freezing and cracking the block aswell as stopping it from corroding and overheating. If you've just been topping up you';ve possibly weakened the mixture meaning your running a risk...

There is a specific mesurement for coolant and water. it varies for summer and winter...all on the back of the box though

[furiosteve]

I've seen a device that looks like a pipette with some different coloured balls inside, you suck up a sample of your coolant and depending on which balls float and which balls sink you can work out the concentration of antifreeze. Not sure whre you can get one but I think Kwik-Fit offer free winter checks that probably would cover this.

[Ben_L]

halfords do them for a couple of quid.

[Prickle]

were can i get antifreeze and coolant stuff ??

[stompin-sarah]

halfords! i paid 10er for mine and its both coolant and antifreeze in one :)

and its all year round coolant too :)

[Prickle]

halfords! i paid 10er for mine and its both coolant and antifreeze in one :)

and its all year round coolant too :)

thanks :D, what do i do just pour the stuff in lol ??

[stompin-sarah]

lol i just added a bit after i poured some water in it does say on the back of the bottle its a 50/50 mix with water (thats what it said on the back of mine anyway...just check 1st though) so if you used 1 pint to fill up then it would be half pint of water and half pint of coolant!! i never really used the guideline though as long as you have got some in i dont think it matters?? just make sure you dont pour too much of it in!

i thought you knew quite a lot about cars considering your post count! :)

[furiosteve]

Just to update . . .
About a week after I got the car back I was getting a petrol smell inside the car. I took it to a different garage to get checked and they had nipped one of the injector seals when putting it all back together. I called the garage who did the gasket and the guy on the phone said that they never removed the injectors :wacko: which blatantly has to be a lie, anyway I got the garage it was at to sort it for £60. Needless to say I will not go back to the first place!