VR6 Cooling questions (Major Breakthrough - Last Page )

[Goldie 2]

why do you keep changing the stat

 

My original was replaced when fixing a leak, the replacement made the car run hot (100 degrees), its replacement made the car run cold (70 degrees). So today the original went back in and now im running at about 97ish degrees on the motorway..

 

if the bootom hose gets hot its working,

 

the bottom hoes is indeed hot..

 

Maybe your radiator is knackered?

 

I was beginning to wonder that but as it ran at 70 degrees all the way from Pompey to durham it suggests the rad is ok..

[nickeboy 0]

it sounds like you have changed a lot of bits, i would really try the water pump it sounds very possible,

 

were they standard stats you fitted you can get ones that open earlier which make it run cooler, not that its your prob im sure,

 

is it ok on the motorway, or is it just in trafic?

 

change the pump, let me know,

[gogsboy 0]

Goldie, I was advised to try the R32 one, now I dont know the ins and out but maybe worth a bash.

 

I have one and new housing but need to get someone to fit it all up and not happy moving the car after it lost most of the expansion tank water and the cap self destructed.

[Goldie 2]

I was advised to try the R32 one

 

What temop is stamped on the R32 stat?DOes it fit ion the standard housing?

 

Where abouts are you gogsboy??

[gogsboy 0]

The stat is 80 degrees and I was told a vr6 one was 87ish..is that correct?

 

The advice was from Storm and they said it would be fine.

 

I have the end part of the housing here and the R32 stat and it fits into that ok..well assuming its ok but I have no experience in seeing what is right or wrong in this depot.

 

I'm in Aberdeen mate

[dr_mat 0]

I think a VR6 stat is supposed to be 80 degrees too ..

[gogsboy 0]

I think a VR6 stat is supposed to be 80 degrees too ..

 

I ran a search on the fourm and was one thread where someone said it was 80 and someone else said they thought it was 90 or thereabouts.

 

I'm none the wiser just called up the place for the 70 stat after reading about it on here and with my problems of trying to trace a leak the guy said go with the R32 as will be better but not hide the problem.

[nickeboy 0]

just one thing i have not see on the list, have you had a look at the temp sender on the stat housing black coloured one i think? there are three in all,

 

nick

[trudubrstu 0]

this just gets better...mine was in for m.o.t/service on friday (passed mot with flying colours :D ) and mech was having a look at cooling system while it was in - symptoms were: warmed to 100-102 degrees in around 5-10 minutes and only emergency fan seemed to come on at 110 degrees when stuck in heavy traffic....

 

.....mechanic left it running for 30 minutes - fan came in at 90 degrees (i thought it didn't work - it does!) and temp appears same on dash, and it's had it's system flushed and fresh g12+ added......

 

.....so i said to my mechanic " i was convinced the thermostat was shagged" - "not so" said he, "nothing wrong with it, fans come on when they should and temp is o.k."

 

now i'm really confused - used this guy for years and he knows vw's well! car warms to 100 now, where it sits and never really moves - oil is at 100-110 when pushed hard...is this really to high?! handbook says when car is warm the dash guage should show 90/90+ under normal driving conditions.....i've known my mech 15 yrs and his attention to detail is great - if he thought something was wrong he would have changed the stat for the low temp one i supplied :roll:

 

another thing to add is the car has never felt "flustered" and the temp needle has never gone above 110 in the 6 months i've owned car

[Goldie 2]

Your oil temps seem ok to me trudubrstu, so what temp is your water at when your doing 70mph on the motorway??

 

gogsboy, shame you are so far away as id have helped put the stat in and worked out if it would help mine. The VR stat is stamped at 80 degrees and it should run at 90 degrees when the car is mving, if stationary then the fan should kick in about 94 and bring the temp back to 90, there should the be a further fan at just over 100 degrees and an emergency at 112..

 

That is my understanding anyway...

 

So what i need to know is what temp is everyones VR running at when driving at 70mph...

[nickeboy 0]

for the record, since changing my main waterpump it runs at around 80 at 70 on the motorway, 90 if i thrash it! again 80 in town 90 in traffic, and that about it 1&2 fans cut in as and when, i have never heard stage 3 apart from when the conector fell off the fan and i pluged it in again,

 

nick

[trudubrstu 0]

hmmmm.....i'm hearing more and more about the waterpump been worn coming into the equation here.....funnily, my car came with a new spare vag pump....not fitted yet; next target...

 

GOLDIE - my water temp is always a steady 100-102 on the dash at 70+mph - never,never moves unless in heavy traffic when it hits 110 and you hear the twin fans- and the other fan settings def work i'm told...

 

still running with the 'stat the car came with - unsure of age, but am told is fine; have a spare o.e stat that reads 82 deg and a low temp neuspeed that reads 71 that could be fitted

 

car loses no coolant, has no overheating issues - mechanic said temp switch replaced recently, and no need for new o.e. i supplied (or any of the other parts - got all you'd need) - all electrics o.k. as well

 

i'm booking in for the waterpump change and more investigation, i'm not happy with it reading this high that's for sure - dare not drive a long distance just in case :roll:

 

great info by the way!

[Goldie 2]

trudubrstu, yours sounds exactly the same as mine..

