Club 80-90 Forums

Hello all.

Could anyone advise on the following?

Rebuilt JX with less than 2 miles on it.

I had a problem with a leaking front heater core.

Core replaced today, all seems well no leaks.

Followed Baxters bleed thread, got the van up to temp at standstill in the garden, revving etc let air out, top up coolant let out air.

Got to the point in the garden where the main rad got hot and the rad fan kicked in. Temp gauge now just over LED.

Let it idle let more air out.

Took it for a spin for a mile or so, temp gauge upto 2/3 almost 3/4. Panicked a bit a drove home, eek!

Some gentle inclines on the test run, definatly no mountains! Its fair to say i opened it up a bit, but defiantly never wellied it.

Got home, switched off, aux water pump kicked in for about ten seconds.

If theres any JX owners would it be poss to tell me where your temp gauge usually is when driving?

Does your aux water pump come on after every trip?

Is it possible that mine will run hotter as its just been rebuilt and no where near run in yet?

Many thanks,

Rob.

My temp needle sits just touching the underside of the LED. The aux water pump i believe is controlled by its own temp switch and when I have needed to look in the engine bay after switching off I have heard it running.

Thanks, its good the sensors are working as they should, just a bit worried its too hot!

Thanks again.

i think that the aux pump kicks in at 105c which is quite hot, but with in limits set by vw. if you have anti freeze/summer coolant it will raise the boiling point, the boiling point is raised when the system is pressurised, but it should not be getting that hot that quickly. was the rad piping hot? almost untouchable, i would first be looking at the stat as if it is failed closed, i had one fail open andd i could not get the van to heat up.

and treat the temp gauge as a guide so long as the needle is not cranked over in to the white section, your with in operating range

neil

Howdy axeman, yes the rad was almost untouchable, you put the palm of your hand on it for no more than a second or two, would this indicate the thermostat is at least working?

The rad stayed around this temp. for a few minutes and then the fan kicked in to cool things off.

Cheers,

Rob.

well that rules out the stat, if the rad was nice and hot, and the fan kicked in and it cools it's self then it sounds like its working,
first thing that i would do when you can, is to try bleeding the coolant system again in case there is an air lock in the system. try and get the engine as hot as when you were driving, the fan kicking on and off with the hatch open so you can see the level in the header tank. also feeling the water pipes in and around the engine bay and the front to back pipes.

neil

Cheers Neil, do you know if the rad fan is supposed to suck air from outside through the rad, or blow air through the rad to outside?

Mine currently blows air through the rad to outside, i'm suspecting this is wrong.

This might cause a cool air blockage at the rad when the van is being driven causing the temp gauge to rise.

I could have got the polarity wrong on the fan wiring.

Thanks again.

the fan should suck air from the front of the van, this will not be helping at all.

neil

Thanks Neil.

I'll get it wired up properly tomorrow.

I'll also try and to see if theres still some air in the system and bleed accordingly. Hopefully this should sort it.

Cheers.