Coolant level warning, temp gauge reading 120c!!!!

[Maz]

Morning all, I've had this issue with the car for the past week now and need some pointers as to what might be causing it.

All is well when the car is moving but once sat in a bit of traffic or at the lights the gauge starts rising rapidly hitting a worrying 120c.

In the past week I've had to pull over at least four times to let things cool down before moving on.

I've also noticed the fans are not coming on at all, somethings up but I don't have a clue. Any ideas?

 

[s3dave]

Check the fuses on top of the battery, pull them out and look for melting fuse holders...

 

[Maz]

lol, will do mate.

 

[colicabcadam]

exactly what s3 dave said, they melt and although the fuse does not blow, the melted plastic causes resitance

get some solvent on the contacts in the fuse box and some cotton buds before you put new fuses in.....

i had the exact same problem, AA man said the fuses were ok, after a new fan control module and various other attempts, i thought what the heck, i'll check the fuse, tada!

also, does your aircon come on? if it does, sadly it isn;t a fuse.

 

[Maz]

Will check in the next half hour and report back.

Thanks guys.

 

[aragorn]

If it happens again, crank the heater up to full hot and ramp the blower fan up to max to keep the engine temp under control (and open the windows so you dont melt), 120c is head warping territory, and shutting the engine off to let it cool down will cause the head temp to increase even further due to heat soak and no water flow.

Your engine requires the fan to work to keep it cool when stationary or moving slowly. The natural airflow thru the rad is non existant, so the temperature just climbs and climbs. As folk have mentioned, you need to get the fans working.

 

[Maz]

Top marks for the diagnosis peeps, as you can see the pesky fuse holder has melted.

I've also noticed some coolant leakage, above the fan and on a part (3rd pic) not sure what it is??

I've since cleaned the fuse holder area and replaced the fuse.

Checked Air con which works fine and left the car running for 10 mins to see if the temp gauge would rise and if the fans would kick in. Well the temp stayed dead on 90c but the fans didn't start at all so not sure where to go from here.

Thanks again guys, much appreciated!

 

[s3dave]

Did the fans come on with the aircon? if so it might be sufficient for the engine cooling, go for a drive then leave it ticking over without aircon and they should come on, keep an eye on the temp though.....

 

[Maz]

Yes, just checked and both fans are spinning with air con on:icon_thumright:.

I can't go for a drive right now but will do later this evening to carry out the ticking over without air con test. If the fans do come on after the test can I safely assume it's all sorted now and blame it on the melted fuse holder???

 

[s3dave]

Yep, just keep your eye on the fuse holder and ideally replace...

 

[colicabcadam]

ok - the gauge on the dash is crap, it stays at 90 even if the temp is between 80 and 110 i believe

get a digital reading by doing the following.......

with the aircon and climate control settings off - hold the recirc button and press the up arrow on the climate control, you'll notice a change on the display, now use the temp + button to go all the way up to 49, then press the recirc button again, the setting you now see is the temp of the engine temp sensor

let the car tick over, it should reach around 105 - 107 before the fans kicks in and it drops back down to 95ish

you may need a new coolant cap as the seal can get damaged due to the pressure at 120c, so in theory you loose pressure

 

[Maz]

The fans seems to be working as they should do having carried out the suggested tests and I haven't experienced any overheating since. I plan to get a new holder asap as well.

...you guys as well as other knowledgeable contributors are the reason why I just Lurve AS.net!!!