Temperature issues on vn calais?

[PUSHIN]

okay, well the title was a bit false, i dont think there is a temperature issue at all, but my car seems to think so. we got in, drove probably 6 kms, (my dad was driving so we werent being stupid or anything and it wasnt a hot day..) and my temperature guage went to a bit over 3/4 and then the red temp light came on.. (it has been happening for probably, 6 months. but since it started happening, stopped driving the car, did occasionally, like once a month?) anyways, finally decided to fix it as i might actually need the car soon. whats wrong with it? i've bought a new thermostat (dont recon thats the issue, but its about time it was changed) someone @ autobarn said it could be my thermostat switch? would that be it? or is there anything else i should buy aswell just to be sure? cheers!

[shreks vp]

is your engine fan turning on???

[88GreenVN]

Is the engine really getting that hot - can you squeeze the top hose when the gauge is at 3/4?

The 88 wagon when it got low on coolant would do this (leaking welsh plug) Going up a hill seemed to make it happen more so.

[PUSHIN]

no the fan doesnt turn on. honestly i can only recall one time the fan turned on, which was before the car started having this issue, before this started happening the temperature only went over 1/4 like twice..

NO I do NOT think my engine is getting that hot. i dont see how its possible for my car to get right up to full temperature in under 10 kilometers of driving. and it was practically raining so it wasnt hot.

EDIT: i dont see how its possible for it to get that hot while i have full coolant and everything else seems to be Okay. and beleiving the engine wasnt really getting hot, the few times i did actually need to use it (to drive say, 30 kms total..) after five minutes it'd start sooking beeping and the temp light would come up, just continued to drive, fan never came on, the car never died, pretty sure it still runs the same?? so yeah, my guess is its just some for of sensor..

Cheers!

[PUSHIN]

alright done a bit of research, think i might just go ahead and get a new Coolant temperature sensor, which i beleive is located somewhere close to my thermostat? along with another sensor.

its a series 1 vn, i plan on removing the throttle body and doing it from the top. i'll be able to do the sensor from the top too yeah?

Thanks!

[slepar]

my old vn manual wagon used to do this found out eventuall that the fan was never plugged in the whole time i owned it lol and by that time it was to late ended up being a head gasket, i hope for your sake its not

[shreks vp]

yeah the sensor is at the back of the motor on driver side i say try hooking wire straight from battery to fan and go for a drive to see what happins

[PUSHIN]

yeah, well i figured by now, if it actually was heating up as much as it thinks, i woulda done a head gasket. cause we went through a drive through one day, apparently mcdonalds decided to be busy that day, my car was one 3/4 to full temperature the whole time. so i recon if it really was heating up that much it woulda shit its hole long ago.

I guess i'll just go down and order my new thermostat switch, Throttle body gasket, and the sensor, and then put all of them + the new thermostat in. and hope for the best and if it doesnt work, i'll hook into sussing out the fan Thanks for the help guys

Alsoo.. Totally unrelated topic... those clips on the inside of bumpers that hold the SIDES of the bumper to the car.. What are they actually called? (so i can do a search that might result in a how-to or something..) or can anyone just give me a quick run over on how to do it? Thought i'd use fibreglass to attatch them, but my main concern is how to find out where i need to place them clips, would i just measure it all up or something?

Much appreciated!

[PUSHIN]

alrighty then.. i changed the coolant temparature sensor, and the water temp sender, and worked out one of my tanks for the coolant wasn't connected to system at all... >.> ANYWAY. had probably a 40-60 mix of coolant to water, was fine on the highways and stuff, but got into melbourne and after 10 minutes cracked the shits, temperature went all the way up again, put a bit more coolant in it so its atleast 50-50 mix, didnt seem so bad but we havent really had it sit anywhere for long.. so i'm assuming the problem still remains. anyone had any problems like this in the past? Thanks

[PUSHIN]

Any idea's guys? thx..

[DavoVP]

It realy sounds like your THERMO FAN isnt kicking in, Start checking the fan relay's and fuses. If all else fails, hook a over ride switch up and turn the dam thing on when it reaches half at the max or you will cook your engine, I cant stress enuff that YOU WILL cook your engine.

