Hi

All week ive had a problem with my engine temperature. The cars been fine to drive i assumed anyway. Been on motorways and around normal roads. I was on the motorway a few days ago driving to wales from liverpool and as i pulled off at a junction then waited at the lights, my engine temp needle shot up to the top. Didnt know what to do so luckily the lights turned green and drove off to find a safe spot to stop. While doing that my needle went back down to normal temperature until i stopped again at where i was headed to. 

When i got to were i was going i had a look underneath the bonnet and car once cooled down and looked for any leaks (oil/coolant etc) and couldnt see anything visible. I topped up my oil a bit as it was a bit low, along with the coolant like it had dropped below the max line. Checked again the next morning and seen on the passenger side behind the wheel on a bar connecting the wheel to the gear box area there was a patch of liquid, i say liquid as im not sure what it was at the time, it was just dirty and gritty, and bar as i weren't aware it was the driveshaft until now. I only know a handful of parts on cars...

When topping up my coolant i noticed i had a spare bottle of that radweld so i put that in there too just incase i had a leak. I had to get back home from wales so just took it slow but it weren't anywhere near as bad as it was driving home from wales. The needle has gone up a little bit but not all the way. Going there was a different story. 

Would a leak from the driveshaft cause such a rapid rise of the needle? It could even be something else but i cant see any other leaks and if it was, radweld has probably fixed it for now. I probably shouldn't have used that but i had to get home.... Thought it could have been the gasket or a water pump but its not leaking in that area and its not really giving all the symptoms of these things. I have booked it into the garage for monday morning for a thorough check and ill be letting them know about the driveshaft leak ive seen. Any advice would be appreciated! 

 

 

A leaking driveshaft seal would have absolutely no affect on the engine coolant temperature.

You could potentially have a blocked radiator, thermostat not opening fully or for the fact the temperature was rising when you were sitting still possible a radiator fan that doesn't work. 

9 minutes ago, stef123 said:

A leaking driveshaft seal would have absolutely no affect on the engine coolant temperature.

You could potentially have a blocked radiator, thermostat not opening fully or for the fact the temperature was rising when you were sitting still possible a radiator fan that doesn't work. 

Oh ok, thanks for the information.

Ive only recently had the thermostat changed aswell, only a few months old as the housing sealant was broken causing it to lose coolant through the gap so they changed the thermostat too. It caused my heating not to work and the engine temp needle to dip and fluctuate just below the half way point.

I dont think its my fan as it does come on once ive gone into idle once parked up, or at lights etc but it doesn't seem to be cooling the engine until i move again and get some air flow. 

Im thinking more towards the radiator though after seeing what you wrote, as i did see a patch of liquid on it when looking through the front grill. Perhaps the radweld has sealed this as it has improved a little bit. Ill be making sure the garage knows what ive done on monday though as it may help them. Dont want my car being fixed by radweld, i can just pick up a new radiator fairly cheaply, hopefully.

Thanks! 

Little update...

 

Took it to the garage today, they said it was nothing more than a air block in the cooling system. On my way home i decided to see my neighbour who is also a mechanic part time and told him whats going on. Said the engine feels far too hot and the coolant is a bit hot than normal although the temp gauge reads normal. He also said the cooling fan is odd in my car as its yellow and looks nothing like other radiators, thought they were all the same to be honest. Ive seen others online and theyre black and dont look like they'd fit my car although they probably would with a bit of fiddling. Advised me to get a new fan, a new radiator and a new radiator fan switch and he'll fit them. Seen them on ebay for fairly cheap. Is there another name for a radiator fan switch? as i cant seem to find one while browsing ebay or the internet. Thanks again.