UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

I have a 1.0 AER 6n and recently it ran very low on oil and overheated, i managed to pull over and let it cool before i caused any real damage! I topped it up with oil and topped up the cooling system which was low as it was boiling off. Now it overheats after a couple of miles and i cant think why. I have been advised it could be an airlock in the system, a water pump, the thermostat or worst case scenario the head gasket although i only replaced that about 8 months ago. ALSO THE HEATING DOESNT COME THROUGH HOT WHEN THE CAR IS TO TEMPERATURE AND IM NOT SURE IF THE FAN IS ENGAGING, THERE IS NO WATER MIXED WITH OIL THAT I CAN SEE (would this mean the thermo is not telling the fan to turn on?).......The water level rises in the water bottle too, i top it up to just below max and when ive ran it for a while the water level rises past max.....

So What i need to know is....
-Are there bleed valves on this cooling system to release trapped air?
-Where and how do i remove the thermostat to see if it is working? Is it near the water pump?
-How can i test the headgasket if the thermo is working?

Thankyou very much for your time, i am ever grateful.

Ashley Smith

o i have tried unplugging the temperature sensor on the radiator which turns the fan on but even with the fan on the car still tends to overheat, i have been shown ehre the thermostat is and how to remove it i am going to try that today as it is relatively easy to do, am i right in saying if you drop it into boiling water you should see the valve open?? thanks alot

If you want to bleed the system just open the coolant tank, run the engine, and squeeze all the coolant pipes. You'll notice the coolant in the tank bubbles a little bit. Do this til the engine heats up, then run the heaters on full whack and do the same.

If your heaters aren't working and the engine's overheating however, it sounds like the thermostat is stuck closed. If you get me a picture of a 6N engine bay I could tell you where the thermo is, on the 6N2 it's located on the right side of the engine, with various coolant pipes leading up to it. You find the temperature sender here also.

Thankyou very much for the reply my friend.....was losing hope with this site untill now lol! I took out the thermostat and it was still ove heating and the heater was not working at all, turned out it was the water pump, the impeller had broken from the spindle and the water in the system was just boiling where it was! Eveythings all good now!! Again thanks alot