my head is wrecked!!

B

blackB4

Sunday Drivers
hi all,got my leggy back on friday after 3 weeks in garage.had a new top tank fitted to rad after it overheated.
It was fine over weekend but it started to get hot on the way to work this morning,never hit the red but got close
rang the mechnic and he said it was prob an air lock so i put more coolant and water in and let car run for a while
with caps open, had to drive home at 60kmph to keep needle away from red.done same again at home but let it
run for longer then went for a spin.the needle stayed around the middle mark(i was driving very moderately)
but when i got back and lifted bonnet the rad was sizzling the fan is also permanently on when car gets to running
temp.anyone had similar problems or any ideas????
 
Still air locked. Have you tried taking off the top rad hoses? I had similar problem twice before.
 
Sounds like your thermostat may be gone.
Also a chance the Rad Cap will need replacing if you haven't already and in some cases the water pump.
My rad sprang a leak a few months back and the needle hit half way between normal and red. I limped it home on some Volvic flavoured water and got a new rad put in it the next day.
I was told though that its possible the items above could be damaged as they have spent 10 years running at normal temperature and suddenly risen higher when the rad failed.
I was lucky and just had to fork out for the new Rad.
 
Sorry may have been gettin carried away there. Hope its just an air lock you have. Let us know how you get on :thumbsup: :subaru:
 
havent tried taking off top rad hoses,will do tomorrow,it only heats up when driven its perfect on idle.Im keeping fingers crossed it not head gasket like some people have suggested tome that it could be.its going back to mechanic anyway soon as i can get it there.I'm keeping fingers crossed its an air lock.
 
is there not a bleed valve on the coolant system that you open while the engine is running to allow any trapped air to escape. ive donr it before on other engines and it looks like the valve cap you would get on a tyre valve
 
thats defo not a valve for coolant system.....a/c probably if you have it.....
lots of cars dont have bleed screws on the rad or even in the whole system...
it just takes a while to finally trap the air and make its way to the cap
 
I have been seeing post on this "airlock" shite for a while, and cannot understand what some garages are telling you folks. Yes it's possible for 1 of you guy's at home, none mechanics, getting problems filling the cooling system, biut there's no excuse for a professional workshop.

Fill the system slowly, don't take all day, just take your time.
When the the tank is full, run the engine, as the level falls, top it up,
After 2 - 3 minutes, give it a good rev a few times, keep topping up the system
Hold the engine speed at 1750 to 2000 rpm for about 5 seconds a few times, top it up if the level falls
As soon as the temp guage moves 15% up the guage, fit the cap,

Rev the engine every now and again, run it until the fan cuts in,
When the fan cuts out, switch it off.
When cold, top up system again, and away you go, no problem.

I do this once a week, and never have a problem.

John
 
cheers everyone, john just tried what you said and the level does keep going down,the fan never came on at normal running temp which it was doing yesterday
but i noticed water dripping from the new top tank on the rad that was fitted last week on right hand corner and in the middle, so I turned it off ill let mechanic deal with it,hope i dont have to buy another rad.how much water and coolant should be in the system when its running right???
 
As johnjoe said, about litre's will fill the system, Bring it back to the man and tell him the tank on the rad is leaking. Personnally I would refuse to replace the tank, rad or nothing,

John
 
you,ll get an alloy rad for under €400 blackb4 . they have a bigger core than the dirty plastic tops .
 
the new one i had fitted is not a plastic one i was told its copper but it looks like steel painted black..........
would you say its safe to drive slowly back to mechanic once it doesnt overheat???
mechanic said it would be grand its prob about 8 miles
 
Copper, that's a new one, steel is more like it. 8 miles should be ok, if theres not much traffic, take it handy

John
 
alright everyone got car sorted!! on the way to mechanic steam started to pour from bonnet. i let it cool down and put water in it again (the cap had come off again) i got it over to him and when he pressure tested it the top hose wasnt tight enough. so it was as simple as that.thanks all for response best 50 euro i ever spent on car!!
think its a remap next!!

dave..............


@john it actually is a copper top tank you can see the copper where there's a small scrape!!!
 
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