Club 80-90 Forums

Just had my engine rebuilt, she's a 1.9 wbx with 126000 miles on the clock.

The mechanic told me he couldn't work out why she was constantly overheating so he's taken the thermostat out to allow the engine to keep cool when running, this is annoying because I can't get the inside warm on my morning commute to Edinburgh.

The oil pressure light is constantly flashing, I've checked the oil level and the reservoir cap but can't see anything obvious.

Can anyone help with either of these two issues please?

AlandAnn wrote:The mechanic .... taken the thermostat out to allow the engine to keep cool when running

He's not a "mechanic", he's a monkey. You will cause untold wear on your engine, knacker your fuel consumption, and, as you found, not get any heat. The engine is designed to work at a particular temperature, you need the stat in and working.

take it straight back and demand he does what he professes to be , mechanic
that is total BS
oil light flashing !
over heating?
i hope you havent paid the goon

It gets my goat when I read threads like this because I went through the same thing for a long time when I first got this van. As the others have said your guy is talking crap. Taking the stat out is a bodge and the inherent problem will return. Scotland in winter with no stat will not be fun.

It would be good have have a garage section on here, a bit like the recommended parts section so members can put feedback on, good and bad

Thanks for the comments. Does an6one know of a kindly "mechanic " near Rosyth who would be willing to have a look?

Sir Brixalot wrote:
It would be good have have a garage section on here, a bit like the recommended parts section so members can put feedback on, good and bad

legally , a name and shame section wouldnt be a clever idea!
its not going to be encouraged.....publically

Put the thermostat back in and bleed the system properly (instructions in wiki). Replace the 'faulty' sensor in the expansion tank, that'll stop the led flashing.

Oil pressure light bit more of a concern. Does it only come on when at idle? Need to get a wet gauge onto the engine to see what (bar) pressure the engine actually has. Do all this yourself (read up a little on wiki or use Haynes manual) you don't have to use your local spanner monkey.


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Did the oil pressure light start to flash after the "mechanic" took the stat out and are you getting the buzzer of doom at idle or above 2000 RPM? It could be that he has dislodged one of the oil pressure switch wires. What are the overheating symptoms and are you losing any coolant or getting high pressure build up in the header tank?

Highroller wrote:Did the oil pressure light start to flash after the "mechanic" took the stat out and are you getting the buzzer of doom at idle or above 2000 RPM? It could be that he has dislodged one of the oil pressure switch wires. What are the overheating symptoms and are you losing any coolant or getting high pressure build up in the header tank?

The oil light flashes constantly from when the engine starts.
I don't have the buzzer of doom, I think my switch has been disconnected for the buzzer.
I'll check my oil pressure switches in a moment, I know that he took them out when he had her apart, is it possible to refit them back to front?
And I'm not loosing any coolant at all.

Thanks, my lunch time's going to be busy

It look's like it is possible to get them the wrong way around, unfortunately I don't know of the top of my head what one goes where but I'm pretty sure that if you have the black sensor and the blue sensor then the blue one is for the low pressure switch which is between the pushrod tubes and the black one is more or less under the crank pulley. Try earthing the wires out first and see if this keeps the light off.

If the engine has just been rebuilt, and it's not satisfactory, why can't you just reject it and ask the garage to put it right?