Temp Issues Water and Oil 2.0-9a-16v Looks like rad

[vwdeviant 0]

Hi all,

 

Am completely mystified by this one.

 

Had a split Rad top hose yesterday afternoon so as an emergancy repair (happened at 5pm) I've used a cut-down mk2 golf 8v hose.

 

Problem I now have is that on the way home (70 miles) I've filled it with over 6 litres of aditional water after being filled (including that lost when letting the car warm and trying to clear the airlock by letting the expansion take "Volcano") and water tepms pegged at 110 (sat at 90 before) and oil temps seems to be 126-8 (before 118-122 were normal).

 

The aformentioned airlock (Cold heater matrix) seemed to be sorted by driving it back on the motorway, however I did also see a spike on oil temp of 140! :shock: but was in roadworks traffic and couldn't pull over, it dropped like this once rolling agian: 140-136-132-130-128 (was only at 140 for maybe 30 secs). I'm hoping that was the airlock from the matrix making its way through the oil cooler... :shrug:

 

So I'm confused as to whats going on... Mariojosh was a complete star last night spending 3 hrs head scratching over apparently dissapearing water as the thing took 4l just stood with out brewing over the expansion tank after a 30 miles trip. You're owed several beers sir.

 

There's no obvious leaks and no white smoke/mayo so I'm mystified...

 

Am I going to have to go through the same routine again when I replace the top hose for the right one?

 

What could cause the temps to suddenly decide to be a good 20 up (water) and 8-10 up (oil)??? More to the point I'm worried that when I hit traffic again (Live in London so ineviatble) I'll spike the oil temp again! :(

 

Help! I need to have this running properly and problem free for tonight as I'm supposed to pick she who must be obeyed yup from the airport....

 

So if anyone near E5 (city Aiport) has either some tinkering time or a 16v rad hose, I'd appreciate it by walking to the local supermarket and getting beers!

[vwdeviant 0]

EDIT Just put ANOTHER litre of water in it??? :scratch:

[davidwort 0]

you must be loosing it somewhere,

it's either going into the cylinders (via headgasket problem) and out of the exhaust (white smoke)

or into the oil, headgasket or oil cooler

or leaking from the rad, a hose or the expansion tank

 

does it warm up from cold correctly, i.e. 10 mins of idling then the stat opens and the bottom water hose to the rad gets hot?

if not the stat could be jammed shut, it's could be the stat or the rad fan/rad fan switch on the rad that is causing over heating, if it heats up in traffic it's usually the fan and/or the fan switch.

[vwdeviant 0]

Hi Dave,

 

No Mayo or white smoke (Josh followed me yesterday to check).

 

No obvious, leaks either, ran car last night with card under it and came out dry!

 

Fan comes on ok too just the spike on the oil temp... Water temp sits at 110 rather than the 90 it did before...

 

Have topped up again, ran without cap till the water came up (heater cold agan today?), switched off, cap on. Letting it cool and will top up and give it a run... see if that helps.

 

Followed the usual when I replaced top hose, filled slowly from expansion tank, ran up to temp, let ot cool a bit, added water, gave it a run (20miles) and then cooled/topped again and ran up with no cap till bubbled up. Switched off, cap on cooled topped off....

 

Guess if this run doesn't sort it then book it in somewhere local and get water tested for exhaust gas and pressure test system?

[vwdeviant 0]

Good news! Just back from a run and am sweating! So the heaters work and seems to sit at 90 again! :clap:

[mariojoshi 1]

Fookin crazy.

 

I still can't work out where all that water went last night! No steam, no leaks... etc!

 

Ah well, here's hoping it's sorted for the mo. Your theory on the oil temp spike could make sense, but I'm not really sure how the oil coolers work on these engines so can't really qualify it.

 

I'd be inclinded to have her pressure tested though, just in case. Such an easy and cheap job that maybe it's worth it just for peace of mine?

[vwdeviant 0]

Found a local VAG place so will call them tomorrow and see what they can do re exhuast gas and pressure testing...

 

Just need to keep a real close eye on the water level, get a new top hose and expasion bottle/cap as you can't see the level in mine...

[vwdeviant 0]

UPDATE... Looks like the Rad has 2 pinholes as there's two white patches on the rear of the rad behind the fan... Bugger...

 

So next Q

 

What's involved in removal & replacement of a rad?

[davidwort 0]

drain water from bottom hose

remove plastic top cover

remove fan and cowling (4 bolts)

undo 2 mounting bolts/brakets from the top of the slam panel

remove front grille and undo the 4 bolts/screws that connect the rad to the side air deflectors (couple are a pain to reach)

lift rad out

you could probably remove the rad with the side pieces connected but there's a couple of self tapping screws and metal tab clip things holding the bottom of each down to the front cross member

 

 

put new rad in, connect everything back up

refill very slowly from header tank etc..

[vwdeviant 0]

Cheers Dave...

 

So which rads to avoid/ Get??

[davidwort 0]

I'd suggest steering clear of the GSF ones, they're adequate but not as efficient or well made as the Denso-Marsden ones VW supply,

ECP may well supply an equivalent to the VW one, not actually seen one but they at least stock a 16v specific part unlike GSF,

expect to pay around 50 quid for a cheap pattern one (like GSF's) 70-90 quid for a ECP or other factors 16v pattern part and about 120 for a genuine VW one. You might want to get a couple of the rubber o ring mounts that press on the bottom of the rad (x2) the old ones are probably split and perished and only a few pence from VW.

 

my GSF/VW rad comparison

[boost monkey 0]

Ditto avoid GSF rads. IMHO second hand gen from ebay or a forum :salute: