Temp Gauge In The Red

[gregers]

hi peeps need some info on me ole mums puma,took it out tonite and the temp gauge climbed rapidly,no heat in the car at all.ended up having to pull over a couple of times so it would cool down.had everything on even aircon to take the heat down but still she climbed.

going to be looking at it on saturday morning so a few pointers are needed as to what i should be looking for?could it be the water pump,its just recently had a new clutch fitted,do you think the garage may have knocked something??

oh and last year had a major service and cam belt and kit etc.

many thanks in advance for any info

regards gregers

[troy45]

Daft first question - is there any coolant in it?

[gregers]

not a daft question but a daft answer,no idea m8.

too blooming dark to see this evening,hence i will be taking a looksie on Saturday,AND that is going to be my 1st port of call.

if there is,this is where i will become stuck what else will i need to be looking at,apart from the oil cap/dipstick for any kind of mayo etc.

[StevenST13]

Radiator leaks, damaged or cooling fan not working. If the header tanks dry it's possible there's a leak. If the coolant has never been changed and the header tank is full the car is basically a kettle boiling water as coolant needs topping up from time to time so 1) it helps cool the engine 2) doesn't boil like water only can. 3) stops it freezing in winter.

[gregers]

cheers for the replies guys,

i know defo that the rad fans are working as they were going a gooden.

[gregers]

well checked the car this morning and there was minimal ammount of coolant in the expansion bottle.

no emulsion on the oil cap or on the dipstick :).

so filled it up with some water and ran the engine,got up to temp fairly quickly and stayed there,

still no heat from the blower.

took the cap off and the bottle filled up instantly through pressure.is that normal???

then slowly refilled the system through gravity.

topped up a bit more,left the cap off and ran it,started to get some heat then it went cold.

looked at the bottle again and added some more,then ran the engine again revving the nuts off of it,then started to get some decent heat in the car.took it out and DROVE IT LIKE I STOLE IT temp gauge BANG on in the middle,lots of heat.

checked everything again and the coolant is steady and level.so maybe a bit of airlock going on to start with??

rad fan came on a few times and turned itself off after a few seconds so thats working as it should.

no leaks on the system i could see,so where the hell has all the coolant disapered to??

apparently the car this afternoon was driving like a dream so 1 happy mummy. :D

[gus607]

Been neglected possibly !

[Goodkat]

Glad the resolution was not expensive, when was the last time the coolant levels were checked? It isn't unheard of for neglect to be the cause...
However. I would still inspect what you can, there could be a small leak somewhere which is trickling away somewhere, I would check pipes, radiator, any weep marks near the water pump location, thermostat, and check the carpet inside, it is a possibility the heater matrix is leaking.

[gregers]

soz peeps totally forgot to update this,after the water constantly disapering it went back to the garage who had just done a service on it,as i checked the coolant and there wasnt a drop in the bottle so phoned up the garage .

anyways it turned out to be a cracked cylinder head,

so after paying out for the new mot,service some welding and the head cost was just short of £500.

me mum was happy with paying that,as she reckons she couldnt get a decent car for that.

[Goodkat]

That is a damn good price!

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