Still overheating

discomania · Sep 5, 2016

ashleywood.ash said:
Been for its mot this morning and passed without issue.
However driving it back the temp gauge climbed very quickly to just below red so pulled over to have a look.

(To update its 200tdi conversion, just had new head gasket, new head, water pump and stat after overheating and cracking old head)

I left it running and there is a bit of smoke/steam coming from rad. It's had all new coolant and appears to be dripping still do not sure if this is because of that. This was a small amount.
Rocker cover hot cant quite hold hand on. Top hoses warm but can hold, rad where top hose goes in warm other side of rad and bottom hose cold.
No fan on.

I have ordered a Tim gauge but it's not here yet. Before all problems it never used to budge from half way on current gauge.
Does it sound like its overheating? Should I not drive it until Tim arrives so I can get a better reading?

I am just worried after damage last overheat caused

First thing to do in this situation is fit a new GENUINE or OE stat. £14.39 for a genuine stat: https://www.lrdirect.com/ERR2803-Thermostat-200Tdi/?gclid=CKHz84Hy-M4CFY8YGwodqTUB9w

Fit it first then at least you have ruled it out. Might sound so simple and daft but you would be amazed at how many oddities a sticky stat can cause.

My dads car was being a pig last week, fitted a new coolant reservoir cap and all was fixed - I could hear it hissing. The system was not pressurising, the boiling point dropped enough and there you have it, cooling issues.

discomania · Sep 5, 2016

ashleywood.ash said:
Can't sleep as this is doing my nut.
Fan temp sensor doesn't appear to be working so can't rely on that. Put it in boiling water and nothing. Tried ohms reader and also nothing

You shouldn't really need the fan. in normal use - it should just cool.

I don't have a fan! I did, but never got round to refitting it after the rebuild!

Also, you said you cannot hold your hand on the rocker cover, that sounds normal. It's a "heat" engine, it needs to get hot. Unless you have driven it about with no coolant and had steam and red hot engine smells then your engine should be fine.

mikescuba · Sep 5, 2016

ashleywood.ash said:
Maybe my rad is the issue then. It is leaking somewhere and some fins are wet. Didn't think this would be an issue. Wasn't leaking before and read that they do sometimes leak after coolant change before just sorting themselves out

Is rad weld an option?

I would only use Rad Weld as a get you home option and I found it never works anyway. New Rad I'm afraid. I bought one of these cheap ones for about £80. If I was doing it again I would get the original brass and copper one re-cord. The cheapo ones do feel cheap. My original had been on there for some 25 years. I know the new cheap one will not last anywhere near that.

ashleywood.ash · Sep 5, 2016

Just seems odd that rad was fine when it came off and now it's not to happy
Might get a cheap one for a short term fix and send old to be recored at a later date. Just could do without expense as I have spent £600 on it this month

Kwakerman · Sep 5, 2016

Have you binned the original temperature gauge and sender yet and fitted a proper aftermarket one like VDO or similar to get a reading with actual numbers on it?

ashleywood.ash · Sep 5, 2016

I have ordered a Tim gauge not here yet though

zeaphod · Sep 5, 2016

Don't panic. From what you have said, the engine was running a bit hotter than before, but did not overheat. Putting the old stat back in has sorted that problem. You are left with a leaky rad. Radweld or similar will keep you going until you replace or repair it.

flat · Sep 6, 2016

my rad was on an exchange basis, i phoned them up, they had an exchange in stock they built up for me and it was ready 48hours later. they said it would be the same if i took my rad in, i watched them recore some other rad and it only took an hour!

sounds like the stat was half the issue, the rad core on the ali ones is quite fragile and doesnt take much to damage or corrode it.

i drove around with mine like that for a couple months and it was fine, i just carried extra water in case of catastrophic rad failure (didnt happen)

wait till you get the tim guage (thats what i have) and see what temp you are actually getting before you decide to do anything imo

lynall · Sep 6, 2016

K seal way better than rad weld.
I stuck some in a friends vw with a leaky rad 10 yrs ago they still have the car on the same rad!
We use it all the time at work on the trucks.
Other blokes at work have used it with great success sealing water pumps and many leaky rads.

Running with no stat proves nothing on the tdi and can actually cause issues as the coolant can and will go via the bypass hose thus missing the rad altogether, so its hot nand getting hotter as its not seeing the radiator.

sp00k · Sep 6, 2016

Should not be running without the stat. The rad I got with my 200 tdi was shocking, so I never fitted it. I just got one of those cheap £90 off ebay. It's been in for about 3 years now without any issues. It cools really efficiently. Too hot to touch at the top and nice and cool from about 2/3's of the way down. Bottom hose is always cool. I've got a fan switched by a electronic thermostat but it never comes on. I occasionally switch it on manually just to make sure it works. I only remember it coming on once by itself and that was on a very hot day when I had been on the motorway for a couple of hours and then stopped in a queue.

ashleywood.ash · Sep 6, 2016

Thanks. I have ordered than genuine stat.
When that and the tim gauge arrive I shall try again and if no luck then I'll get a rad

Still overheating

discomania

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discomania

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mikescuba

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ashleywood.ash

Active Member

Kwakerman

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ashleywood.ash

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zeaphod

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flat

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lynall

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sp00k

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ashleywood.ash

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