Another Overheating Thread,White Mayo!!

jags53 · Post by **jags53** » Fri May 27, 2005 1:45 pm

hi

so driving along and temp light comes on and temp gauge all the way to the right,and steam coming up from bonnet.

quickly go it to my house and checked,the coolant was completly empty,although it was defiantly half full this morning,and i found a few dops of some white substance dropped down below the coolant tank.
after doing a search i found this is not a good thing as i think my head gasket is blown?

i put some coolant/water in the tank again,started it up,no overheating light but needle straight upto 90,and it took in all the coolant i just pored in? and was again completly empty.

i checked my oil dipstick as i have no clue what else to check and that seems fine,is the next bet to take the engine oil cap off?but that is still v.hot.

any ideas folks?

also forgot to add that i just only replaced the thermo stat last summer,as i was having problems with that also,do i doubt it couldbe that,plus i think but im not sure,that my fan came on at one point cos i heard it,but im not sure:(

Edit:
ok so i took the oil cap off the engine,i thought it would be a hole there but wasnt,and it all was brown/black,no white creamy stuff there,nor can i see any cream stuff near the coolant tank or hoses,just a few drops right to the back bottom theres a little bit there.but no signs of it anywhere else.
but my h/g can still be gone right?i did notice low idling and slight loss of power,but not alot.

david burton · Post by **david burton** » Sat May 28, 2005 10:52 am

so all your coolant just disappeared then?!

it could just be a simple leak somewhere = have a darn good look around. If the car isn't losing water from anywhere then it has to be the head gasket.

if you look at the oil dipstick - you can easily see water on it - it looks emulsified and separated into globules.....

perhaps the radiator is slowly leaking??

jags53 · Post by **jags53** » Sat May 28, 2005 4:42 pm

i put some more in there this morning,and the coolant stays in there,i reved it abit to get the temp up,light started flashing then the coolant disappeared.

i touched the two hoses the top one was hot,and the bottom one was alot cooler.

checked the pipes/hoses no signs of any leaks altho quite hard to tell.
cant see no leakage/spillage on the floor either

i cant see no signs of water in the oil,or oil in the water,all looks normal.

david burton · Post by **david burton** » Mon May 30, 2005 10:19 am

anyone know if the heater unit is on the same water supply as the rest of the system? or how it works

I wonder if the water is being leaked somewhere inside your car...... where you can't see......

jags53 · Post by **jags53** » Mon May 30, 2005 4:38 pm

yea io was wondering the same.
heres me hoping it aint me head gasket

jags53 · Post by **jags53** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 10:00 pm

ok guys thought id bump this as theres been new developments

so i changed the thermostat about 4 weeks ago,and flushed the system and topped up with coolant,it was running fine,however i did find that my coolant level was slowly going down day by day.

so today,the car overheats 110+ and the warning light comes on,coolant overspray etc.
i checked oil etc fine,kind rac man,checked everything,and he suspected thermostat,as lower hose was cold,etc,so he checked it,and the thermostat seemed fine,but he said it maybe stuck closed.then topped it up with water reved it and both hoses and radiator was hot.

then he got some pressure device stuck it on the resevoir,and he spotted a leak,just under the cambelt,he suspected the water pump

my question is,is the thermo,waterpump cooling system all linked,would a leaking water pump cause whats happend to my car?and what would happen if i continued to drive with the existing pump,how much roughly am i looking for a replacement water pump + fitting?

david burton · Post by **david burton** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 10:12 pm

i think the water pump and cam belt tensioner are all in the same unit - they are on most older cars

so it's pretty bad to run with a dodgy waterpump! anyone ?

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 12:37 am

thats a big YES YES YES -------- or possibly a NO NO NO dont drive it!

bad waterpump = crap movement of coolant = engine overheats, warps etc. not to mention it may seize and take the cambelt with it.

jags53 · Post by **jags53** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 9:05 am

ok,cheers guys
getting the waterpump and camblet changed,costing me Â£180

im starting to think these polos aint as reliable as i first thought,had nothing but problems since day one,time to get rid i think.

jags53 · Post by **jags53** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 12:12 pm

ok its still overheating

the garaged phoned me up and said its still having overheating problems
have changed the waterpump,thermostat,camblet and fanswitch,he said that the timing belt was alittle bit out and he was gonna sort that,but he wasnt sure thats was causing it to overheat.

if the waterpump,thermostat,and fanswitch has been changed,what else can be causing it to overheat? any ideas?

minis84 · Post by **minis84** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 1:09 pm

what sort of coolant have you been using?

I know that the MkIII has to have the special G11/G12 coolant, wondering if just using standard antifreeze/water mix will damage anything internally? Just a thought, I might be wrong there though.

Also, if its down on power and overheating I wonder if the ignition timing is retarded too far? If the mechanic said the timing belt was out then it could well be that its retarding the timing, causing it to run hot. Again though, I might be wrong, not sure if the MkIV has ecu variable timing or not.

Just some more ideas to chuck into the fray!

jags53 · Post by **jags53** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 1:51 pm

cheers for the reply appreciate your advice.

not sure what coolant the mechanic is using if any,but i doubt he drove it around without any in there right?

he said he was gona fit the timing belt,as he had to get the timing marks done,as it wasnt matching up??

also when the coolant boiled over,could there be airlock,or the system may have to be flushed?

but the guy said,it drives ok,temp stays at 90 for awhile and suddenly the temp rises 100+ to 110 out of the blue, which is what happened to me also.

david burton · Post by **david burton** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 1:56 pm

sudden temp rise sounds like air in the system. I'd flush it if I were you.

don't get rid - remember you've just got everything done! that's the worst time to sell....

jags53 · Post by **jags53** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:46 pm

ok matey cheers
yea i think ill hold onto it abit longer

hopefully it is just air,the stupid mechanic cant get the timing belt back on,hes having major difilculty.hopefuly he gets that done,and can see why its overheating

jags53 · Post by **jags53** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 6:18 pm

update
ok its a suspected blown head.

flushed system,checked blocked radiator,and changed all the above.
he done a compression test,that went all good,but he still suspects a cracked head,as he has tried everything else,including a new thermostat housing.

he said he drove it for about 10miles without a problem,but then suddenly,the tmp went upto 110c.

so i told him to leave it for the time being,and the car is currently off the road
im all out of ideas,and im not goin to spend/pay for a suspected head,when it may not even be that,i got uni fees coming up

sad day,i think its the end of the polo.