 

Incidently if i trhrash mine on the motorway it goes down to 90 degrees with the increased air flow....

[Goldie 2]

Having ahed a recommendation on changing my pump i had a look at it today..

 

I disconnected the narrow return line that goes to the expansion bottle and watched what hapenned.

 

At idle there is no flow but when revved there is a flow, i wouldnt call it high pressure but a steady flow. Does this match with anyone elses car??

 

Appreciate it if some one could have a look at theirs - just to confirm my Pp is ok...

[JIMMI 0]

Sounds about right mate tbh, id guess the pressure when revving is about the same as that of a 2 pint pi$$, which isnt as bad as say a 5 pint pi$$ if you know what i mean.

Ive got a water pump here if you wanna put it in tommorow when your here mate, its a bit of a job but im sure you can do it with some guidance from myself !

 

Jimmi...................

[Goldie 2]

Might be worth a shout, ill let you have a look at the flow tomorrow and see what you reckon...

[chrishill 0]

Incidently if i trhrash mine on the motorway it goes down to 90 degrees with the increased air flow....

 

totally unrelated and OT but I once saw 150deg on the a1 while trying to keep up with two of the local supercharged-VR6 contingent!

[Goldie 2]

Right, a major development at last..

 

Having read through an old CCGB Sprinter magazine i came across a how do on changing the Water Pump. I read the article and towards the end it mentioned details of mixing the coolant correctly as running it to pure, ie too much G12 will cause it to run hot as antifreeze has a different heat transfer rate to water....

 

So thismorning i syphoned all the coolant out and started again at a much less antifreeze to water ratio and bobs your uncle it runs at 90 degrees at last. Below 30mph it did creep up to 34 or so but that is expected and that is when the fan should, and will kick in...

 

So a huge thankyou to Chris Gaskell the CCGB technical Guru for writing the article and thanks goodness ive gotten somewhere at last....

 

Moral of the story then, for protection down to -20 degrees you only need 2 litres of g12 in the system otherwise it will run between 5 to 10 degrees hotter depending on how much you have added...

[CrazyDave 0]

You see, Paul (the new CCGB chairman) is not as sad after all, reading his old Sprinters!

 

Good info, especially as I'm about to fill my C with G12.

[CazzaVR 0]

Glad it's finally sorted, Michael. I'm replacing coolant, stat etc this week, so that's good to know.

[trudubrstu 0]

if i ever meet chris or goldie - pints are on me

 

nice one fella's - know what i'm doing this weekend! :D

[Goldie 2]

Well at last i have a fully functioning fan!!!!!!

 

Tested mine in comparison to Jimmis redundant one and simply two of the speeds on mine were dead....

 

Now the car runs between 90 and 95 depending on the speed and i get speed 1 fan at about 98, i know the other two work but it hasnt felt the need to kick them in yet..

 

I may try and dilute my coolant a little more to see if that drops the temp a little further but i reckon im a hell of a lot further forward than i was and can drive without worrying that im gonna cook the car...

 

The only thing that has gotten hot to day is me as im sunburnt and will look like a lobster tomorrow - nice one!!!

 

A huge thankyou to Jimmi for his help and guidance through this trauma...

 

I wonder how long before something else goes wrong...

[sane 0]

Hi Goldie

 

Been following the thread, you must be an expert on VR temps by now.

 

Im having similar problems with my VR. Reading on the dash says 110 and no fans cutting in. Droped it to my local garage where they tested it and said everything was fine!!! and that when its reading 110 on dash the actuall water temp in the engine bay is about 95, so the dash guage is way out!

What I found strange was they said it only had one fan speed!, I said are you sure but they said yes! They said maybe with AC on the car that there would be a low draw on the fan when its needed with the AC on. At the mo the AC is empty so cant test this as the dash has to come out to replace blown matrix.

Is it possible to have one fan speed or perhaps its fan on at 95c (dash reads 110c) then if it reached 110c (dash reads 125c) then fan on even stroger, dunno but does AC change the setup in any way?.

I crossed the terminals (outside ones) on the tswitch connector and the fan worked at high speed, but just this speed only, crossing middle and outside terminal just gets the water flow pump wheezing.

Have you and others had such out of synch dash temps? and where can I get a replacement if it cant be fixed?

 

All the best

 

Daniel

[Goldie 2]

Thats a huge gauge error, may be worth changing the temp reader thats situated in the thermostat housing. Mine has AC aswell and has no effect on the system

 

You are correct first fan should be at 95 degrees, another at 105 and the last (emergency) at 112. The fan speeds are different, ie speed 1 is a gentle and speed 3 sucks pedestrians from the pavement...

 

To test your fan itself (to make sure itll do all 3):

 

Run a 12 volts supply (from a spare car battery or the one in the car) to the pins on teh back of the motor. There are 4 in total, the left is the earth and the others are the three speeds, the fan should kick in on those 3 pins.

 

I havent brideged my thermoswitch since it has been repaired but id imagine 2 speeds should be available, i dont think speed 3 comes from that sensor though..

[sane 0]

Thanks Goldie,

 

Will check temp sensors in t-housing and fan motor connector for 3 fan stages.

Crossing the thermoswitch only got one fan speed though!

 

Ill keep testing.