overheating - HELP??

[ickleric]

today my display came on and said COOLANT. when i checked the temp gauge it was to the max. I pulled over and checked the coolant and that was fine (to max). I couldn't see anything obvious wrong. Also not sure if this is related, but about a week ago the oil light came and to say MIN (which is was when i checked), so i topped it up with some oil, thats been fine since.

Any ideas???? Can't afford to take it to the garage at the minute.

Oh by the way its a 2001 1.8T (163bhp). I have also hooked up the vag-com, but no problems there, apart from my existing problem with the secondary air injection system (which i think i have found a split pipe for that).

 

[JamesS4cab]

Have you checked the colour of the coolant? If it is oily, that is where your oil has gone. Have you checked that there is not any milky stuff inside the oil filler cap that is usually indicative of a head gasket problem??

(Someone please correct me if any of the above dont apply to the A4/S4 as these were things to watch out for on my Boxster.....)

 

[ickleric]

the coolant is red, doesn't look like any oil has got in there. Also the oil cap seems fine, no milky stuff. Also the rad fan does kick in when it gets too hot, so thats seems to be working ok.

 

[arthurfuxake]

Water pump?

How many miles on the clock?
I take it that the cambelt was replaced at about 60k, was the water pump replaced at the same time? The 2001 A4's had a water pump fitted with a plastic impellor. The plastic would wear and become detached from the motor shaft, so the impellor would stop turning and hence stop pumping water around the engine.

 

[ickleric]

yeah just taken it to the garage for him to have a quick look, and he pretty sure its the water pump. So i have got it booked in a weeks time, said he'll also do the cambelt whilst hes doing it. He wasn't able to give me a price yet, but what sort of price should i expect to pay? (its NOT a dealer)

 

[arthurfuxake]

About £400

 

[AwesomeSarah]

Mmm
What happens is the water pump is plastic and part of the impella breaks off
That means when travelling at low speeds then the water pump can keep up , but if you do motorway speeds the water pump cannot keep up , so it can overheat as you are doing faster speeds
The cam belt has to come off to access the water pump , so it is worth doing at the same time
We do them for £295 + VAT and we include the uprated matel impella`d water pump at the same time , so make sure you get a price before he starts the job
Good luck
Sarah

 

[golf]

Same thing happened on mine, water pump disintegrated, car overheated when driving and fans would kick in constantly. Got mine replaced for the princely sum of £110 along with a cambelt change.

 

[AwesomeSarah]

That is a good price
The kits are usually approx that price + VAT and plus water pump
Sarah

 

[golf]

Well it was only the labour that was £110, I sourced the parts myself.

 

[AwesomeSarah]

Mmm still good price
Sarah

 

[ickleric]

just got the car back, cost me £388 for water pump, cambelt change all fitted. So not too bad, about what people advised.

 

[AwesomeSarah]

Just glad you managed to get it sorted without the major faults coming them
If an engine overheats too much , it can cause major problems
Nice one
Glad all is well now
Sarah

 

[ickleric]

yeah i was lucky, i was just a mile away from home when it started to overheat, so i left it to cool down then drove it home. Then didn't drive it till it was fixed, you can't risk driving when overheating as you say can cause major problems.