P Reg Vauxhall Corsa overheating intermittently - ideas?

Maz

Hello everyone, if anyone can help or give me some pointers about this it'd be very much appreciated.

I have a P reg Vauxhall Corsa which has been a brilliant car (up to now!)

What has been happening is, when I've left the car idling, the dial indicates that the engine is overheating. There are no warning lights coming on for water etc but the temperature gauge shows that I am nudging 'red'.

This seems to happen mostly when the car is idling but I had to drive to see a new client last week, over 50 miles and it happened when I was nearing my destination. The chap I had an appointment with, opened the bonnet and topped up the 'coolant' vessel with plain water.

This seemed to do the trick until I was about 10 miles from home and held up in a traffic backlog exiting the motorway and I noticed the finger on the dial hovering near the red again. I knew a short cut and once the car was on its way again, everything seemed ok and the dial registered as normal.

I'm pretty useless with anything mechanical (obviously) so any suggestions would be great! If there's anything I can do myself and avoid high garage costs - please tell me!

Thanks in advance. :beer:

harveybobbles

You wil find that any Vauxhall around that age will get close, if not into the red on the dial when sat in traffic on hot/warm days.

A P reg Astra of mine used to do it years ago. The cooling fan on them cutrs it at something like 95 degrees, which is just daft!

Monitor the water level though, cos if it drops again you know there is a problem somewhere. Probably the water pump as they were a weak spot.

Flying-High_2

Like above above the fan cuts in at silly Temps.. Too hot IMO and you can apparently get a fan switch that cuts in earlier thus keeping coolant cooler but I've not yet got round to it.... Likewise a thermostat that opens cooler is available.

Keep on eye on it using water.

Maz

Thanks for your input and I guess the message is, keep an eye on the gauge and top up the coolant with water when necessary?

Sorry to be so thick but it's been a smashing little car and, to be honest, I can't afford to replace an engine or anything half as drastic. I bought her 5 years ago for £1k and haven't had any worries up until now. Hope she's going to go on for a good few years yet!

harveybobbles

Yeah the older cars are so much easier to work on and live with.

By your own admission, you say you're pretty useless with anything mechanical - so when was the water level last checked? It might have been low for some time and you've never noticed it. So it could be nothing to worry about.

Maz

harveybobbles wrote: »

Yeah the older cars are so much easier to work on and live with.

By your own admission, you say you're pretty useless with anything mechanical - so when was the water level last checked? It might have been low for some time and you've never noticed it. So it could be nothing to worry about.

That's why I went for an older car, no electrics/computerised bits requiring expensive 'diaganostics' to worry about.

Honestly don't know when the water levels were last checked, I've never had it serviced. Ashamed, that's me!

asbokid

the thermostat might be sticking. it's a pretty common fault. cost to replace.. about £2.

bartman

In my experience when the thermostat fails it sticks open, so if anything the engine runs cool.
I can't see that you've mentioned whether the electric fan cuts in at all when the engine gets hot - if you're sitting in traffic you can hear it when it comes on (as long as the radio isn't on too loud!). If it's not starting at all, there's a sensor which can easily be replaced, it doesn't cost much and if you had to pay a garage to do it the labour charge should be minimal.

If it is a problem with the thermostat, that's likely to be a bigger problem; I don't know if they all have the same design, but certainly on my wife's Corsa there's a lot of dismantling involved to get to it and replace it.

asbokid

bartman wrote: »

In my experience when the thermostat fails it sticks open, so if anything the engine runs cool.

my experience has been the opposite! the thermostat gets stuck closed or cannot open sufficiently. the coolant cannot flow around the radiator, and the engine overheats. Or it could be a blocked radiator that needs a flush, or it could just be a leaking radiator cap.

bartman wrote: »

If it is a problem with the thermostat, that's likely to be a bigger problem; I don't know if they all have the same design, but certainly on my wife's Corsa there's a lot of dismantling involved to get to it and replace it.

I found that difficult to believe. i grumbled about having to remove the airbox to do the stat on a mazda.. but just googled and hit a post about faulty Vauxhall stat on honestjohn... bwhahaha!

If you're going to change the thermostat you should gear up for a major job (straight forward, but long winded) - a day's work for an amateur;
1. Remove air filter box (for access).
2. Remove drive belt, may well run round an engine mount, just secure out of the way unless it's worn.
3. Remove outer timing belt cover.
4. Set engine to TDC.
5. Remove crankshaft pulley.
6. Drain cooling system, remove timing belt, water pump and tensioner.
7. Remove camshaft cover and then remove camshaft pulley.
8. Remove rear timing belt cover.
9. Remove two thermostat housing bolts (finally!)
10. Flush cooling system and radiator with a hose (you may as well if you've got this far!).
11. Fit new thermostat with new seal.
12. Refit rear timing cover.
13. Refit camshaft pulley (following correct torque setting from Haynes).
14. Fit new water pump + seal and tensioner (if you've gone to all this trouble these components should be renewed).
15. Fit new timing belt checking TDC and tension as described in Haynes (you'll need a special spanner to rotate the water pump - saw one on eBay the other day for £3).
16. Refit outer timing belt cover.
17. Refit crankshaft pulley using a new bolt to torque/angle setting as in Haynes.
18. Refill cooling system with new coolant.
19. Refit air filter, etc.
20. Congratulate yourself on a hard day?s work and a large bill saved (which may well write the car off if it's a few years old.

timing belt and water pump off to change the stat?! !!!!!!?! hehe! general motors should stick to what they do best.. selling dodgy car loans!

bartman

asbokid wrote: »

my experience has been the opposite! the thermostat gets stuck closed or cannot open sufficiently. the coolant cannot flow around the radiator, and the engine overheats. Or it could be a blocked radiator that needs a flush, or it could just be a leaking radiator cap.



I found that difficult to believe. i grumbled about having to remove the airbox to do the stat on a mazda.. but just googled and hit a post about faulty Vauxhall stat on honestjohn... bwhahaha!

timing belt and water pump off to change the stat?! !!!!!!?! hehe! general motors should stick to what they do best.. selling dodgy car loans!

Yep, been there, done all that!
Still reckon it's the water temp sensor for the fan on the OP's car though!

Hammyman

When was the last time you bothered checking the oil? Low oil levels can result in coolant loss.