saxo vtr over heated engine.

[Danny_vtr]

on the way to uni yesterday, my engine over heated and cut out, now wont starts, could this just be the head gasket, or will the engine be knackerd?

the temp gauge was going up and down all down the motorway just thought it was the fan kicking in and going off if that helps.

[Gandi699]

you need to determine if theres been mechanical damage or its an electrical fault

[mlawlan69]

Temp gauge should sit half way UNLESS in traffic when the fan will kick in to keep temperatures stable, on the motorway especially temps should be stable as you have a constant supply of cold air.

Strange the car won't start at all now though as a head gasket wouldn't cause that issue.

[Danny_vtr]

im assuming its mechanical, as there was no water left when i checked.

[citroensaxo]

Dear Danny-vtr.
Firstly, sorry to hear about your problem Danny.
The next thing I would be doing Danny, would to whip your spark-plugs out and check the colour of the electrode ends ( they all should be a lightish brown colour )
If one spark-plug is an orangey colour, this would indicate which cylinder has " blown " on the head gasket.
However, on my daughters 1.6 8v Saxo, both of the middle two spark-plugs were orange in colour. I then carried out a compression check on all four cylinders. This showed that the head gasket was " blown " on the middle two cylinders. I then removed the cylinder head and used a metal straight edge going diagonally across the corners of face of the cylinder head and using a set of feeler gauges to check middle two cylinders. On my daughters car there was a 7 thou gap ( which is massive ) the head then need to be " skimmed " at a machine shop etc etc.
I hope this helps Danny.
Vince.

[Gandi699]

Temp gauge should sit half way UNLESS in traffic when the fan will kick in to keep temperatures stable, on the motorway especially temps should be stable as you have a constant supply of cold air.

Strange the car won't start at all now though as a head gasket wouldn't cause that issue.

Depends on the head thats fitted if someones been fiddling. Mine sits at 3/4 but then its got a rallye head on it so no water feed for the coolant sensor just a blank. Any way that aside my advice is to pull the head off now and check the damage - have the head tested and a reface if its still good.
However the fact it wont turn over sounds like its either hydrolocked or sezied

[mlawlan69]

Depends on the head thats fitted if someones been fiddling. Mine sits at 3/4 but then its got a rallye head on it so no water feed for the coolant sensor just a blank. Any way that aside my advice is to pull the head off now and check the damage - have the head tested and a reface if its still good.
However the fact it wont turn over sounds like its either hydrolocked or sezied


ah yeah obviously every car is different, BUT yours is modified, he mentions no mods on his car, so i would assume his is standard, in which case, half way is a good assumption.

i do see what your saying, either way the head should come off to inspect the damage.

[Gandi699]

That or pop the plugs out and turn it over, will fling the water out if its in the bores. Then you'll know the head gaskets done

[Danny_vtr]

cheers for the help will look into the spark plugs etc thanks

[YourDreamGirl]

I had (nearly) the same problem. Car went crazy hot, nearly up into red. So I pulled over and waited a tic, then checked the water in the rad. All there which suprised me. Anywho after nursing it home with guage going mental, the water had gone. I bled the system and it was fine. I assume the guage changed when it hit the air pockets? Once you figure out why its not starting, maybe bleed the rad too for good measure?