Track days and cooling
Discussion
Just returned in my first track day in the Golf and it had its ups and downs 
On the way to Donnington I had to call the AA due to overheating on the M1. 1 hour later and a new thermostat i'm on my way again, after spending a good 30 minutes trying to work out why the water wasn't circulating. A few bleeds and it started to go round the system.
Get to the track and after 3 laps the temperature goes through the roof again! Stop in the pits and the fan isn't going, a nice little bodge later and the sender is bypassed and the fan is constantly running.
3 sessions in total and about 15-20 laps later (and burnt brakes )and i'm on my way home down the M1 and she starts to overheat again...
I manage to get her home ok as my bodged fan kept things cool enough, yet opening the bonnet and checking everything out 2/3rds of the radiator is stone cold, I'm assuming I still have an airlock.
What's the best way to bleed the system? We spent a fair amount of time bleeding the system using the bleed valve but it obviously didn't work too well.
So that's the bad news, good news is that it's a pretty impressive little car once it goes. I had a fair few comments along the lines of "good to see a proper car on the track" after being swamped by elises and caterhams on the day.
It's very dramatic from the outside with every corner on three wheels and lots of tyre screeching, but it's mostly drama free from the inside.
Having the legs on a Clio Williams 2 down the straights and reeling in an S2000 over a couple of laps isn't too bad for a mk1 Golf
On the way to Donnington I had to call the AA due to overheating on the M1. 1 hour later and a new thermostat i'm on my way again, after spending a good 30 minutes trying to work out why the water wasn't circulating. A few bleeds and it started to go round the system.
Get to the track and after 3 laps the temperature goes through the roof again! Stop in the pits and the fan isn't going, a nice little bodge later and the sender is bypassed and the fan is constantly running.
3 sessions in total and about 15-20 laps later (and burnt brakes
)and i'm on my way home down the M1 and she starts to overheat again... I manage to get her home ok as my bodged fan kept things cool enough, yet opening the bonnet and checking everything out 2/3rds of the radiator is stone cold, I'm assuming I still have an airlock.
What's the best way to bleed the system? We spent a fair amount of time bleeding the system using the bleed valve but it obviously didn't work too well.
So that's the bad news, good news is that it's a pretty impressive little car once it goes. I had a fair few comments along the lines of "good to see a proper car on the track" after being swamped by elises and caterhams on the day.
It's very dramatic from the outside with every corner on three wheels and lots of tyre screeching, but it's mostly drama free from the inside.
Having the legs on a Clio Williams 2 down the straights and reeling in an S2000 over a couple of laps isn't too bad for a mk1 Golf
Is the head gasket ok? When mine went (Mk3 golf), it pressurised the coolant, hence it appeared to loose coolant (the pressure cap was releasing), but I couldn't find a leak.
There was no trace of oil in the coolant as the oil pathways were still intact, but you could see it bubbling if the engine was running with the cap off.
Pete
There was no trace of oil in the coolant as the oil pathways were still intact, but you could see it bubbling if the engine was running with the cap off.
Pete
Trooper, never had a Mk1 but to bleed & flush a Mk2 (& Im sure its a similar procedure)
Cold engine.
I'd put the heater to hot, disconect the heater hoses, bung a garden hose up one pipe flush it for a few mins, then do the same with the other.
Disconnect top & bottom rad hoses, flush through rad.
Disconect hoses both side of the block, flush through in both directins.
Flush through & clean out expansion tank.
Then do all that again- twice
To assemble, fill heater with water, then connect hoses.
Fill block from bottom as much as you can then put on bottom rad hose, do same with top hose- filling block & rad, then put hose on.
Fill expansion tank to max, leave cap off.
Start engine, let it warm up, feel all hoses when thermostat opens you should get warm top & bottom hoses.
Expansion tank may bubble a bit, thats fine, dont let level get too low, & when its all nice & warm put cap on, run for 10 of so mins feeling all the hoses for cold spots etc then turn off.
Check water level when its cooled down.
Cest bon.
Also- If you can run without a thermostat on a Mk1 & its just a track car its worth doing & new rads are cheap as chips (somat like £30 at GSF) so might be worth getting one anyway
Blimey what a lengthy post!
Cold engine.
I'd put the heater to hot, disconect the heater hoses, bung a garden hose up one pipe flush it for a few mins, then do the same with the other.
Disconnect top & bottom rad hoses, flush through rad.
Disconect hoses both side of the block, flush through in both directins.
Flush through & clean out expansion tank.
Then do all that again- twice
To assemble, fill heater with water, then connect hoses.
Fill block from bottom as much as you can then put on bottom rad hose, do same with top hose- filling block & rad, then put hose on.
Fill expansion tank to max, leave cap off.
Start engine, let it warm up, feel all hoses when thermostat opens you should get warm top & bottom hoses.
Expansion tank may bubble a bit, thats fine, dont let level get too low, & when its all nice & warm put cap on, run for 10 of so mins feeling all the hoses for cold spots etc then turn off.
Check water level when its cooled down.
Cest bon.
Also- If you can run without a thermostat on a Mk1 & its just a track car its worth doing & new rads are cheap as chips (somat like £30 at GSF) so might be worth getting one anyway
Blimey what a lengthy post!
iguana said:
Also- If you can run without a thermostat on a Mk1 & its just a track car its worth doing & new rads are cheap as chips (somat like £30 at GSF) so might be worth getting one anyway
Cheers. very useful.
By running without the thermostat I assume that is to get the coolant circulating around the radiator from the start, as you say this is a track car so the engine will always be getting up to temperature and won't be run during the winter so it shouldn't be a problem. However, can I just remove it? It's a 2 way thermostat on the mk1 golf, so I assumed it would have to be jammed open as opposed to removing it altogether? If I can just remove it, then thats' another thing that won't break down
I was planning on rigging a switch to the dash for the fan anyway, as the temperature senders are worse than useless, i'm on my second in under a thousand miles already.
trooper1212 said:
It's a 2 way thermostat on the mk1 golf, so I assumed it would have to be jammed open as opposed to removing it altogether? If I can just remove it, then thats' another thing that won't break down
Bit lost as to what you mean, by 2 way? but never seen a mk1 stat.
Some thermostat housings need the thermostat in place to seal properly so on those you can just remove the middle thermostat bit by force and or applied logic & selective cutting- I prefer the 1st option
oh in my other post I forgot to say add coolant/antifreeze! some water wetter might help keep the temps down, but won't cure your overheating probs, there is defo somat amiss there at the mo, an air lock or blocked rad or blocked waterways in the engine etc etc.
Fan switch on dash a great idea, also check fan is sucking not blowing, some times they have been connected the wrong way round & thus blow rather feebly rather than sucking*
* yes yes pnhhnnar phnnnnar
etc etc but can't describe it any other way Just got back from an afternoon at the parents working on the car.
After leaving it for a week, the expanstion tank level had fallen to below the minimum, a top up of coolant and running the engine up to temperature and I had full circulation. Top and bottom hoses, hot radiator across the board and a temp switch that turned on the fan.
It was certainly an air lock and leaving it to seetle after running it for the day seems to have cured it. I'll keep and eye on it and check it next weekend...
... Unfortunately she is still out of action, replacing all the brake pads turned up a leaking rear piston and a siezed bleed nipple, so I'll be replacing those next weekend.
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