Double Whammy issues in France - starter and overheating

[HansT]

Your family won't thank you, but turning the van heater to hot plus blower might help for a short time. Not had to do this with our 1.9 DG Holdsworth Villa (Yet!) but has worked for me in the past for long enough to find somewhere to pull over, in e.g. Mk1 Cortina (thermostat failed shut) and Panda 4x4 (faulty temperature sender).
On the starter front, ours has been a bit hit and miss for some while - surprisingly, tightening the earth clamp on the battery reduced the number of times turning the ignition key just gave a 'click' from the solenoid...
Have a good holiday and hope that the weather is kind to you.

[tandemsandy]

Hate to state the obvious, but have you checked the rad fan fuse?


(don't ask me how I know )

Rob

[what2do]

Hate to state the obvious, but have you checked the rad fan fuse?


(don't ask me how I know )

Rob

Brilliant, why do we always forget the obvious?

[tandemsandy]

Brilliant, why do we always forget the obvious?

More importantly, why don't we remember the obvious before we've spent hours on our hands & knees looking for the complicated?!

Rob

[discipleofsketch]

So yesterday we did 300 miles on the motorway in very hot weather sat at 60mph with the temp gauge bang in the middle. Off the motorway travelling at slower speeds it slowly overheated again. I now know how to wire the radiator fan on after finding the thermo-switch (it obviously doesn't work) behind the bottom grill, and bridging a couple of the contacts with a piece of wire and two spade connectors. Put some more coolant in and with the fan permanently on, carried on overheating steadily the remaining 9 miles to the family campsite where we are staying for a couple of weeks.

So I think air is probably getting in leading to airlocks and/or blockages meaning that cooling isn't working properly when the waterpump isn't pumping hard.

The good news is I have spoken to John (Sarran1955) and we plan to visit him on the way back up, and hopefully then we can diagnose what is happening and get it behaving properly for the return leg. Also, it has started every time since the last update, so making life, and coolant bleeding a lot easier.

Regardless, the cooling system is due a thorough overhaul when I get back to the UK, having now spent some time getting to know it, there is a real hotch-potch of different pipes and repairs under there, including a length of plastic pipe.

Either way, we made it, and have the camper to sleep in rather than a tent - thanks for all the fantastic advice, you'll make a mechanic out of me yet

[AdrianC]

The good news is I have spoken to John (Sarran1955) and we plan to visit him on the way back up, and hopefully then we can diagnose what is happening and get it behaving properly for the return leg.

This is VERY good news.

If the fan isn't coping, though, you've definitely got other problems. The fan should be able to keep it cool fully laden and towing in blast-furnace ambients, if all's well.

[discipleofsketch]

An update, and some questions!

I'm still in the same situation, and am going to try flushing the radiator/pipes using a hose pipe on the campsite. That might not be particularly effective, but I want to give it a go as I'm still overheating after about 15 miles at slower speeds and need to start heading north (hopefully via Sarran) next week. I'm determined not to call breakdown unless I absolutely have to!

I have the old style diesel radiator with the bleed bolt at the top and thermoswitch on the side behind the lower grill.

It seems that all the local garages around here are shut for holidays, and the one open one I found with the help of a french-speaking friend don't want to do anything to the van.

So:-

1) Is there any particular technique to flushing the radiator? I searched on here and read that I should check to see if anything comes out of the thermo-switch hole - anything else I should know?

2) I know my waterpump is turning, but what's the easiest way to test if it is actually pumping effectively? I know I should look for circulation of coolant in the expansion bottle - any other tips?

3) As my radiator type seems very difficult / expensive to get hold of, in the long-run i'd rather switch to the later radiator type - what would I need to do to change it over - is the mounting different, or do I just need different pipes/ fittings? This would be a job for when i'm back in the UK by the way and i'm planing on a complete overhaul of the cooling system.

[sarran1955]

Hello,

Is there a slope on the campsite to help purging out the air..

Can you 'rig' the radiator fan to run constantly...

I'll be here....

My co ordinates:

45.412333, 1.941466
45°24'44.4"N 1°56'29.3"E

Cordialement,

[discipleofsketch]

So, an update - we have been enjoying the hospitality and expertise of the legendary sarran1955 for a few days while we investigate the overheating issue.



The story is always the same - we bleed and top up the system and everything runs nicely, both radiator pipes and the radiator gets warm, even able to climb steep hills (video proof later!) without overheating, temp needle bang in the middle, but then driving at a relaxed pace along country roads for half an hour the temp climbs, it overheats and we have air in the system again, radiator is cold again.

No visible leaks, so are starting to suspect it might be cylinder head gasket issues

We need to get back to the UK now, so deciding what to do - as with the rest of this trip, I was able to do 300km to get to Sarran at 60mph on the motorway with the needle bang in the middle, so we may just chance it (option a).

Option b is that we call breakdown cover (after a failed attempt at option a) and see what happens.

Option c is that we leave it here, fly/ train back and I return at a later date with parts/ whole engine as required and pay John and friends to fix it here, though the engine is under warranty, so it makes sense financially to get it back to the UK, rather than pay someone to rebuild it here.

[discipleofsketch]

OK, after more discussions we are back on the theory of water pump being the cause..

[discipleofsketch]

I've split topics on this - now replacing the waterpump:-

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=134916" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[discipleofsketch]

This is spread out over a few threads now, but for the record, the overheating problem was definitely a failed waterpump - impeller rotated freely on the shaft. New pump sourced and fitted with help from Sarran1955 and we were back on the road with a very cool running tdi engine

[Chiefy]

Winner! Glad you got it sorted in the end