Overheating

[JasonW]

So as a couple of you may be aware the girlfriend and I went to Edinburger over the weekend.

Ive had the scoob for a few months now and the temperature gauge has never gone above the sort of 1/3 mark - that was until Saturday ofcourse.

I had driven from Aberdeen to Edinburgh and once I got into Edinburgh all the stopping and starting over about 20metres I noticed the temp gauge go up and up a little bit at a time.

I thought this was just heatsoak because the car wasnt getting any air through the radiator and was just expecting the fans to come on maybe at the 2/3rds mark. I didn't hear it come on then so after another couple of moving 20metres then stopping for a minute the gauge rose to about the length of the needle below the red mark so i dived to a bus lane, turned the car off, put on the hazards on and opened the bonnet.

This is where i think i messed up because i turned the engine off i couldnt tell if the fans were working!

I left it with the bonnet open for around 10mins to cool down and then continued the last mile of my journey in flowing traffic so the gauge dropped again.

Could the fans be duffed? Sensor or something? Is there anyway of testing the fans do work without giving the car heatsoak again?

Sorry for the long post but hopefully I have included everything!

Jason

[thefastone]

possibly mate, but tell me, have you got mounted gauges, or are you just taking it off of your dashboard gauge? reason that I ask, is that I've had radiator problems recently, and it caused my oil temp to shoot up past 130Deg C and the Dash Gauge barely blinked... it should be easy enough to tell if your fans are working, just by taking the car out and warm it up properly, get home and let her stand for 10 minutes, you'll probably find that the fan will either come on or not...

if it doesn't work then it's a case of figureing out if it's the thermostat or the the fan itself which shouldn't be a major challenge....

[JasonW]

No Dale, only going by the gauge on the dash. I was speaking to a neighbour this morning and he said the same thing that the gauge could be duff. What kind of gauge aftermarket gauge would you need so that you would know if it was overheating ? Il try taking it for a drive then leaving it for 10 mins and see if the fans come on.

Cheers for the help

[trogg]

Yes it could be a duff gauge, but it does seem to work at least to some extent, in that the temp displayed increased in circumstances you would expect it to increase in.

As said, warm the car up and then let it idle for 10 mins or so, the gauge should increase again and then the fan should kick in before it gets too near the red.

Of course it could be a conection to the fan* or the sender to the fan rather than the fan motor being faulty. In all the cars and stuff I've had over the years I've never had a rad fan pack in. (that I'm aware of! )

* have you had any work done in the engine bay recently, maybe the fan was unplugged for a reason?

[JasonW]

Hmmm, the only thing I have done with the bonnet open is check the oil and take the headlights out to de tango them. Is the connection around the headlight area do you know?

[thefastone]

I should add that leave it running when your letting her stand, just to let the heat build up in the engine bay without cooling air coming in...

But the fact that the gauge came back down again when you were in moving traffic to me suggests that the gauge is working...

[thefastone]

The Connection for the fan by the way, is on the back of your radiator, clipped to the fan shroud, so you wouldn't have disturbed it doing your lights...

[Rossco_]

Does sound like a fan issue to me mate, the fact that you said when you were moving again the temp came down makes the point.

The standard fan switch makes the fans come on at about 90-91 degrees, as said let it idle for 10 / 15 mins and the fans should come on, basically when the temp gauge is around the middle.

Be worth checking to make sure water is getting through the radiator, make sure the bottom hose is warm once shes been running for a while.

Im mental paranoid about the cars cooling system so ive been through this a few times

[JasonW]

Ok, if the fans dont come after 10 to 15 mins tonight and the temp is around half il be back here looking for a solution, cheers for your help today fellas.

[thefastone]

Don't you mean top Hose Ross? Seeing that the air will be at the top of the rad...

[Rossco_]

Nope, the bottom hose will only get warm once the thermostat has opened, letting water into the radiator. If the hose doesnt get warm is means the thermostat is goosed and water isnt getting to the radiator.

[JasonW]

Right so i think/hope i have worked it out now!

Seeing a sit was sunny this evening i decided to have a look at the fan connections.

So bonnet open, cant see much on the left so il look on the right. Out comes the coolant bottle trace the four wires from the fan to under th radiator and what do you know - its not plugged in! So plug it in better check the other side then. So out with the air intake duct and what do i see - this!!!

Yes its a dodgy iphone picture but it is also the other fan disconnected. So plug it back in, take the car for a good drive but sadly i cant replicate driving in edinburgh so i turn on the A/C to get the fans spinning and on come the fans!

Hopfully now the fans will come on next time im in some sort of traffic jam. I shall keep you all informed.

Thanks to everyone who helped out too.

[thefastone]

That sounds a bit bizzare, but at least you got it sorted now, nice one.

[JasonW]

I was thinking about it and it must of happened inbetween taking the car for a test drive and picking it up the following week. I know the fans were working when i had the car for a test drive because i checked the A/C was working. So once i took it back to the garage, agreed a price and the garage owner said he would change the timing belt for me they must of taken the front bumper/radiator out or off and not reconnected it up after. Thats all i could think of anyway.

[jamesm]

I was thinking about it and it must of happened inbetween taking the car for a test drive and picking it up the following week. I know the fans were working when i had the car for a test drive because i checked the A/C was working. So once i took it back to the garage, agreed a price and the garage owner said he would change the timing belt for me they must of taken the front bumper/radiator out or off and not reconnected it up after. Thats all i could think of anyway.

I had that issue a few years ago when the fans were found to be disconnected after a timing belt change.

Glad you got it sorted