Scirocco Register

Past the 3/4 mark would worry me, I've had my 1.8 GTL for nine years and for most of that time it sat mid-way between 1/2 and 3/4, since I changed the water pump and thermostat and flushed the system, it sits slightly lower than that, maybe a third of the way between 1/2 and 3/4.

My needle sits between quarter and three quarters. I to have had coolant loss from the black cap, glad I just read this.

Also, it sits at quartet when driving and only goes above half in traffic, when it reaches three quartet the fan kicks in and it then returns to half way again.

Hi guys it's still over heating jobs ive done are
new thermostat
new thermo switch sender
new blue expansion cap
replaced small pipe from top of rad to expansion bottle
flushed the system with hose pipe
replaced coolant for the recomended blue stuff
ive now orded a coolant temp sender switch so i will let you know how that goes
took it to the garage to day and been told it's not likely to be the head gasket
as the pipes arnt pressurizing and still very soft, they got there temp gun on the pipes and rad
and the temp was even across the rad and reading 80 ish at the temp sender but the fan did keep coming on
so was recomended to order a new sender failing that try a new rad. the pump was pumping ok from rad to expansion
bottle and expansion bottle didn't pressurize after a good reving so head gasket seems fine so far
today with the cooler weather the needle on the gauge was just above the red dot but it has never lit up red.
any thought of what i might try next up rated rad may be ?

might sound like a random question, but if you look inside the expansion bottle, can you see little twinkly copper coloured bits?

Hi i cant see any thing like that but it is dark out side and it has had recent coolant change
why what would that indicate ?

Just wondering what you mean by the red dot? if you mean the red light exactly half way, then the needle sitting just above this is perfectly ok. The thermostat on the Rocco opens at about 87deg if I remember, it's stamped on the rear face of them. My Rocco used to sit bang on the the half way mark until I replace the head gasket the other day but when I replaced the coolant with nice fresh stuff mixed with anti-freeze it now sits just above the red light. This is to be expected as the stronger the anti-freeze mix the hotter it will register, I like mine slightly stronger simply to cope with the Scottish temps, we have seen -20 the last couple of years, at least where I stay we have brrrrr!!

Hi yes the needle is just past the red light but i forgot to say thats with the heater fans on full
im sure if the fans were off and the weather was warmer it would be mutch hotter
but i do see what you mean about the fresh antifreeze being stronger
cheers phil

Auto wrote:bottle and expansion bottle didn't pressurize after a good reving so head gasket seems fine so far

Sorry, I don't understand this bit, the expansion tank should be pressurised if your engine is up to operating temperature.

I agree DT1, the system should be pressurised, but if the internal heater is working then that should be a sign of the system operating correctly. When my head gasket went I lost pressure on the system & I could only get luke warm air out it (brr in Scotland LOL)

I think your system is fine, my car sits in traffic daily & the needle hardly moves, I do hear the fan kick in now and again. As I said before, mine sits just on the top edge of the warning light, it may rise a small amount in traffic on a warm day, but providing the fan is operating then this is normal & to be expected. I really wouldn't worry about it by the sounds of things, keep an eye on your coolant levels over the next few days just for peace of mind.

Hi DTI sorry i forgot to say the guy at the garrage took the cap off the bottle to have a look for oil
in the bottle then put the cap back reved it a few times then checked the pressure by removing the cap again
and there wasnt any then he said there would be if the gasses were getting in to the system
i hope that explains what he did better
i hope your right and it is ok i just dont want to blow a gasket
but im sure the needle would be 3/4 up the gauge when driving if i didnt have the internal fans on full
and mutch higher when stud in traffic
i will post a picture up of the gauge next time i drive it to show every one were it sits
cheers phil

Nate wrote:might sound like a random question, but if you look inside the expansion bottle, can you see little twinkly copper coloured bits?

i'm curious... are you hinting at someone adding a "H/G fix solution" a la K-seal?

wassell wrote:

Nate wrote:might sound like a random question, but if you look inside the expansion bottle, can you see little twinkly copper coloured bits?

i'm curious... are you hinting at someone adding a "H/G fix solution" a la K-seal?

well i wouldn't describe it as a head gasket fix, but yes. did a head gasket on a megane a few years ago, system all flushed out thoroughly, head skimmed etc etc, but it still kept overheating and then the h/g failed again. off to the knackers yard for a replacement engine, chucked it in, another flush of the rad and away it went... only to return 10 minutes later overheating. turned out one of the rad hoses was so restricted with radweld/kseal/whatever that it wasn't letting the cooland circulate fast enough to cool the massively powerful 1.2 engine replaced the smaller hoses that were clogged, then washed out the system with some biological washing liquid (daz or similar) rinsed it through a few times and then refilled with yet another batch of fresh coolant, and problem solved. had i spotted the twinkly bits in the expansion cap before i started (i bought the car already stripped) then i would have got all the hoses and rad from the scrappy too.

Hi just changed the temp gauge sender an it's still running hot
here is a picture of how hot it's running and the fan still dosn't kick in
but it tests fine when i link the plug out at the thermo switch

has any one tryed one of these alloy radiators you can get on ebay please have a look at the link
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALUMINUM-ALLO ... 1c2ca0a390
cheers phil

That's about where my fan kicks in. I was dead paranoid but its been fine even sitting in traffic.

But keep in mind how little I use my car