2002 75, 1.8 Non Turbo - Over Heating
 

Hi all,

Just looking for some guidance - I have a 2002 1.8 Non turbo Rover 75.

Since I bought it had somtimes got a little to hot for comfort. The first time I noticed it was a 80 mile drive - I noticed steam coming from the grille.

Firstly we found out that the fan had failed (was the 3 speed). This has now been replaced with the uprated one. (I have checked this is working on the High and Low speed)

Yesterday I went for a drive, ran out of screenwash so went to top it up - opened the bonnet and it was extremely hot, though the temperature gauge was only showing just below 90/ Half way.

I let the engine cool down for a good hour plus, and opened the coolant expansion tank - completely empty though I know it had coolant in before I set off.

The previous owner informs me the head gasket had been replaced with the uprated one (It’s currently on 77k Miles) and its got non of the typical indicators I.e oil cap etc.

Any pointers of what to check, and what to do would be highly appreciated

Hi, the inlet manifold gasket is a well known weak spot for leaking, as is the water pump & thermostat. Put some cardboard under the car overnight to see if you have a leak. Also, the temp gauge is useless, you need to use the obd to access the correct temp.:cool: If you need a hand, I'm just up the road;)

I’ll have a look at the places you mentioned shortly, thank you

The 1.8 engine bay is a warm place at any time. You can't really conclude too much from that. The only way to see if the engine's running too hot is to drive with the Diagnostic Screen on. This tells you how:

Diagnostic Mode (see section 7): https://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/for...ode+simplified

Or fit a proper gauge. Remember the 'normal' pointer on your dash gauge remains there from 75 - 115C. Not much help, eh.

TC

I understand it is a warm place, but what worries me is how it’s loosing water. I plugged my diagnostic tester in (as suggested above - couldn’t manage to get the grips of the on board one) and within around 3 - 4 mins of driving from ambient temperature it had reached 93 degrees.

Now, I may be wrong as I don’t know much about these engines but that seems quite abit of a temperature rise for such a short period of time? I didn’t want to take it much further because of the coolant loss issue.

They do warm up pretty quick, na 1.8's should run at 88-90 degs, rising in traffic to about 95. The fan should kick in at 104 iirc?

So it’s running temperature doesn’t seem too far out, just the loss f coolant I need to figure out now. There’s been no leaks as far as I can see on the driveway but I’ve put some cardboard down so I’ll be able to have a better look tomorrow.

If there’s no visible leaks what would be the next suggested step to take - you mentioned the inlet manifold, is this a easy job? I looked at the price of the gasket and they seem cheap as id expect for a gasket - I’m just thinking how long it would take an is there a way to check without taking it off, which would result in a new gasket anyhow?

Thanks once again

An hours job to remove the manifold and fit a new gasket.

May as well change it and rule it out before going any further.

Your jumping too fast - firstly any Mayo in the oil filler cap or on your dipstick -if not all maybe OK?

Secondly top up the coolant ( dont overfill the tank as it will cause cooolant to evacuate the expansion tank ) give her a good 10 mile thrash at 70 - park up and leave till next morning - open expansion tank cap and if silent all well and good - no exhaust gases in the coolant system - if a clear hiss of escaping gas then that points to exhaust gas in the coolant tank and therefore likely HGF - also when you open the tank see if you can smell exhaust gas in the tank.

If all OK - i would get her on a ramp in a garage to do a coolant pressure test - has saved me twice - could be a perished hose leaking or failing water pump or maybe also am IMG failure - but i would thought you would see this when running the negine for a good time on the drive and looking closely at the plastic inlet manifold .

My 1.8 non turbo had a new stat and temperature sensor fitted months ago, runs at a constant 96 degrees before thermostat opens, does not use any coolant at all and yet even when left overnight, there is always a hiss from header tank. My V6 does not hiss at all!
Perhaps this is just a difference between models?