Running a bit hot

Post by **Roddy** » 21 Jun 2008, 21:36

My 1.9 runs hot i have changed the thermostat twice, bled it repeatedly, the needle stays just to the right of the centre, if left ticking over the fan comes on. If you have the heater set to hot the temp comes down to centre wilst driving. I am thinking of taking the water pump off to check that its impeller is conected to the pully (desperate I know!) any ideas?
Roddy

Post by **grenjs** » 21 Jun 2008, 21:40

Just a thought... have you checked the radiator fins to ensure that's absolutely clean of debris. You could try flushing it through too.

Post by **Laurie** » 21 Jun 2008, 21:42

Chances are it isn't overheating. Symptons would be heaters not working and the needle flying up to high.
Gauges aren't accurate if it sits at that point, don't worry

Post by **AngeloEvs** » 21 Jun 2008, 21:45

Mine sits slightly to right, sometimes centre. From what I have read thats about right. Why do you think it's overheating"

Post by **Roddy** » 21 Jun 2008, 21:56

The guy I bought it from had it for 7 years and said it always ran to the left of centre. Maybe he had a lower temp. termostat?
Roddy

Post by **AngeloEvs** » 21 Jun 2008, 22:10

If you have changed the thermostat then it may be that it is now opening at the correct temperature, I would think that the temperature guage would move well beyond the centre if you had overheating problems and, the fan would come on during normal driving conditions. If you are not losing water then the chances are that all is OK. See what others say but from what you describe it seems identical to mine.

Website · Post by **syncrosimon** » 22 Jun 2008, 09:07

Compared to a new vehicle the temp gauge does move around a fair bit. When we were motoring in France, on the slow 2nd gear mountain passes the fan would be on for a minute, then off for 30 seconds, then one for another minute, for however high the pass was, she was fine though, and is nothing to worry about. Equally on the very long downhill motorway stretches the temp gauge would go down half way to cold, as effectively we were just coasting, but at 70mph, which cools the water in the radiator very quickly.

When you switch on the heater, you are adding about 6 litres of cold water to the hot system, which has an instant cooling effect noticeable on the dash gauge by a dip, and gradual rise. Nothing to worry about.

Driving in 30 degree heat in France meant that the fan would come on every time we hit traffic. It is what it is meant for, and we encountered no problems as a result.

If you are still in doubt, and believe that the system is over-hot the only reason I could think is that you have a restricted flow in the system, resulting in more reliance in the fan, but on the face of it I would say that the system is operating o.k.

Whilst driving at a constant speed, constant throttle the gauge should stabilise and remain in the same place, it will only move around at lower speeds, when the heater is on. or when coasting down hill. There is a lot of water in the system, and the thermostat is a long way away from the radiator, which means at lower speeds there is a time delay between the thermostat opening fully, and the cooled water getting back to the engine, it's just another quirk of the T3.

I found the temp gauge quite interesting to watch, on those long 500 mile days through to the south of France, and spent a long time speculating as to the whys and wherefores. Hope this helps.

Post by **toomanytoys** » 22 Jun 2008, 09:18

Brickworks reports anything other than a gen VW t stat are not as good..
the needle should be within a few needle widths of centre, thats a "normal" posisition... as said.. is the rad clear and the system bed.. rad fan coming on quite quick would indicate the rad is either blocked externally or internally my syncro rad fan comes on much earlier than the velle that can sit for ages in traffic and not come on..

If it really were "overheating" then I would expect to see coolant issues too.. like it spewing it out the tanks etc...

Post by **grenjs** » 22 Jun 2008, 10:00

My two pennies worth...

I think the temperature gauge and needle positioning probably varies considerable from van to van. A lot of it depends on the overall condition of the cooling system.

Ours for instance sits 'Below' the middle position (between 1/4 and 1/2 way actually) for the majority of the time, only creeping up and above the half-way mark when we are in traffic - when like reported above, the fan cuts in. If we are in traffic, the needle will remain just above centre and just above that (2/3rd's) until we are back motoring again and cooler air can enter the system via the radiator. Also like reported above, the fan will cut in and out when in traffic frequently (it was on almost constantly on the Paris Peripherique), but I've rarely heard it come on under normal motoring.

Just for information, we have a stock Thermostat in ours.

Post by **J188** » 22 Jun 2008, 13:39

The needle on my van usually sits either centre completely covering the LED or about a needles width above centre. I've had a number of problems with overheating, however it was down to both the termostat and water pump going within 2 days of each other.

Its sorted now (touch wood) and the needle sits just above half way moving slightly left and right occasionally.

Its the fuel gauge on mine that is now the problem...it lies to me

Post by **grenjs** » 22 Jun 2008, 14:45

J188 wrote:Its the fuel gauge on mine that is now the problem...it lies to me

Ours doesn't lie, but it is very slow to register how much fuel is in the tank when the ignition is first switched on - maybe a minute or more.

When we get between half and a quarter of a tank of fuel and going up/down hills, or the van is leaning to the left or right, the gauge goes to "empty" and theN corrects itself (slowly!) when we are back on the level. Most annoying!!

I'm hoping the new fuel sender unit and tank refurb kit I've puchased is going to sort this out.

Post by **J188** » 22 Jun 2008, 18:09

I'm not sure what is wrong with mine....all i know was that i 'broke down' (at least thought i did) called out the RAC only to find him say...."you have put fuel in this right?"

The gauge was on quarter...yet the tank was dry.

You say you think yours may be the sender? Does that mean ou'll have to take the tank off to replace it etc?

I also have the same issue with the fuel gauge taking forever to register, and on roundabouts i apparenly lose fuel, but on some corners i gain some

Post by **grenjs** » 22 Jun 2008, 18:19

J188 wrote:You say you think yours may be the sender?

Possibly. Don't know for sure.

J188 wrote:Does that mean you'll have to take the tank off to replace it etc?

Yes, you have to drop the tank to replace the sender. I had intended to drop it anyhow to ensure the tin-worms haven't taken a liking to it and to paint it to protect it for a long as possible. Also I'm getting fuel blow-back when filling up, so the vents need looking at.

I was hoping to drop the tank before we go to France, but I've run out of time.

Sorry for hijacking the thread Roddy.

Post by **funbus1** » 22 Jun 2008, 18:54

My temp guage needle sits a needles width to the right of the wee box, and only moves up when sitting in traffic. is this normal??

Post by **hercules** » 22 Jun 2008, 20:45

funbus1 wrote:My temp guage needle sits a needles width to the right of the wee box, and only moves up when sitting in traffic. is this normal??

well my temperature gauge and needle move up as she get warm and sit just under the hot and does move down or up and water fine and does get hot and when it does the fan come on and goes of when need, i put my down to clock old and temperature gauge old to as it seem to be fine and i no the litte red light works ok,