red_baron

Well... picked her up from the garage last Friday afternoon after being 'fixed'. Got to the the traffic lights to get onto the M60 when they were on red... and it overheated again! Luckily as it got just over 110 degrees the lights changed to green and the engine temperature very soon got back down to sub-90 degrees once I was moving again. The garage replaced the pipe that broke and put a new thermostat on (I have the old one that they took off), but it seemed to have done nothing to the running temperature. Got the car home and had a quick look under the bonnet. Everything looks ok... disconnected the thermoswitch on the radiator and shorted out the connections on the plug to see if the fan spins (that department seemed quite silent on the drive home!). Shorting any combination of two pins didn't do anything. Then I noticed the wiring on the fan motor loom... looked a bit dodgy. Messed with this a bit whilst shorting the plug and hey-presto the fan springs into life. With a temporary fix on the fan motor wiring (courtesy of my brilliant father and his chocolate box connectors!), when shorting out two of the connections the fan comes on (I think at high speed), when shorting out the other two connections all that happens is a relay clicks... any ideas? My Dad's looking over the wiring thoroughly today so may have some answers... he asked me to ask if anyone has a wiring diagram for the VR6. "Has anyone got a wiring diagram for the VR6?" Hopefully once all this is sorted out the overheating problems will be a dim and distant memory... can't wait to give it a try!

Had a look this evening and took some photos of the pipe that broke yesterday (this went suddenly - the second I killed the ignition because of steam coming from the expansion tank). Sorry to bore you all with it, but I'm wondering if this sheds any more light on the problem or just confirms its the thermostat (got told independently again this evening it most probably is). The photos show the position of the pipe/pipes that's broken (around half way down the engine) and also more detailed photos showing the pipe(s) and what happens when water is poured into the expansion tank (it just runs out where the break is. I've also put a picture on showing the large-bore pipe as it reaches the RHS of the block. The pressure must have been really high to cause this to go as it look like a metal t-joint that's broken apart. Anyone know how serious this is and how much/easy to replace? As the moment I can't put any water in the car to run it anywhere as it just runs straight out again! Just anpther thought... could it be the main water pump that has seized somehow and caused a blockage and a massive amount of pressure to build up causing this joint to fracture?

New radiator (3 weeks old) and new expansion cap lid (fitted at same time). It was venting last night but I think the pressure was so high something else had to give. Worse thing is I'm off on holiday next week - I was thinking of leaving it with a garage whilst I'm away (there's a couple I can trust not to fleece me, I think) and see what they come up with.

Unfortunately I was stuck on one of the main A roads into Manchester in traffic doing about 4 miles an hour with no hard-shoulder so the idea was to attempt to crawl to the nearest lay-by (100 yards away - the one the Police towed me too eventually). Once I saw steam from the coolant reservoir I cut the ignition and that's when the system exploded. Not sure what the next move is to be... its going to be a hassle whatever. It is quite strange that none of the hoses etc or the reservoir itself gave up before the pipe or whatever it is that has gone. I'll have a quick look tonight.

Well... 95... 100...110...115...BANG! :cry: Stuck in traffic this evening it happened... The engine got so hot the pressure ruptured a pipe running along the bottom of the engine (not had a proper look yet, but the man from the AA told me that's what had happened). So now the Rado is dead (well... maybe just poorly for a bit) parked in my parents' garage awaiting my next move. I think the plan is to get it to a garage (somehow :| )and get the whole cooling system checked out and get it sniffed too in case the head gasket's gone. Off to have a few beers now though to help ease the pain (well I was originally off there when things went tits up). p.s. thanks to the Police (both the Omega and the Range Rover) for getting me off Princes Road from "a very dangerous position"

Had a quick look after driving home from work this evening. When I got home the engine temp was just below 90 degrees. At just above 95 the fans kick in for about 30 seconds and then go off. They continue to kick in every now and again whilst the engine temp rises. As soon as it gets to 100 (or even just slightly over) it stops rising, but the fan action seems to be exactly the same (i.e. same speed, same off/on duration). From this it definately sounds like the thermoswith not kicking the fans in sooner at a lower speed... one problem - looking down at the radiator from the front of the car I can't see any kind of switch on the RHS of the rad... the battery & cover obscures everything. Is it mounted below the battery and easy to see from underneath?

... I believe that's even more expensive!

crikey... may try and find a breaker somewhere. There's quite a few things need doing that all seem to be in the £250 area! Do you know if it'd be an MOT failure by any chance? cheers, Ian

no probs bigbluec... I know what you mean. I get confused really easily so I thought it'd be easier to set up a new thread! dr_mat - is the thermoswitch expensive?

my local friendly mechanic told me it was the radiator support panel... but then again he tried to convince me I had cylinder head issues! If its the rad support cross member, do you know anywhere I can get one fairly easily? From what VW told me they don't stock any panels in the UK and therefore getting hold of them new can be quite costly...

I'll have a look at the thermoswitch when I get a chance later this week or at the weekend. As for oil... the only stuff it seems to lose is the stuff it drips over my drive/work's drive/ my parents drive :oops: from the underside of the engine (sneaking suspision it's a crank case oil seal cos I've already replaced the sump gasket :( ) It doesn't seem to burn any at all...

