Engine Getting Hot.

[G Beats]

She is getting hot to quickly.Sally is at our mechanics.He says she is getting hot a bit to quick.The coolant, New Radiator, Thermostat and Thermostat housing or fitted last year in the summer.He has put red coolant in her I'am thinking this could be the problem in blocking the pipes up as mark and James off the forum it is best to use blue.

Gary our mechanic has done a head gasket test on her and said it is fine.

All so there is a problem with her running.Same times she over revs when she is idling.And when I drive her fast and stop she does not start very easily.I have put new ht leads on her.And she has had new spark plugs in 2014.As we only do about 1,300 miles in her a year.I have put in a super unleaded petrol in her once a month and took her on a long run.

As she is a DX Engine.Gary our mechanic says he does not have the machine to check the problem as there are only used older car's like these.These machines cost £200,00 to £300,00 there for it is not worth the money in buying one.Just to use on a few cars.The first Dx Engine I had that tuned once.Does anybody know were and a good place in Bristol to sort this problem out ? If you think peoples this is the problem off here ?

All help would be more then appreciated.

[unknownmale]

I'm not sure what machine he needs?

I would imagine testing the temp over the bottom hose and top hose would be enough to test the cooling system. If it's too hot into the engine then I would guess a blockage somewhere, thermostat stuck shut, wrong coolant, radiator damage, thermo switch not turning the fan on etc. If it's only marginally hot, perhaps the engine is running a bit too lean?

What is being used to determine the engine is running too hot? If it's the coolant gauge on the dash then check the resistance of the black top 2pin sensor. From memory it should be around 0.2 ohms of resistance at about 100c (Less resistance to ground means a higher reading on the gauge)

I believe most DX engines just have the single spade post for the coolant gauge though, in which case you'd need to test the post to an engine ground.

I only say to check the sensor as I've had two go bad, one occasionally went straight to ground causing the gauge to read high and another one never reading at all.

[scrumpyone]

What colour is the reservoir bottle cap, black or blue?
Some time ago my old original black one failed causing overheating, replaced with a new blue one for a fiver - sorted.

[G Beats]

What colour is the reservoir bottle cap, black or blue?
Some time ago my old original black one failed causing overheating, replaced with a new blue one for a fiver - sorted.

It is Blue.

[scrappy1382]

mine does pretty much the same when idling, but driving around the coolant is below the half mark ( where the warning light is ) and oil temp no more than 98'c ...even get the occasional overrun too. i just put up with it

[mark1gls]

Could just be an air lock. Move the heater controls in side the car to HOT and from a cold engine remove the expansion tank cap and start the car, you should see a water flowing from the thin rubber hose coming from the radiator and if you rev the car the flow should increase. let the car tick over for 2 minutes and squeeze the big top radiator a couple of times and the level in the expansion tank should move, fit the expansion tank cap, you should then start the feel the hoses getting hot, 1st the hose going to the heater and the hose from the head to the water pump. The last hose to get hot should be the bottom radiator hose as the thermostat should let water flow through it once it hits 88 degrees.

Red antifreeze is fine it last longer than the blue stuff, I use the blue stuff as it's cheaper, it's the pink I don't trust.

The other cause for engines getting hot is the timing is out, has your cars timing been retarded to run normal unleaded or left as standard set up to run super unleaded?

The temp gauge should sit at 1/2 way during driving and when stopped or in traffic it will go to 3/4 the fan kicks in then it goes back to 1/2.


Edit.... The pink stuff I mean is the G12/13 VW stuff but some people have used it with no problems...

[Nate]

It's not the colour of the antifreeze that's important (people do get a bit obsessed with colour) it's the chemical that's in it. Red/pink/orange/purple are normally OAT (organic acid technology iirc) which will degrade certain seals, gaskets and rubber hoses used on some older cars. Correct spec of the antifreeze is in the handbook and should be on a sticker under the bonnet too I think. Don't fall into the trap of "its more expensive so must be better"

What's the state of the water pump like? The impellors will slowly erode away over time making them less efficient at circulating the water.

Is your engine warming up too quickly, or is it getting too hot?

[sabre0699]

This just clicked with me , when we had our last GT2 on the road , about 6 months after we got the car the temp started to read at about 3/4 when it had previously always stayed directly on the 1/2 way mark of the gauge.
Water pump was a bit noisy so it and the thermostat were changed . no difference , as the radiator was the original and getting a bit tatty it was replaced with a new one along with new top and bottom hoses .... still no difference.
Changed to temp sensor just in case ... nope , in desperation I tried so 'WATER WETTER' which was supposed to lower coolant temp and it did but not to the previous level.
In the end I bought a cheap infra red thermometer and according to it the engine water temp was fine , just for a laugh as I had a secondhand set of clocks ,I fitted them and guess what the temperature never moved above halfway............ the original temperature guage was faulty

[duggers]

These days coolant that is any colour than blue is OAT based and shouldn't be used in old cars. Blue coolant is ethylene-glycol based, proper old technology suitable for our engines which are based on 70's designs

[G Beats]

Anyway she has had half a Engine rebuild now using Red Coolant.