over heating

5th October 2010, 20:31

Hello . Driving home today and my temp was sitting just under red so got home let it cool down . Went back out to the car after it cooled down started it and let it idle until the fan kicked in but after that continued to let it run and the temp continued past were the fan kicks in which it didnt and went just under red again that's when I turned it off before any damage was done please help with identifying the problem

5th October 2010, 20:34

sounds a bit like head gasket, don't let anyone tell you that all head gasket failures lead to oil and water mixing, its not the case,just a common symptom.

5th October 2010, 20:42

Ohh dear I get it sniff tested tommoro
Thought if the heads gone it will be low on power

5th October 2010, 21:05

Loss of power....not necessarily unless you have a very badly burn't head gasket or serious warp.

Head gasket failures can create various problems from oil/water mix, excessive crankcase/coolant pressure but can just cause severe overheating. A sniff test is good for testing combustion gases entering the cooling system especially where no other signs of a leaking gasket are apparent. A cracked head can cause overheating but have no other symptoms.

Even if nothing shows up, I would advise you to pull the head of and have it skimmed. We always have the head pressure tested also in the case of potential cracks. Nothing worse that putting it back together and there is a non-visible crack!!!!

Unfortunately alloy heads have a limited lift due to the metal gasket eventually pressing itselfs into the head surface over time, causing a leak that ultimately leads to warping. This is know as metal 'creep'.

Always worth checking the cooling system flow before stripping as a failed water pump will cause you a whole load of financial pain should you put it back together and oooppps.....

5th October 2010, 21:19

Well just been for a drive temp raised a couple of mm above half so got home let it idle and the fan kicked in and I felt the top far hose it was that hot but there was a lot of pressure un there if that's any help

5th October 2010, 21:27

hoses will get hard from pressure if there are any head gasket faults or under-lying cooling faults

5th October 2010, 21:33

Under - lying coolant problems as in what ??

5th October 2010, 21:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by boony

Under - lying coolant problems as in what ??

Something like a failed waterpump, stuck thermostat for instance. Simply put, any problems with your cooling system may/will cause your over heating problem.

Another example

Symptoms - "I keep throwing up"
Under-lying cause - "Out on the lash all night again"

FIX - stop drinking, symptoms/problem now gone

5th October 2010, 21:47

blocked rad,buggered thermostat,buggered water pump,faulty head gasket,anything that makes an engine get too warm will produce excess pressure, its all about expansion due to tempreture

5th October 2010, 22:01

Ok cheers you two after I've took it too the garagw tommor ill check the cooling system mandyslover have you got any single plug vtr/furio engines as I'm not too far away

5th October 2010, 22:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by boony

Ok cheers you two after I've took it too the garagw tommor ill check the cooling system mandyslover have you got any single plug vtr/furio engines as I'm not too far away

got single plug R engines here,mleage varies from 6000-60,000. anything with a higher mileage gets stripped for parts. also have unlocked ecu's to make it a nice simple swap

5th October 2010, 22:23

Pm me with prices wanted engine and ecu would I need a loom also

6th October 2010, 20:14

Well I seemed to have the over heating under control but there's now a miss fire at around 4-4.5 k will this be related to the suspected head gasket failing

7th October 2010, 00:11

Its actually cheaper for a saxp member to fit and replace an engine in your car than it is for a garage to take off the head and send it off for skimming

7th October 2010, 00:18

a miss fire is not a common cause for a head gasket, it could be an electrical fault or worse yet and engine fault, check with a local garage if your not sure as we can only give a diagnostic on the limited information you are giving,

7th October 2010, 13:31

mine started over heating last night.....no cream in the oil no sludge in header tank no steam from exhaust didnt even smell hot! so got it home went to take thermostat out to do the old red hot water in a cup trick see if it opens turns out there was a complete lack of water in the system

not gurd under further investigation today the plastic water housing at the back of ur engine that connects matrix pipes to the engine had snapped completely off the engine dumping the entire contence of the engines water on the motorway

8th October 2010, 16:55

Rite well I have flushed the cooling system out no more over heating but now I've got a lumpy idle from a cpld start and a slight miss fire is there any way to chech the coil pack