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[james cartledge]

my 2.6 over heated today threw all its wate out the expansion bottles cap
i noticed the car did this with it just on 90 on the temp gauge witch i didnt think was that hot aslo noticed the cooling fan wasnt working

anyway i stopped the strate away waited for it to cool topped up with water then set off home as i vas only 2 miles away this time i had the heators blowing hot and the car stayed steady at 80 on the temp gauge
first things first i noticed the seal on the expansion cap had split so bought a new one
i asked my friend who has been working at vauxhall for over 20 years to come over and have a look
he block tested the car twice and it came back ok so he says it rules out head gaskets really he removed the water hoses to make sure ther water is gettiin round properly that was fine too heater blows hot out fine
but if we left the car ticking over with no heater on its boils over  when it gets to 90 on the temp gauge but as soon as we put the heater on its cooling down but again the fan never kicks in tilll the water was coming out the expansion tank

any one got any advise they could share or maybe had this problem before
cheers james

[Entwood]

I wonder if your thermostat is stuck closed As the heater circuit is "inside" the engine loop ??

Or just a blocked radiator so that the engine area is getting hot and the radiator is not, and that is where the temp sensor is ??

My first thought would be a damned good radiator flush, then run the engine and see if the radiator actually feels like its gettinmg warm as the engine satrts to overheat.

[james cartledge]

the rad is getting warm he checked that too his thoughts were the fan wasnt kicking in early enough

not sure about thermostat he never mentioned that at all

[Entwood]

If the engine is "boiling" then the radiator should be HOT not warm .. and I mean 'kin HOT ... if it is  not then AFAIK it can only be:

1. blocked radiator
2. shut thermostat
3. water pump not pumping

any of these will cause localised overheating as the water cannot move around the system, this localised boiling produces vapour which forces the water to overflow as vapour takes up much more space as liquid.

A radiator flush is the cheapest and easiest fix ..... so I would do that first.

[james cartledge]

il get a bottle tommorrow and start there i was panicing at first it was the head gasket

cheers 4 advise

[Entwood]

il get a bottle tommorrow and start there i was panicing at first it was the head gasket

cheers 4 advise

You don't need a bottle of anything ... just a hose !!!

Seriously, I would just flush it with lots of water, nowt else, and NOT replace the antifreeze until you fix the problem. If its a thermostat or water pump you will lose water in the replacement process, so wait until then and then do a full fresh antifreeze mix....

IMHO if the temp is dropping once the heater is put on it is NOT a head gasket problem .. it is a "lack of cooling" problem

[james cartledge]

so you mean remove the  bottom rad hose and put the hose pipe in the header tank and let it go thro ??

i wont need any rad flush or anyhting ??

[Entwood]

I wouldn't remove the hoses initially. Open the drain valve at the bottom of the rad, empty, fill via header tank, repeat. I look at the water coming out and look for bits, crap etc etc .. you'll soon know if you are shifting muck.

[james cartledge]

there is bits of crap in there we saw tonight when we removed 2 of the hoses

the car had a oil cooler fitted about 4 months ago this wouldnt effect anything would it ??