On the highway its fine, your cruiseing air over rad, My fan never comes on when cruise on the open road, In stop start traffic or sitting, once that needle hits half it kicks in.

Its realy a must have thing to get working if you want a car that runs.


Before you say it again, Ive boiled over my last motor once or twice, Temp in red, hot enuff to the point it was stuttering. And yes, it was part of the reason it died, other was driver neglect. ( the lifter's were ticking I replaced them still ticked, low on comp and didnt run to well so i detonated it before the new one went in )

[fnlow1]

First I suggest you determine whether your fan is actually working or not. By pass the relay is the easiest way to check if you have a working fan. If it works it should be cutting in when the car gets hot- so check that it comes on when the car gets hot- ie pull over pop the bonnet and look/ feel. Although they are pretty easy to hear when in the car.

If that all seems to be fine perhaps try pulling the fan and shroud off and inspect the plastic end tanks of the radiator for cracks.

Look through my previous threads on here as I had a similar issue late last year.

[PUSHIN]

yeah my fans coming on and everything as it should, but on a day thats not even hot, should it even get to the point where it needs to switch the fan on? and even then, the fan doesnt have much of an effect, the temperature still keeps going up. :/

[DavoVP]

Has the system been bled properly ?

Your radiator might be full of sludge, Its a long shot but worth a go none the less, Flush it or replace it.

If the fans kicking in and the temps still riseing, it says to me your radiator is suspect or there is a leak in the system, Does it loose coolant ?

[DavoVP]

And yea mate, no matter how hot or cold the day, If your sitting in one spot, the car willl heat to the point where the thermo fan needs to come on to cool it back down.

[kym192]

have ya checked the temp gauge itself could be that

[PUSHIN]

hmm, nah i don't think its the guage, got pretty hot last time we got the fan to come on, she didnt like it much.. lol :P

And yeah, fair enough about the fan coming on, but it won't cool back down and there is one leak, its the hose at the back of the engine going into the thermostat housing, i replaced it, and it kept leaking so i figured it let the mechanic do it. but that only leaks when it gets reaally hot.

[havavb]

Try taking the radiator fuse out of the fuse box, cutting the power connectors (well the silver things that make it work lol). You only need 2, place one in the top part and one in the bottom part where the fuse was and your fan will run all the time after acc. is switched on (or the car is started). See if that helps? If you need a image of what im talking about, i can post one tomorrow when i get my car back from my aunties.

[Vr929]

hey mate might be your radiator blocked with gunk and mud i had that problem replace everything and couldnt work it out or a bulgey hose or soft radiator hose cause it not to hold pressure try the radiator send it to some one to get properly flushed

[PUSHIN]

Thank you very much Cant really do a proper flush atm because its unregistered i'll just get the mechanic to do it.

[PUSHIN]

okay thought i'd just write on this, i bought and fitted a new radiator yesterday, and replaced the leaking hose over the back, and bought new hose clamps.. when i get a battery i will flush it a bit more, just to get anything that could be remaining in the engine, then fill with the coolant i got, and see how it goes. thanks for the help everyone.

And i think that the problem with my old radiator was indeed gunk, after i pulled it out and ran the hose through it a few different ways, yeah a fair bit came out. i would say this was my issue.

[wortus]

Is it the cooling system with a surge tank or does it have the radiator cap on the radiator? Just read you have some leaks if so the system pressure may be low which will lower the boiling point as will an incorreect coolant mix which should be 50/50
As far as gettignthe fan to come on and stay on just turn on the aircon, it's the same fan on a VN and the aircon makes the fan run all the time.
Also while you have it apart you may want to remove the water pump and check the impeller, they can corrode away in severe cases.

[PUSHIN]

ah cheers mate i no longer have the leaks, and my coolant mix was correct at the time. it is a series one, with the surge tank. no cap.

[YURNXT]

Heads are probably cracked.
and its done a head gasket.

had this happend about 6 months ago the motor was only 30000 k's old from a fresh rebuild.

did the thermostat and radiator flush, made sure the cooling system had no air locks.

it was the heads, cost me 1600 recod heads and put back together.

[ryan21]

it could be your water pump fins are corroded and not pumping enough water? you seem to have replaced heaps already so why not the water pump as well? and while you're at it unclip just about every hose and flush with water