help : V6 overheating
 

hi i have 75 v6 se everything was all working perfect then coming home from work the temp suddenly went to top and strted to overheat,i ask a mechanic and he said its not losing power ,heters ok and runs great can any one shed any lite please:bowdown:

Thread moved to technical help forum and title edited to reflect problem.

Oh ans d a wee bump too;)

Hi Tony, first thing to do is check to see if your fan works......start engine, press the demist button on the dash and get out of the car. Go around to the front, look through the grill and see if your fan is spinning.

Remove the engine cover and have a look in the centre of the engine for the plastic thermostat housing, it may be leaking.

Check your coolant level as well.

If it did it after a period of crawling in traffic or after rapid deceleration (for example coming off a motorway into a queue) then the most likely culprit is your fan, followed by your water pump. Test the fan as per the advice offered earlier. Dying water pumps often (but not always) leak onto the outside of the engine. Also allow the temperature to build a little and then see if adding a few revs makes it stabilise/reduce.

If the temperature has been getting a little higher than normal over a period of time then you've got a leak. As the others have said, take off the acoustic cover and have a look/sniff in the V for evidence of congealed coolant around the thermostat housing and solid pipes. Look for the tell-tale pink stains at the attachment points on your hoses too. And of course the good old water pump.

If it suddenly decided to spike after behaving itself before then you may well have an air lock. Has the system been drained and re-filled recently? Or have you done anything with the heater matrix?

The good news is that, with the exception of the water pump, everything is reasonably easy to fix. (And even the water pump isn't THAT hard if you've got the right kit).

See if Simon (SD1too) is floating around as he's normally pretty good at asking the right questions in overheat situations.

Thank you for your kind comment Russell.

I think Alan's on the button in post number 3:
Over to you Tony.

Simon

thk you all for replying the fan does come on just before it overheats,and stays on it can tick over for an hour no probs then 2 little revs it go to engine overheat but still drives perfect /??/?? if any ones near wolverhampton nd wants a cheep 04 v6 se let me know :shrug:

So are you saying if you press the demist button when the engine is cold the fan does not run - it only comes on immediately before it starts to overheat?

If so it sounds like you have the classic signs of the cooling fan silver resistor failure.

Dead easy fix - just swap it out with an upgraded gold one ;)

Have you lost any coolant? - Remember to check the level ONLY when the engine is cold!

If the fan is running when demist is active on the ATC and the engine is cold then this is mormal fan behaviour; as others have already said, I would check the thermostat - even if there is no leakage they are known to cause problems! ;)

:wot:

Tony; follow the instructions in post number 3. Note that the demist button must be pressed. Let us know the answer.

Alternatively, if you'd like expert practical assistance, can you get to one of Arctic's meetings held in your area?

Simon