#1: Temperature Spike. (The Return of...) Author: Tseten, Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 11:42 am ---- Hello,
Some of you may know my car very well by now
I had a slight bump and apart from bonnet damage/broken grill, everything was fine.
Had a leaking coolant pipe which was fixed with the aid of some sealant from halfords, it has been fine for a week and last Thursday I had coolant refreshed...
Just drove home and had to stop on the hard shoulder as my temperature gauge went of the charts! and the stop sign kept flashing and beeping.
All of the coolant is still in the tank, though I added about another 200ML'ish of cool water. Everything looks fine and the joint that was leaking is still bone dry.
I waited 10 minutes and then drove home (about 3 miles and just under 10 minutes) The gauge stayed at 90 the rest of the way...
The garage did say that although the sealant may work, with coolant added it may find leaks etc...But all of the coolant is there...
The garage drained all of the water from the tank via the bottom of the radiator, so we can assume that the pipe is not blocked as the water must be passing through the radiator...
It happened after going down a slight incline, I had the engine running and moving about 10ft every 2-3 mins in traffic. As soon as I reached the bottom and entered the main road it cam on in 10 seconds...
Any ideas? Any advice/test or something I could do?
I'm a bit puzzled, I was hoping the car would be fine now as its been driving like a dream for a week or just under...
EDIT: Could it be an issue with the radiator? or...
I should also state that the engine management light has been on for three months though one mechanic said it was a false positive. UPDATE
This is the first time in a while that my computer has let me back on this site! - It always warned of malware and wouldn't let me enter...anyway all fixed I guess.
I have driven 550 miles since the incident mentioned above. And today it repeated TWICE!
Yesterday I added screenwash and that was the first time I'd popped the hood in a while...
I was in traffic after driving 15 minutes and my STOP sign started blinking and then the temperature gauge rose to the red, I was 300ft away from a car park and got it there.
I opened the coolant tank to see if it needed topping up and it was half full. Within 15 seconds it was 3 quarters full and in 30 seconds it was near the top!!! - I put the cap back on and hoped for the best. (That it would spray hot coolant all over me)
It took about 15 minutes for it to cool down and get back to normal...
- I drove another 15 miles and after getting petrol, when I sat back in the car it happened again! I couldn't believe it, I popped the hood and turned my heating on full blast and watched it come down in 15 seconds...
Could this be air still inside? I've driven 550 miles though and only now its back? Could air in the radiator cause this and the water from the radiator to run back into the coolant tank rising the levels as described above?
What would be the final solution?
Thanks again guys!!!! Last edited by Tseten on Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:19 am; edited 1 time in total
#2: Re: Temperature Spike. (Coolant Continuation Issue?) Author: V9977, Location: Athens, GreecePosted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 1:39 pm ---- Air lock and/or/due to possible leak.
There is no such thing as EML false positive.
There is false negative though..
#3: Re: Temperature Spike. (Coolant Continuation Issue?) Author: Tseten, Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 1:59 pm ---- I was thinking air lock. The mechanic did the change very quick...
Would it be a one off if its an air issue? or would I need to redo it?
P.S thanks for the info!!!!
#4: Re: Temperature Spike. (Coolant Continuation Issue?) Author: D4NTP, Location: Not Leeds or its surrounding areas!Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:32 pm ---- Was the temp reading correct? Did it seem that hot when you lifted the bonnet?
Could be a faulty temp sensor.
#5: Re: Temperature Spike. (Coolant Continuation Issue?) Author: Tseten, Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 7:38 pm ---- Well I didn't touch the engine directly and it was in the middle of rush hour, so couldn't hear anything etc... but it was very hot, I wouldn't say noticeably hotter than any other day; though I never lift up my bonnet in the middle of a drive home:)
5-10 minutes seems too quick for it too cool down and then allow me to drive for another 10 minutes...
Taking it out in the morning for 25 min run, will report findings.
Any ideas/advice appreciated!!!
#6: Re: Temperature Spike. (Coolant Continuation Issue?) Author: Tseten, Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 3:46 pm ---- Had three trips out in the car today, about 20 minutes a piece, temp rose to just under 90 and that was it!
Weird. Must be the air in the system then? Just wondering if it will happen again...
#7: Re: Temperature Spike. (The Return of...) Author: Tseten, Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:24 am ---- Just updated my original post.
550 Miles later and it re-appears TWICE in one day.
I thought it was all fixed :sigh:
#8: Re: Temperature Spike. (The Return of...) Author: bezford, Location: darlingtonPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 6:05 pm ---- Its all there if you look at the clues mate...its overheating when your sat with it running ....full stop ...u either need to make sure your fans working right or you need to replace the thermostat...dont forget its an ageing motor and u might have to start putting your heating on in traffic or hot weather ..
.i dont know your car but id bet its over ten year old...its a common problem with older cars...its overheating...did u say the fan was cutting in ok???been serviced lately?tick over below 900revs???id say if it was airlock u would be getting lots of bubbling sounds louder than the engine..
.if u fancy its airlock then cut the bottom off a big2or3 litre bottle and sit it into expansion tank and fill it with water and coolant and run the engine...u will have to hold but once bubbles stop its done....
Also an important factor is to use a lot of coolant not just water..its a common misconception that its just antifreeze?its not-its coolant and helps cooling of the engine...ask a good car part shop...do all this and youve eliminated most possibles but the first words/suggestions may be enuf...
#9: Re: Temperature Spike. (The Return of...) Author: lilacbunny, Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2012 5:25 pm ---- My car has been doing this also, its 7 years old and done 78,000. It started initially a year ago with the relay for the fan not working so it over heated when sat in traffic or in hot weather, This only became evident one day when it boiled dry and as I am normally a motorway driver I hadn't noticed the issue when driving at high speeds.
After the relay was changed it seemed to work fine but from time to time does over heat and I have to stop/ top the water up. Usually this happens on a hot day so not too bad in our English weather. The fan and thermostat where given a clean bill of health.
When I had it serviced/cam belt change I asked them to check it and supposedly they checked it under pressure for leaks (possibly damage done when it had boiled dry) and also checked for airlock. I've kind of just decided to run it in to the ground since I can't afford to keep throwing money at it when no one knows what is wrong.
#10: Re: Temperature Spike. (The Return of...) Author: bezford, Location: darlingtonPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2012 10:33 am ---- Well lilacbunny if id boiled my engine dry i would consider myself unbelievably lucky if the head gasket at least hadnt blown...but if u r runnin into death so be it because its not cheap to fix.....but it might serve as a lesson to keep levels topped up and to watch and react to wot your gauges say...into red on the temp.gauge means stop....and cool down...
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