Author Topic: Cooling Issues (Read 5362 times)

Mattg · « **on:** May 31, 2007, 07:23:53 pm »

I bought a 94 Golf with a 1.9L, jsut last week, It had been sitting for about 8 months.
The problem is it overheated and the fans didn't come on. So I replaced the thermostat. And it turned out that the 50amp fuse on the controler was blown.

I a have 2 questions:

1. what is the best way to get all the air out of the system? What I've been doing doesn't seem to be working. I filled the resivior with the rad hose off and then ran the car with out the cap on. The car would get hot and I did get a little heat but it never seemed like all the air got out of the system the coolant in the tank is keeps on bubbling. What am I doing wrong?

2. When I replaced the 50amp fuse in the fan control box the fans always stay on. I had to disconnect them, does this mean the fan control is toast?

burn_your_money · « **Reply #1 on:** May 31, 2007, 07:31:13 pm »

Quote from: "Mattg"

but it never seemed like all the air got out of the system the coolant in the tank is keeps on bubbling. What am I doing wrong?

Did it start bubbling right away? did it ever stop? You might need a new head gasket and maybe a head

Mattg · « **Reply #2 on:** June 01, 2007, 05:08:15 am »

I would stop for a bit, so I'd squeeze one of the hoses and a few more bubbles would happen, I just assumed that there was some air still in the system.

Also when the car was running (not pressurized) I took the upper hose off the block and no coolant came out. Is this typical or does this point to a bad water pump?

Mattg · « **Reply #3 on:** June 29, 2007, 09:28:10 pm »

Just to update,
I determined it was the head gasket, that was causing the car to over heat. After filling the car with coolant and letting it sit over night (after running the car) the resevior would be empty. There's not too many places for it to go and the floor was dry, so it was leaking into the engine some place.

So, I pulled the head and sure enough there was as little bit of coolant in a couple of the cylinders. The head was cracked between the vavle seats so off the the machine shop I went to get it pressure tested and checked for warping.

The good new it passed the leak test. The bad news it was warped and the top was twisted.

To repair the shop wanted to strip down the head heat it up and twist it back to straight and the mill the warp out and then rebuild the head. A cost of $500 plus parts. :shock:

My options :
New head from the VW Dealer $1580
Use from a wrecker $400 says it won't leak but won't warrantee for warping or cracking...( so at least another $80 pressure test and warp check)
Or a exchange Head for $565

Talk about a rock and a hard place.

After talking to a few people I decided to go for the exchange head, rebuilt, and straight.
Oh well I only paid $1600 for the car and it has only 170K KM.

burn_your_money · « **Reply #4 on:** June 30, 2007, 05:50:48 am »

Never trust a yard that says they won't gaurantee against warpage. I know a local place that doesn't and when they remove a head they use an impact and they definitly don't remove the bolts in the proper order.

I think you made the right choice, it has a gauranteed price (plus or minus) where as the other option could have quickly cost you just as much if not more

Trimster · « **Reply #5 on:** July 20, 2007, 07:09:48 am »

so being new to these little dieselers... I am wondering what is normal on coolant flow. With the cap off, I get surging coolant back into the res. from the top smaller hose that comes off the rad.

Yesterday a gallon of coolant steamed by the rad cap while driving around town and things got hot. When refilled, run the system in the driveway for an hour, idling, no problem. Turn the car off and there is a hiss of blow off at the rad cap for a while.

The car did get overheated a while back when a rad. hose split open. Since replacing all the hoses the system seems to be stable around town, but the temps climb while freeway cruzin. With the 100+ days we have had here in Salt Lake, it only make the problem worse.

What would my check list be to sort this out? I'll pull the breather hose and check that emission today. What else?

TIA

bob

burn_your_money · « **Reply #6 on:** July 20, 2007, 07:08:37 pm »

How old are your injectors? if they are bad they can really heat up the head.

Have you ever flushed the rad? How old is the t-stat?

Trimster · « **Reply #7 on:** July 20, 2007, 11:47:02 pm »

Just totally changed all rad. fluids with the new hoses. T-stat is 1 week old. Not sure about injectors... I have only had the car a few months. Rad is new within the last 8 months.

Today... 102 degrees air temp outside... and new overflow cap installed, all went well. Temp gauge was mid to upper 70% w/air on in traffic and freeway driving. No fluid loss. maybe the new cap I put on 2 weeks ago bit the big one. I did wrench hand it on tight and maybe trashed the seal in the cap.

The testing continues....

Bob