VS 5 litre overheating troubles...

[Phreddy]

Hmmmm, here's some funky extra info guys....

Had to drop my boys back to their Mum's place tonight - Oh, DelcoWiz - tried your procedure above, didn't really make any difference.... On the way home along the M4 though (which I'm on for 25 minutes or so) I found that turning the heater on full hot, it kept the engine temp manageable.... (baked the bollocks off me, but the gauge only climbed to just over halfway, instead of 3/4 or higher)

Does that provide any additional clues?? My logic tells me that if such a small "radiator" (ie - the heater core) is helping to cool the engine to THAT extent, then maybe I SHOULD be suspecting the radiator??? (or am I on the wrong track altogether??)

Thanks again for the help fellas. :thumbsup:

 

[greenfoam]

The clutch fan should be alot stiffer when the engine is hot than cold, it's very noticable

 

[Phreddy]

Hmm, thanks Greenfoam.... That's the impression I was under - I though they should "firm up" when hot.... The one in the Statey doesn't really, it seems to pretty much "freewheel" all the time, even when real hot....

Although I would have thought that when I'm on the move at any decent road speed, that just the forward movement should get SOME wind through the rad.... Oh, VRWagz - yeh, that little "spoiler" is in place. It's a bit beat-up, but definitely in place. Hey Foam, is the clutch on the fan something that does fail after a while??

I did mention before that Natrad has serviced the colling system about 3 1/2 months ago, and a re-cored rad put in... I would assume that was done due to a radiator leak.... There were a lot of rusty water stains zround the front end, so.... Maybe the previous owner was a little careless about running coolant, and the radiator rusted through. (I assume the VS has a steel cored radiator?? Like the VN did AFAIK??) The water pump is is good nick (looks to have been replaced some time previous to the rad - little or no corrosion, and the bearing / seal are perfect)

(Ah, man - PLEEEEZ don't let it be head gaskets.... I'll be busy enough this week getting ready for Melb, let alone having to spend a day or two on replacing those bloody things! AHHHH!)

Anyhow, thanks again fellas....

 

[westbad]

i would be thinking head gasket
A few years ago i had a car with the same symptoms you describe and it turned out to be the head gasket.

 

[Phreddy]

Hmmmm, excellent. That would be just friggin' dandy.....

 

[hako]

Re the bottom hose collapsing - easy to test - run hot engine at 2500rpm and eyeball the lower radiator hose...maybe gently squeeze it to see if it collapses and watch out for the fan!
With all those rust stains suggesting major corrosion problems maybe the block has been dislodging rust particles which have clogged the radiator. Atest for a clogged radiator is to start with a cold engine, start and run engine at idle - have hand on thermostat housing to detect first warming which indicates thermostat opening - then with an infra-red thermometer (dick smiths ~$25) scan the radiator over every core tube as the hot coolant starts to flow thru the radiator and then over whole surface to ensure hot coolant is actually flowing thru all the tubes....if some areas of the rad are colder that indicates that the tubes in that area are blocked.
Of course you could just reverse fluch the rad and eng with the garden hose but that may not disloge everything.
And if you are really worried about a head gasket just throw some of that sealnt in the rad - that may temporarily seal a gasket leak.
These things always happen at the worst of times!!!

 

[Phreddy]

Hey, thanks Hako! :thumbsup:

I'll give those couple of things a try... Just spoken to a mate who has a timing light, so I'll check the base timing tonight, as well as the bottom hose. Good point about the rusty water, I'll check that out. If Chemi-weld (or a similar product) will get me out of strife for the Melbourne trip, that might be the go if I can't find anything esle wrong.

One thing I have also talked to a radiator mob about is the fan clutch. I'm told that once the engine is warm, when it's shut down the fan should stop immediately - well it doesn't, it free-wheels for about a second or two. (which sort-of tells me that the fan clutch is buggered...)

See, my logic works this way - after running the heater made a significant difference - if an "extra" radiator / fan assembly (the heater core) is making that kind of difference, then I'm hoping to Christ that maybe I'm NOT dealing with a head gasket problem, simply some kind of inefficiency in the actual cooling system.... Either blockage in the rad, or the fan not pulling enough air through it. Put it this way - I'm much rather replace a fan clutch or a radiator than head gaskets! LOL!!

Anyhow, again guys... BIG THANKS!!

 

[VrWagz1]

I got an old clutch fan here if you need one. Its my old one so its not spectacular but it was working well when it came off.

 

[Phreddy]

Hey, thanks for all the help and suggestions guys!!!! I found the problem!!!

The BLOODY fan clutch - not picking up the friction at all, still freewheeling even when full hot. I did what's probably a bit of a stupid thing, but once I'd decided that the fan clutch was malfunctioning, I drilled a few holes right through and locked it up with some bolts. Re-fitting and going for a drive (keeping the revs reasonable low, as I'm not sure if such a big fan SHOULD actually spin as fast as the water pump....) and she stayed as cool as! Woo-hoo! :dance:

Wagz - thanks for the offer Mate, much appreciated - unfortunately you're not just "down the road" though, and my cash is a little tight at the moment - can't afford a trip to the 'Gong and back...

I'm playing with a 16" electric fan right now, but I don't think that has sufficient air flow - might have to go back to the mechanical fan for now - either get a new fan clutch or maybe a flexi-fan. (does anyone reasonably close to me have one they'd like to sell cheap? )

Anyways, again fellas - THANKS!! You won't believe how relieved I am that it's not head gaskets! PHEW!!

(gotta love this forum! )

 

[westbad]

Well done in finding the problem, pleased its not the head gasket.. im not to sure about your repair idea tho lol