Hi All, I had a good view of the underneath of my recent purchase the other weekend when I replaced the sump gasket. To my horror, one of the front panels is almost completely rusted to bits... I think VW call it the radiator support panel, but I'm not sure. I've attached three images trying to show the panel in question and am wondering if anyone can confirm or otherwise what it is and also where I can get one from - preferably second hand as I don't think VW stock them anywhere in the UK anymore and I'm pretty sure a new one would be a little bit too much money for me at the moment! The pictures are taken through the hole in the front panel (first picture shows the hole I mean) and are all looking towards the floor of the car, from the front of the car looking backwards. On the third photo you can clearly see the bottom of the new radiator fitted a couple of weeks ago... Hope this is all clear enough (I'm rubbish at explaining things)... hope someone can help. Cheers, Ian

I posted a thread a few weeks ago about my 1994 VR6's lumpy idle and tendency to overheat. I was losing a fair bit of water from the reservoir and the engine temp (taken from the gauge) was hitting 110 degrees plus in traffic. After I saw steam billowing from under the bonnet on a drive home from work, I quickly sussed that the radiator was knackered and hoped that's what all the fuss was about. So... new radiator installed... drive belt between fans refitted (I found it in the bottom of the engine bay, not connecting the two fans together where it should have been!)... new expansion bottle cap fitted (a blue one this time). Since all this (about 3 weeks ago) I haven't lost any water, but I'm a bit concerned about the engine temp. Out and about it reads a virtually constant 85 degrees, but once I get into traffic it very quickly gets up to just over 100 degrees (it doesn't get as hot as 110 since having the rad changed). The fans kick in for a minute or so to cool things down to about the 100 mark and do so every couple of minutes or so until I set off again where things quite quickly get back to sub-90 degrees. Can anyone say if this is normal, or does anyone think I've got other "issues" with my cooling system? I've had it VAG-COMmed (cheers reggit for all your help) and the only error flagged up was for the front left ABS sensor... Idle is still lumpy and I think its a bit down on power (it cut out at a pedestrian crossing a couple of weeks ago - engine temp less than 90). Plugs have been changed with the proper NGK ones and I've checked all the leads to make sure they're all connected properly - a couple of them "clicked" into place when I used the proper tool but it's not made any difference to the lumpyness... any thoughts anyone? Sorry for the mass of info. Hope someone can help. Cheers, Ian

might sound obvious... but what is the engine temperature showing when its errupting?

not exactly sure but will know more later on this afternoon

Just been to have a chat with my local friendly mechanic (we are on extremely good terms due to the fact that I'm an ex-FIAT owner!) and from the symptoms I have mentioned he thinks its definately a head gasket issue... I'll find out a bit later whether he's confident to do it and how much it will cost me, but he has indicated it could be £500, including a top-end rebuild as well if I want it... The car had one head gasket replaced by VW in 2001 (according to the receipts I got with it)... has anyone else had similar problems?

Right... things have changed somewhat since yesterday. First of all, there are now clouds of steam coming from the top of the radiator :( . The water temperature is up at 110 degrees almost all the time once I've driven for about 15 mintues or so. The oil temperature is a steady 112-114 degrees... the fan kicks in to try and sort things out. At this high temperature, power is down quite considerably. Am I just looking on the dark side but could I have cylinder head issues?

yeah... £500. Bought it off a director at work. I think he felt sorry for me as... and I have to admit this... I owned a FIAT. There... I've said it now. My rather-more-unreliable-than-usual FIAT needed to go and I made him an offer for his C... £500 later I've got a much more relaible and desirable car! He wanted it to go to a good home before he got his company car and here we are! :D

I get the feeling that you guys are trying to say GET IT CHECKED OUT FIRST!!!! :wink: I might have a look at the senser this evening for any obvious signs of damage etc... plus I may as well check the MAF as well... if I EVER get away from work that is!!! :x

Anyone know a (cheap) place in or around Manchester that I could take it to get checkeout with the VAG-Com? Must say I'm tempted to just go and buy a CPS anyway... I only paid £500 for the car so have a bit left over for a bit of trial-and-erroring... plus I'm a bit impatient!

Cheers for the speedy replies... I'll let you know how I get on. Ian

Is the sensor easy enough to replace?

Greetings all... I bought a '94 VR6 with 105,000 on the clock a couple of weeks ago off a guy at work. Its been well looked after, but its not been used very much over the past year or so (probably less than 60 miles a week). The only thing I've done so far is change the oil, air filter and plugs (NGK BKR5EKU ones - anyone around the Manchester area: Auto Discount in Atherton, £4.99 each!). The engine is a bit lumpy however. At idle it is fairly bad and acceleration up to about 3,500 seems a bit restricted (lost a battle with a single-exhausted 3-series at the weekend :oops: ) I'm thinking maybe I should replace the fuel filter? I'm running it at the moment on normal unleaded - should it be fed super unleaded? Will this make a difference? The lumpyness feels like its a fuel flow issue. At the weekend there was a bit of a smell of unburned petrol coming from the rear of the car - i suppose there could be a hole in the fuel line and its dragging air in? Anyone have any ideas? Cheers, Ian