Broken down, M6 fornton(Lancaster)

[yellowman]

Just brokendown with overheating problems. Rac guy turned up but couldn't do any better than open up the thermostat valve to allow continous follow. Still overheating though, may be water pump?? Any ideas?? I know little about cooling system so will have to be towed to specialist. Need recommended mechanic/garage close by, preferably within 10miles. Just had engine recondition too..had never broken down before...aaaaah

[kevtherev]

if you are loosing coolant then the pump has gone.
does the pump turn with the belt?
might even be a rad/pipe blockage.

undo the bolt on top of the rad and bleed any air out...@ 3000 rpm

[yellowman]

Kev

the RAC guy bled the rad, with no joy, still losing coolant..

not sure how tell if the pumps turning other than the wheel being spun by belt. Could it be a failure within the pump?

blockage is still possible... What's the best action?

Anyone near lancaster or preston you could recommend?

Riki

[dazzzer1]

you should be able to tell if the pump is gone, usually the fan belt will go slack if the bearing has collapsed, the alternator light may come on and off too, also the pully on the pump will be wobbly.
impretty sure that the thermostat needs to be oin the housing to make the seal so if its bee taken out you should put it back in.

[Ian Hulley]

If the pump's gone the bearings may still be fine, it's the gland itself that leaks and there will be a steady stream of coolant directly underneath and behind the pump pulley. Changing the pump is a doddle, seems strange though that the pump wasn't replaced when the engine was reconditioned ? What engine is it ?

Ian

[yellowman]

Thought I'd drop a line and thank you all for your posts.. Ta!

In the end we managed to get it to a garage using my sister inlaws relay service... all the way to Essex (I'll be taking out relay now..) The initial thoughts by mechanics we'd spoken to and the AA dude was "head gaskets gone mate". S***..... S***....S***.....S***!

So contacted Elite (who'd just reconditioned the engine (500 miles earlier) they instructed me to try and bleed all air out of the system i.e. from the heat exchanger as it's the highest possible point where air could be trapped.....but BANG went the header tank, cap went flying, water and anti-freeze everywhere (fortunately all three of us were away from it, heart in mouth and thought that's it, sh** just had the engine recon done) Got the AA there to get the vehicle relayed to Essex (what a relief to get moved without the cost).

It was down with Elite the next day. They did some tests and it seems (I hope I get this correct) the thermoswitch had gone causing the excessive heat build up and the header tank blowing. I've been assured there's no problem with head gasket (CO test done - fine), header tank and cap replaced as it's distorted, thermostatic valve (which was cut by AA mans first visit) replaced, temperature switch replaced.

It seems crazy that I had the van for 2 years prior to engine being replaced, it never broke down even though it was running on 2 1/2 cylinders for a good year. I suppose "C'est la V.............W"

PS the water pump had been replaced my mistake. I now know where the water pump is though.