04 Streetka Over-Heating

[DELRIO]

HI ALL, FIRST LET ME KICK OFF BY SAYING THAT I HAVE ALMOST ZERO MECHANICAL KNOW-HOW SO PLEASE KEEP ANY RESPONSES/ADVICE REALLY SIMPLE :D

I HAVE AN 04 PLATE STREET KA WHICH HAS DONE 53,000 MILES. IT STARTS FIRST TIME EVERYTIME AND HAS BEEN DRIVING TOTALLY FINE UNTIL RECENTLY.

ON A DRIVE FROM LONDON TO DEVON IT WAS FINE ONT HE MOTORWAY BUT WHEN WE HIT SOME SLOW MOVING TRAFFIC I NOTICED SOME STEAM COMING FROM THE ENGINE SO PULLED OVER AND CALLED THE AA. HE DETECTED THAT THE EXPANSION BOTTLE HAD SPLIT, PERFORMED A TEMPORARY REPAIR AND ADVISED ME TO GET A NEW ONE FITTED ASAP, WHICH I DID. NB THE TEMP WARNING LIGHT HAD NOT COME ON AT ANY POINT AT ALL!

THE CAR DROVE BACK FROM DEVON TO LONDON FINE, BUT THE OTHER DAY (WHICH WAS PARTICULARLY HOT) I WAS DRIVING IN SLOW MOVING TRAFFIC TO GET OUT OF LONDON AND SUDDENLY THE TEMP WARNING LIGHT CAME ON. I IMMEDIATELY PUT THE BLOWER ON FULL BLAST AND FULL HEAT, THE WARNING LIGHT THEN WENT OFF AND THEN I PULLED OVER AND POPPED THE BONNET TO LET THE ENGINE COOL DOWN A BIT. I LISTENED TO THE ENGINE AND IT DIDNT SOUND LIKE THE WATER WAS BOILING OR ANYTHING SO AFTER ABOUT 5 MINS WE CARRIED ON OUR JOURNEY ON THE A12 TO CHELMSFORD WITH BLOWER ON FULL BLAST. IT GOT A BIT HOT SO I TURNED THE BLOWER OFF BUT LEFT THE HEATER TURNED UP FULL AND ARRIVED IN CHELMSFORD FINE. ONCE THE ENGINE HAD COOLED I CHECKED THE COOLANT LEVEL AND oil AND BOTH WERE FINE.

DRIVING HOME THE NEXT DAY I DECIDED TO TRY AN EXPERIMENT. ONCE WE WERE ALMOST BACK IN LONDON I TURNED THE HEATER DOWN TO COLD AND SURE ENOUGH A FEW MINS LATER THE TEMP WARNING LIGHT CAME ON! SO I PUT HEATER AND BLOWER BACK ON FULL BLAST HOT, LIGHT WENT OFF AND DROVE HOME.

HAVE CHECKED COOLANT LEVEL TODAY AND ITS STILL FINE. SO IM A BIT BAFFLED???

HERES SOME OTHER INFO THAT MIGHT HELP ONE OF YOU DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM:

1) ON STARTING UP THE ENGINE THERE IS A LITTLE BIT OF SQUEAKING COMING FROM WHAT I THINK IS THE FAN BELT BUT THIS GOES AWAY ONCE THE ENGINE HAS WARMED UP.

2) TODAY I STARTED THE ENGINE UP AND LET IT IDLE FOR 10 MINS WITH HEATER TURNED DOWN TO COLD AND NO TEMP WARNING LIGHT CAME ON.

3) WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE THE WATER PUMP SEEMS TO BE VERY RUSTY AND I DONT KNOW IF THIS IS NORMAL???

4) BEFORE ANY OF THE OVER-HEATING AND TEMP WARNING LIGHT ISSUES I DID NOTICE THAT THE FAN SEEMS TO COME ON A LOT.

WELL I HOPE THAT LOT MAKES SENSE TO SOMEONE OUT THERE AND IF YOU HAVE ANY ADVISE I WILL BE EXTREMELY GRATEFUL!!!

PS I AM A FITNESS TRAINER AND BASED IN CENTRAL LONDON SO IF ANYONE READING THIS WANTS TO EXCHANGE PERSONAL TRAINING TIME FOR ENGINE MECHANICS TIME PLEASE POST ME YOUR CONTACT DETAILS.

THANKS IN ADVANCE,

DEL

[mintalkin]

it sounds like the cooling fan for the radiator is not cutting in,it could be a fuse thats blown or a faulty fan motor/temp sensor.

[DELRIO]

it sounds like the cooling fan for the radiator is not cutting in,it could be a fuse thats blown or a faulty fan motor/temp sensor.

AH YOU MIGHT BE ONTO SOMETHING WITH THE FUSE THEORY ACTUALLY BECAUSE THE ALARM HAS ALSO BEEN BEING A BIT WEIRD LATELY, LIKE RANDOMLY GOING OFF WHEN I UNLOCK THE DOORS WITH THE KEY FOB. I'LL TAKE A LOOK AT THE FUSE BOARD.

TO TEST THE FAN, HOW LONG SHOULD IT TAKE TO KICK IN IF I START THE ENGINE AND JUST LET IT IDLE?

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP SO FAR,

DEL

[mintalkin]

the quickest way to test the fan is to put a direct 12v feed to the wiring and see if it spins, if it does i would look towards the sender unit.

[DELRIO]

fan seems to be workin fine. im startin to think that the problem is related to the fan belt squeaking for the first few mins of the engine running. a friend hAS said this could mean either the fan belt is loose and not operating the water pump properly, OR the water pump has seized and so the squaeking is the belt rubbing against the part which is not turning and in turn the coolant is not moving around the engine properly. what do you think?

it drives on the motorway fine so long as i have the heater dial turned up full (if i turn it down to cold the temp warning light eventually comes on), but as soon as im in slow moving traffic the temp warning light comes on and i have to turn the blower on full blast to make it go off.

after each trip im waiting for the engine to cool and then checking the coolant level and it seems to be fine which rules out coolant or pressure leaks right?

and is it normal for the water pump to be really rusty lookin?

cheers so far,

DEL

[bt_cav]

any chance of posting a pic of the rusty water pump? Try monitor how long the top hose takes to get hot and if the water is circulating, dose the top hose feel like its empty?