Overheating Issues

[MrsForby]

Ok, I searched, but the results didn't tell me anything new.

Zook: 85 Drover.

Went for a wheel on Saturday. My brother drove home (he luves the zook) and I noticed the temp gauge was up high.

I've had issues in the past with it sitting warm, but didn't have as many issues after I taped the resivoir lid on. (Need a new bottle)

So sunday the brother and I flushed out the radiator and found the thermostat had poo'd itself. Went and got another fitted it, flushed out the whole system, and put brand new coolant in.

Drove to work from mums yesterday, no problem. Drove along country roads (100km/h) and it got red hot again. Same thing happened this morning driving to work from Marks.

Now when I opened the bonnet this morning after getting to work, the engine bay itself wasn't putting off a great deal of heat, as it has done in the past.

I'm prolly gonna earn my noob status back with this, but what the hell is it...????

[moose]

wat time of morning ??
did you have your headlights on ?
might be electrical , rather than mechanical !!!

Mine shows hotter on the gauge with the lights on !!!
(slight earth prob , somewhere !!!)

[lay80n]

Did you flush the block as well as the radiator. Did much crap come out. Do you have your fan on when it gets hot. Mine was like mooses, but i fixed it (bad earth) . Check your radiator core when its at normal temp, are there cold spots on it indicating a blockage?

Layto....

[MrsForby]

wat time of morning ??

This morning my trip was between 7:40am-8:10am

did you have your headlights on ?

Last Night, yes. This morning, no.

might be electrical , rather than mechanical !!!

Mine shows hotter on the gauge with the lights on !!!
(slight earth prob , somewhere !!!)

I have not noticed any difference in lights on/off. However, my battery light flickers sometimes when changing gears, turning blinkers on/off. That has been happening since I got the Drook and I think it's the alternator...?

[MrsForby]

Did you flush the block as well as the radiator. Did much crap come out. Do you have your fan on when it gets hot. Mine was like mooses, but i fixed it (bad earth) . Check your radiator core when its at normal temp, are there cold spots on it indicating a blockage?

Layto....

Heaps of crap came out, and we flushed it until the water ran virtually clear.

Water pump is definitely working too.

I was once told putting your fan on helps draw the heat away from the engine....? But, No, no fan on at all these times. Vents are open, but no fan on.

[lay80n]

Did you flush the block as well as the radiator. Did much crap come out. Do you have your fan on when it gets hot. Mine was like mooses, but i fixed it (bad earth) . Check your radiator core when its at normal temp, are there cold spots on it indicating a blockage?

Layto....

Heaps of crap came out, and we flushed it until the water ran virtually clear.

Water pump is definitely working too.

I was once told putting your fan on helps draw the heat away from the engine....? But, No, no fan on at all these times. Vents are open, but no fan on.

Not putting fan on, putting heat on, as the heater in the car is virtually another small radiator under your dash that air is blown through to heat it.


Layto....

[rpm]

i had exactly the same problem... It was so frustrating, because no mater what i tried it didn't fix the overheating problem. I ended up getting my radiator checked by a professonial and they discovered that it was 90% blocked. They installed a new radiator + now she runs perfectly!!! i'm very happy with the result.

[Gwagensteve]

This is not a solution to the problem, but many 1.3's seem to loose their fan shroud over time.

This does make a big difference to the efficiency of the cooling system. MissForby, If yours doesn't have one, try and track one down via a wrecker or somone who has one laying around.

Also, 1.3 fans are notorious for spitting blades. Again, check that your fan is in good condition. (they have 5 blades and they are kinda wierdly spaced.)

Just some pointers.

My guess though is that the radiator is internally blocked with crud.

PS, you haven't been doing any mud have you? clearing mud out of the bottom 1/3 of the radiator is difficult to do. you should be able to see light through the radiator if it is clear.

Also, make sure your car is timed up properly. Incorrect ignition timing can make overheating worse.

Just some ideas.

Steve.

[MrsForby]

OK,

Drove from mums to Mark's last night, and then from Mark's to work this morning just like before, and it as actually running under normal.

Got no idea why, but it's all good now.

Thanks for the help!

[strafe]

We had overheating probs in our 95 EFI Vit over Easter in sand dunes in Cervantes WA (recently bought the car, this was the first real test).

A mechanic mate suggested to add a rocker switch in the dash and wire up the Aircon fan to it, so you could run the extra fan without the a/c on.

This was done upon returning from our trip, and seems to work great, especially when rock climbing and creeping around in low range. Of course, if you don't have A/C then this isn't much help :-)

[MART]

Your new thermostat might have stuck as you said there wasn't much heat in engine bay , but might have come good and now works fine , I always test thermostats in boiling water to see if they open correctly , Cheers Paul.