overheating? engine light - not good...

[jolly_97]

ok, pretty simple really, my car has been overheating for the last 2 days, at first i thought it was just because of the hot weather but tonight it overheated (temp needle sitting vertical) and the engine light came on.

now, i managed to get it home all safe and sound. the coolant levels are spot on (tecaoly 100plus) and im hoping its just the thermostat. anyone got any other input as to what it might be? im pretty desperate to get this fixed because im paranoid about things overheating in general... my comp blew up coz it got too hot haha

cheers
Josh

[The Darkness]

2 things. thermostat is buggered, or blocked radiator core. thermostat-to fix simple replace. radiator-to fix either get it flushed or go to wreckers and find a good one. if doesnt work after one do the other. do the theostat first. cause its cheaper and is always a good idea to replace. hope this helps

[88GreenVN]

Water pump? Does the radiator hose go realy tight eg is the car getting realy hot? Temp sensor malfunction.

[jolly_97]

radiator was replaced 5000km ago so i doubt its that, the radiator hose isint tight so mm all things point towards thermo or temp sensor, hopefully either way its easy and not too costly to fix...


cheers
Josh

[The Darkness]

thermostat is cheap. bout $20 with gasket. temp sensor just find where it is, and head to the wreckers

[88GreenVN]

Engine light on may be the clue - to a sensor. If the gauge was vertical and the eng light on, the car should have been hissing and having kittens!!!

[The Darkness]

yep. think he is spot on with that. check ur codes if you know how

[fazz1977]

Yeah, agreed, check your fault codes. If there's a temp sensor issue it will tell you.
Also, replace the thermostat, it's good measure to do it every so often. They jam up for no reason sometimes.

[Burt_vn]

Yeah if your needle was vertical and the engine light on but your car wasnt hissing or releasing pressure from the cooling system somewhere...then id say its just a fault, but be weary because overheating isnt always as simple as a thermostat or radiator, you couldve blown a head gasket.

[immortality]

never hurts to change the thermostat buti'd also be looking at the temp sensor as well

[holden007]

Give the thermostat and temp sensor a go first, temp sensor was gone on mine, and the car was pouring black smoke, and stalled all the time.

[jolly_97]

ok no worries guys, cheers for the feedback. Im gonna go down and grab a thermostat today. Ive got a vague idea of how to check fault codes but i think ill be lazy and just head to the wreckers to grab a temp sensor. if that doesnt work burt_vn may be right and i might have blown a headgasket. my car always hisses a little bit but thats my aircon and i couldnt notice any abnormal hissing so i hope im all good in that department. How hard is the temp sensor/thermo to replace? i got myself a gregory's the other day and that seems to help a fair bit but im really keen to knock this problem on the head

cheers
Josh

[Burt_vn]

Yeah if all you can notice is the air con hissing then id say it will most likely be what the other fellas suggested. For you to have your temp needle pointing straight up, the pressure would escape somewhere. The thermostat on a S1 can be a bit of a pain as its behind the inlet manifold..but if your running a S2 engine its a piece of piss. as for the temp sensor im not sure, but the gregorys should be able to help you out. good luck

[jolly_97]

yeah i pulled it all out last night, (being my first thing ive ever done to my car by myself) and the thermostat is jammed shut, dropped it in boiling water and she wont budge so theres the problem. now i hafta go and find a new thermo housing or just head down to the wreckers because i cracked mine putting it back on, just my luck- something always has to go wrong...

cheers
Josh

[The Darkness]

wreckers are your best freinds with cars. get a good freindship with the people there and you'll usually get cheaper parts. wont cost you more then 15 dollars i'd say

[jolly_97]

yeah my mates dad owns one of our local wreckers so little things like that i just get for free anyway... i ended up goin to motor traders and gettin a brand new one for $30 so im not complaining, the ones up at the wreckers were in pretty poor shape so im glad i grabbed a brand new one. car's all good now, hasnt gone over 20% on the temp guage so im happy!

cheers
Josh

[Burt_vn]

Good to hear shes running fine.

[jolly_97]

cheers mate, i always hate it when my car plays up or makes weird little sounds... makes my heart jump lol

cheers
Josh

[The Darkness]

don't we all