Radiator, I'm sure I have 2 in there!

[chewbacca]

Can anyone show me a picture of the front of their bus please, without the grill in place.

I'm having overheating issues & wanted to check the fan, bleed the rad etc, but I'm confused about what's in there.

I'm told my bus used to have air-con fitted years ago & I'm wondering if the radiator has been left in place.

Thanks

[itchyfeet]

Top grill is seconds to remove has quater turn fasteners
Drop spare wheel to look at fan, pic below has the card wind deflector removed, many are missing anyway
that bleed screw is top left as you look at it
We have a feeling these may be popular at this price, so if showing out of stock, please drop us a mail to check availability.

[ghost123uk]

If you have 2 rads there, one of them will be either Air-Con as you say, or maybe an after market oil cooler. More likely Air-Con in view of what you say (if not in use it might be worth summat to someone as they are rare)

[chewbacca]

It's certainly making the front end very cramped up.
I'll investigate later on this week & report back.

[chewbacca]

Just realised, I forgot to say thank you for the photos!
My apologies!

[chewbacca]

Ok, I'm still over heating & a little confused.

The rad is cold, even when the temp gauge is saying hot. So, thermostat stuck shut.
If that's the case though, why when I opened the bleed valve, did a little air came out followed by gushing water?
Is the thermostat on the radiator return pipe?

Please help!

[lloydy]

Thermostat only shuts off one of the two pipes going to the rad, so you'll always be able to get water out.

[itchyfeet]

Is the thermostat on the radiator return pipe?

yes, late system diagram below

[chewbacca]

Crap. New thermostat required then.

Thanks guys.

[chewbacca]

New thermostat fitted, same problem.

I'm actually wondering of the gauge is reading incorrectly or I have fitted the wrong spec temp sender. Maybe the cooling system just isn't get hot enough & the temp gauge is reading much too high.

I don't suppose anyone knows the resistances the temp sender should give out cold, normal running temp & hot?
I could drop those resistances across the temp sender's plug then to test the gauge at least.
Still not sure how to test the temp sender though. I could measure the resistance across it at cold, but would have no clue at it's temperature when the heating up.

Further to this, I've discovered there should be additional water reservoir behind the number plate! I don't have one of those!
I'm guessing it should be there & attached to the cap of my existing header tank?

[itchyfeet]

Now you are asking specific questions you need to tell us more about the van, better still put your van, year and engine in your signature.

[chewbacca]

My bad. Sorry.

It's a B plate 1.9 petrol.
Later plastic thermostat housing, 2 pin square temp sender.

[itchyfeet]

Some questions
did you bleed the system thoroughly? airlocks can cause temp sender to read wrong.
How long before it shows overheating? driving and idle
when the temperature guage shows hot have you tried touching the bypass pipe across the gearbox, the metal return pipe to water pump and the rad return above thermostat and see how hot they are?

[MidLifeCrisis]

Info on resistance values to test the coolant temp gauge .....



And (assuming you don't have the VW1301 test tool!!!!) a sheet to decode the VW resistance values into approx ohm values ....

[chewbacca]

Info on resistance values to test the coolant temp gauge .....

And (assuming you don't have the VW1301 test tool!!!!) a sheet to decode the VW resistance values into approx ohm values ....

Awesome. That's what I was after.

I've also found someone else's reading, doing the same as me.

200 ohms = needle just beginning to register over first white area (engine pretty cold still)

100 ohms = needle near but not yet reaching the led (engine warming up)

67 ohms = needle over some part of the led (normal engine running temp)

50 ohms = needle above the led by about 2 needle widths (engine hotter than you like to see, led not flashing yet)

33 ohms = needle at the last white mark (engine very hot with temp warning led now flashing)


So, if I add the 260 ohm from your info, I should be good to test!