my XE overheating.. HELP

[MyNovaSr]

before when it was overheating i thought, hmm maybe its because my water pumps on the way out. i have a new belt and pump now and its still overheating. in town traffic it gets slowly hotter but doesnt seem to really cool down unless you turn up the heater. My fan comes on with the key so i know thats working. today coming down the m1 I did a 6 mile stint a 100mph (dont tell anyone) and i looked down and on the digidash it had gone upto 5 bars, the one just before the red. i turned on the heaters and slowed right down and it went down to 4 quite quick.

With my fan blowing outwards would that be stopping the cooler air cooling he rad when at speed?

Could my rad be blocked?

I dont think its my head gasket because im not loosing water and i dont get blue smoke....

HELP PLEASE!

[Lee]

Sounds like an air lock to me, drop all the water, and re fill it giving all the big pipes a good squeeze, then run it to temp with the header tank cap off.

When it gets hot, does all the water dissapear from the header? Could indicate HG if it dpes that.

Check the water's not cloudy / smells of oil/fuel as well. Head gaskets can go in lots of different ways.

[Riggy]

or it could be youre thermostat

when you car is reading hot , does the rad feel warm , its its cold then you're thermostat has prob died and is not letting hot water into the rad to cool down

[MyNovaSr]

when the car was hot there was a normal amount of water in the header and it was bubbleing.

didnt feel the rad but the fan was blowing hot air through.

dont think its an air lock tbh.

[Lee]

smell the water, is it cloudy/grimy?

[James P]

does sound like thermostat. take it off and put it in HOT water. to see if it opens up. get a thermometer and see what temp it get up to before it open.

[MyNovaSr]

if ure talkin bout the stat switch. it is bust but ive bipassed it so the fans on with the ignition.

not cloudy, or smelly of the oil

[Dar]

Your fan should be sucking air in to the engine bay. Check your thermostat like has been suggested.

[MyNovaSr]

I know the stats bolloxed hence why i bipassed it. or is there anyother one?

my fans a blower not a sucker :D

[Riggy]

the thermostat not the rad fan switch

the thermostat is under the top rad hose , take the housing off to get to it

[Lee]

..and the only way you can bypass it is to remove it completly...

[MyNovaSr]

so if thats died what would it do. not let hot water through thus not cooling it? might change that because I bet its a cheap fix.

ill try that and report back. thanks for the help guys :thumb:

Oh and when i said bypass it I meant the rad switch..

[MyNovaSr]

Right ive changed the thermostat and both the bottom bolts when looking at it tightened fine. But the top doesnt tighten up full, just keeps spinning. took it for one run and it was going between 3 and 4 yellow bars on the digi dash. But I realised I had lost all my water through where the 3rd bold was loose. I then tightend it up as much s it would go which wasnt alot tbh and its got pressure now but is staying at 4 yellow bars and not going back down to 3... I hasnt got upto 5 yet and my fans on all the time so is that normal for an xe in a nova.

as before no cloudly water, no oil smell to the water. im using 15w/40 full synthetic oil.

[James P]

maybe your digi dash is just weard?

[MyNovaSr]

maybe, i think ill ignore it. Although when it has said before that the engine is very hot, u turn on the heaters and its burning heat. so i think its correct. it the problem persists should i get a re-con rad?

[MyNovaSr]

Thanks to nick coming round to have a look ive found out that im running a 1.2 rad when i thought it was a 1.6 rad on my xe. oops lol lol .

maybe when i change to a 1.6 rad it will stay a bit cooler :)

[General Baxter]

Thanks to nick coming round to have a look ive found out that im running a 1.2 rad when i thought it was a 1.6 rad on my xe. oops lol lol

:thumb:

[Will F]

the 1.2 rads are OK actually, they shouldnt mean that you over heat, unless its gubbed...

the 1.6 rads are better so change it anyway.

Check that all the water pipes are OK when its warm (not rock hard)

[Lee]

the 1.2 rads are OK actually, they shouldnt mean that you over heat, unless its gubbed...

the 1.6 rads are better so change it anyway.

Check that all the water pipes are OK when its warm (not rock hard)

Have to agree here, when i bought my blue XE, it had a baby rad and never ran hot.

[Paul]

i ran a 1200 rad on my turbo all last year and it was ace. iirc the td rads are the best ones to get

[matthew172]

With my fan blowing outwards would that be stopping the cooler air cooling he rad when at speed?



this is your problem, your fan shouldnt be blowing outwards it should be blowing towards the engine hence sucking the cool air through the rad

u say the fan comes on when you turn on the ignition so its on all the time??

if this is the case the fan will be blowing the hot air through the rad from the engine heat and therefore not allowing a cool stream to flow through the rad

the engine will only be cooling from one half of the rad if that!

swap the wires round asap or your head gasket will be fcuked!

[MyNovaSr]

Well first im gunna change to a 1.6 rad. Then im gunna swap my fan so it blows inwards. I will try to make the fan only come on when it gets upto temp but i cant promise. Think the 1.2 might be a bit gunked up and it has made a notisable difference from when i changed the thermostat :)

[coombsey]

in my xe there is a standard 1.2 rad and that only warms up too a quarter on a standard dash