Corsa 1.5 Diesel overheating

Yorky1

PsiDOC wrote: »

Radiator is blocked. It's a common problem on the corsas with the Isuzu diesel.
Run the car up to temperature and then feel the rad fins from top to bottom. I can guarantee the bottom will be cool.

Psi

Thanks.

The whole radiator was cool even though it was showing 95 degrees and there was a warm 'smell' from the engine!

Do you still think it is definitely a congested radiator?

Thanks again

PsiDOC

Possibly but that would mean some serious blockages. I'd expect the radiator to have gone cold towards the bottom as the muck usually collects there and blocks. However as a last check run it up to temp again and feel if the top radiator hose is hot.If it is then change the rad. If it's not look at the thermostat.

Psi

Rolandtheroadie

I had an old v8 rangie that blew a head gasket due to a blocked radiator. The firm radiator hose was a symptom as was the hot and cold radiator.
If it's a common fault, sounds likely.

Yorky1

Thanks for your replies again.

I decided to flush the radiator today and followed the Haynes manual instructions: drain the system via the bottom radiator hose and remove the thermostat. ( By the way, the capacity of the car is 6 litres but only 4.5 -5 litres drained out as I didn't know where the cylinder block drain plus was so it wasn't fully drained.)

When drained, I connected the garden hosepipe to the lower radiator hose, as directed, and turned the tap on. The water just backflowed with no water coming out of bottom radiator outlet. I then tried connecting the hosepipe to the top radiator pipe and blocked the expansion tank vent hose and the water ran out of the bottom radiator outlet. The water running out was clear with no sign of rust or deposits.

So the water is not making it through the engine from the lower hose but will flow through the radiator from the top hose. Why might this be?

I saved the coolant and reused it - it took the same amount to refill it so there must have been no deposits removed. It has a self-venting cooling system according to the manual so it didn't need manually bleeding.

I left the car idling for about 20 minutes and the temperature crept up to above 90 degrees. The top rad. hose felt quite hard and then released when the expansion tank cap was removed. Coolant did not overflow but then it wasn't that hot as I hadn't driven it.

Is this a sign that the head gasket may be going?

I know the car is old but it's a Japanese diesel and has only done 163k miles.

Could you offer any more advice?

Thanks again

nmonline

Sounds much more like H.G. to me - especially if it's worse at speed which sounds like it's pressurising. You need to get somebody to check this ASAP. The problem with Head Gasket Failure is it doesn't necessarily show itself with creamy gunk. What yours sounds like is exhaust gas escaping into the coolant. This is why it's worse when underload, and you get sudden changes in temp as pockets of hot gas pass the temp. sensor. Hope I'm wrong, and best of luck.

optimus_primera

Remove the rad from the car, then lie it down and reverse flush then.
Even use some duct tape to seal the hosepipe into the rad outlet to force more water through if you need to.

Have you tried running with the thermostat removed?