Intermittent Overheating Problem
Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2015 10:53 am
GRC seems to be suffering with an intermittent overheating problem. Sometimes she runs fine, sometimes she seems to overheat in an instant. I'm struggling to diagnose the problem.
The story so far ...
When I picked her a couple of weeks ago the fan belt gave way after 100 miles and she quickly overheated. The AA had a look, managed a temporary fan-belt fix and we drove a further 50 miles with the temp gauge happy at 85 deg C
After a few failed attempts I managed to source a new fan-belt on Tuesday. Took her out for a test drive after a quick top up of Bluecol coolant and everything was sweet for 15 miles. Drove her down to the garage (6 miles) that evening with no problems. Even with a quick blast up to 95mph (naughty, naughty!)
Picked her up on Wednesday evening after a service and she managed to overheat in the 6 miles back home.
Topped her up with fluid yesterday and drove her back to the garage this morning. No problem at all. But on the way back after a cooling down period she was on the verge of overheating after 6 miles.
I know the bearing in the water pump has gone and I've ordered a replacement from Sunbeam Spares. I will also replace all of the hoses.
The radiator looks relatively new, but I'm concerned that after a long period of inactivity, maybe it's not as good as it looks. I'm happy to replace the radiator if necessary. There are no obvious leaks from the radiator, but I'll have another look when it's cooled down.
I have a six-bladed metal fan and an electric pusher fan on a manual switch.
I'll post some photos of the set-up this evening.
Any advice would be welcome. If I need to completely re-do the cooling system, I'm happy to do so and would appreciate some guidance.
Thanks
Doug
The story so far ...
When I picked her a couple of weeks ago the fan belt gave way after 100 miles and she quickly overheated. The AA had a look, managed a temporary fan-belt fix and we drove a further 50 miles with the temp gauge happy at 85 deg C
After a few failed attempts I managed to source a new fan-belt on Tuesday. Took her out for a test drive after a quick top up of Bluecol coolant and everything was sweet for 15 miles. Drove her down to the garage (6 miles) that evening with no problems. Even with a quick blast up to 95mph (naughty, naughty!)
Picked her up on Wednesday evening after a service and she managed to overheat in the 6 miles back home.
Topped her up with fluid yesterday and drove her back to the garage this morning. No problem at all. But on the way back after a cooling down period she was on the verge of overheating after 6 miles.
I know the bearing in the water pump has gone and I've ordered a replacement from Sunbeam Spares. I will also replace all of the hoses.
The radiator looks relatively new, but I'm concerned that after a long period of inactivity, maybe it's not as good as it looks. I'm happy to replace the radiator if necessary. There are no obvious leaks from the radiator, but I'll have another look when it's cooled down.
I have a six-bladed metal fan and an electric pusher fan on a manual switch.
I'll post some photos of the set-up this evening.
Any advice would be welcome. If I need to completely re-do the cooling system, I'm happy to do so and would appreciate some guidance.
Thanks
Doug