Help needed! Car overheating need advice
Discussion
In a mk 4 golf diesel on the way to devon. Done about 40 miles when on the motorway it started overheating. The warning signal flashed and it got to 100 degrees. It dropped as we went downhill and stopped flashing and started to get hotter as the engine began to work again. Have stopped at the services and am typing this from my mobile. The coolant is full over the max. Any ideas as to what to do? Still have 130 miles to do! Any help or advice gratefully received
Well for starters the coolant shouldn't be over max in normal circumstances obviously.
I wouldnt have thought in these temps the fan would even be required - is that running?
As an emergency, if you dont have roadside and dont want to wait - have you tried sticking the heater to max/highest temp to see if that brings things down?
Could well be the water pump, but I am no mechanic.
I wouldnt have thought in these temps the fan would even be required - is that running?
As an emergency, if you dont have roadside and dont want to wait - have you tried sticking the heater to max/highest temp to see if that brings things down?
Could well be the water pump, but I am no mechanic.
NiceCupOfTea said:
If it were the water pump then I can't see that running downhill would help? it cools the water in the rad, but if the water isn't flowing it's not going to bring the temp down.
Call the AA.
Engine doesn't work so hard going downhill. There's a cooling effect of the air rushing past the engine, on older cars where the engine bay isn't sealed enough this is enough to keep the engine at normal temp even without the waterpump when at M-way speeds (found this out on an MG Midget a few years back!)Call the AA.
It does sound like a HG issue though - the coolant would be past max if it was pressurised.
If you have done the HG, then just sticking the fan on max to get 5 miles further down the road, could mean the difference between a skim & a new head.
I'd get it checked out first by the AA/RAC/Green Flag.
Better stuck at the services than at the roadside freezing your tits off.
Where abouts in Devon are you headding?
I'd get it checked out first by the AA/RAC/Green Flag.
Better stuck at the services than at the roadside freezing your tits off.
Where abouts in Devon are you headding?
Marty Funkhouser said:
Sit rep - now sat in a recovery lorry at the start of a 130 mile tow. Mechanic diagnosed a failed water pump. Cheers for all the advice - hopefully by getting the tow I have avoided any more serious damage to the engine.
It'll be fine - you did the right thing and stopped driving it thus avoiding cooking it up Double check the consistancy of the oil as overheating an engine will thin out and damage the oil - As you didn't let the temp get too high though chances are it'll be fine
Update.
Got to Devon on the back of a loader at 8pm Sunday night. The @mechanic@ in Chippenham diagnosed a failed water pump without lifting the bonnet saying it would be "...a 3 or 4 hour job...". I declined and had to taken to Devon (didnt cost me anything & they didnt have a courtesy car).
Took it to a simply fantastic garage just outside Braunton in Devon (Astra Garage) who tested the water pump and found it was working perfectly, checked the head and found it was fine, they then checked the coolant and found it had almost no anti freeze in it! They replaced the rear discs and pads (a job I needed doing anyway), filled up the anti freeze, ran diagnostics to see if there were any error codes all for 184 pounds. They reckon the only other thing it could be is a faulty thermostat but they could not get it to overheat again...
Got to Devon on the back of a loader at 8pm Sunday night. The @mechanic@ in Chippenham diagnosed a failed water pump without lifting the bonnet saying it would be "...a 3 or 4 hour job...". I declined and had to taken to Devon (didnt cost me anything & they didnt have a courtesy car).
Took it to a simply fantastic garage just outside Braunton in Devon (Astra Garage) who tested the water pump and found it was working perfectly, checked the head and found it was fine, they then checked the coolant and found it had almost no anti freeze in it! They replaced the rear discs and pads (a job I needed doing anyway), filled up the anti freeze, ran diagnostics to see if there were any error codes all for 184 pounds. They reckon the only other thing it could be is a faulty thermostat but they could not get it to overheat again...
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