towing, overheating...

Hi, please help. My husband has just sold my 1999 2.5 dse as it kept overheating when I towed my horse trailer. My trailer is an equitrek which is 1800kg unlanden so by time i have 2 neddys in it I'm at 2800kg. It would literally only make a mile before overheating and chucking out the coolant. I loved this car and now don;t know whether to buy another or not. Very difficult as I don't know what I'm talking about and husband who has a little knowledge just says the head gasket had gone and look for another. Please could you tell me if you agree and if you think it's the right car for the job? Also (and please forgive me if this really stupid question) can the head gasket not just be mended? Any advice really appreciated as it's my money not his and I need to buy the right vehicle - I have 7k, cheers Cas.

Just to add that when I say other half is saying buy another one he's talking about a different car. He wants me to buy a Jeep, I'm not keen, I don't have any tech knowledge but dosen't seem big enough and I loved my range. What I'm really asking is if a head gasket goes is it worth fixing?

Thanks Cas.

Hi cas it mite be the fan or head gasket my frend got a RR he had the same prob as you it was the water pump. I tow a big caravan 2000kgs and mine is ok no overheating south wales to norfolk in 1 hit no prob i dont like the jeep get the RR sorted dont get rid if you like the car you wont be happy if you do

Mines a 2001 DHSE auto

cas said:

Just to add that when I say other half is saying buy another one he's talking about a different car. He wants me to buy a Jeep, I'm not keen, I don't have any tech knowledge but dosen't seem big enough and I loved my range. What I'm really asking is if a head gasket goes is it worth fixing?

Thanks Cas.

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get it fixed i better than a jeep

Dont let him sell it, just take the keys off him and drive off in it and tell him something like its the RR and you or nothing at all

If its overheating under load then the first thing you would need to check is whether the system is pressurising. When it starts overheating, immediately stop, get out and check the two hoses going in and out of the radiator, if they are rock rock rock solid then i would have to agree with either head gasket or cracked cylinder head as this was what I got when I had overheating problems with my DSE.

If you find the pipes arent rock solid and you can squeeze them but they are still firm I would check the water pump and the rad. After my overheating problem I had an after market water pump and rad fitted. This was a BAD move, the water pump had a dodgy bearing anyway which meant it completely failed on me, leaving me stranded with coolant all pouring out. So a new genuine pump was fitted and I thought all was fine until sitting in traffic the needle started to climb again. After much research and anguish and thinking about selling up I read about an internal baffle within the radiator. My after market rad didn't have this baffle, which basically meant coolant went in the top of th rad one side, flowed along the top, not getting cooled at all and then came out the other end at the same temp. I replaced the rad with a new genuine one (which only cost like £40 more) and my overheating problems dissapeared.

If the rad is old but genuine then the baffle might still be there but the rad might just be clogged and this would cause you to overheat, in this case I would try flushing out the rad or replacing with a new genuine one.

If your other half thinks its the head gasket why not buy one of those kits from a car place like halfrauds and do a sniff test to see if exhaust gases are present in the coolant??

Either way, I wouldn't sell up just yet. Of course if the deal has already been done I might be wasting my time typing all this, however, if the vehicle ONLY overheats when you are towing im betting clogged rad or water pump. Dont goto a fecking Jeep whatever you do, they are just piles o' ****e

-Wills

Thankyou everyone. He's bloody well sold it, I'm livid. However I have 7k to buy another one. I've made it very clear that I'm not buying a Jeep! I've read all the advice on here to do with buying and what to look out for but could you just tell me if you think I should buy auto or manual to tow 3Ton with.

Thanks everyone

Cas

cas said:

Thankyou everyone. He's bloody well sold it, I'm livid. However I have 7k to buy another one. I've made it very clear that I'm not buying a Jeep! I've read all the advice on here to do with buying and what to look out for but could you just tell me if you think I should buy auto or manual to tow 3Ton with.

Thanks everyone

Cas

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Well cas

I’d make him sleep in the garage for a month for that

I tow a twin axle caravan and in my opinion an auto is better for towing most peps like auto’s for towing

Got to disagree with Alan I think given the weight you are pulling the manual would cope better especially on hills, agree with you on the Jeep though, I used to have a Grand Cherokee, Bloody awful vehicle in comparison.
With £7000 you should get a decent Petrol converted to LPG

alan h said:

Well cas

I’d make him sleep in the garage for a month for that

I tow a twin axle caravan and in my opinion an auto is better for towing most peps like auto’s for towing

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i totally agree with alan a lpg powered v8 auto is the way to go , forget the oil burners towing your horse trailer with two nags on board would be donkey work ( lol pardon the pun ) for a diesel but , v8 would make for a much more relaxed drive , one word of warning though if you decide on an lpg v8 make sure you dont buy a single point injection conversion go for a quality multipoint , you wont regret it .
rick.