Air Con and Almost Overheating

[Feral01]

Got a VN s1.5. Usually runs nice and cool. Thermo fan comes on like it should. On a hot day (37 deg) switch on the AirCon, the thermo fan comes on like it should and the temp gauge goes up quickly to over 3/4. Switch off aircon, and the temp takes forever to return to normal. Any ideas?

[andynogo]

I had that problem and it was a blocked radiator. Probably a similar issue with yours- copes okay most of the time but with the extra heat of running the air con it can't cope and gets hot.

[fazz1977]

Same as mine when it did it, partially blocked radiator. Sure the air con turns the fan on, but it also pumps warmer air over the radiator from the condensor.

[308vkcalais]

My 16yr old Son just bought a Ser 1 VN on gas.It has a brand new radiator in it so I was curious as to it's engine running temps.He's had similar probs wif overheating, compounded by a sticky temp gauge that we know now is dodgy.Pouring coolant thru the spliiter tank etc & generally running very hot.I ripped his engine out 2 discover all his Engine Welsh plugs were near death & the water flow thru the head & block galleries was almost non existent.Shoved the hose thru the block & head to see harf the Murray River cum out in silt & rusty snot.My Dad who's a diesel Mechanic stripped the engine down & shoved in sum sweet new gold Welsh plugs, all new sensors & balance shaft bearings.He's removing the crank to replace the rear main seal aswell, while it was not leaking it's a preventative measure.All this may sound a bit extreme for the new owner, but engine overheating is serious.My Son's just lucky his Dad & Grandad are Mechanics..

[DF_Media]

My 16yr old Son just bought a Ser 1 VN on gas.It has a brand new radiator in it so I was curious as to it's engine running temps.He's had similar probs wif overheating, compounded by a sticky temp gauge that we know now is dodgy.Pouring coolant thru the spliiter tank etc & generally running very hot.I ripped his engine out 2 discover all his Engine Welsh plugs were near death & the water flow thru the head & block galleries was almost non existent.Shoved the hose thru the block & head to see harf the Murray River cum out in silt & rusty snot.My Dad who's a diesel Mechanic stripped the engine down & shoved in sum sweet new gold Welsh plugs, all new sensors & balance shaft bearings.He's removing the crank to replace the rear main seal aswell, while it was not leaking it's a preventative measure.All this may sound a bit extreme for the new owner, but engine overheating is serious.My Son's just lucky his Dad & Grandad are Mechanics..

Can you be my daddy too ??

[2greedy]

Got a VN s1.5. Usually runs nice and cool. Thermo fan comes on like it should. On a hot day (37 deg) switch on the AirCon, the thermo fan comes on like it should and the temp gauge goes up quickly to over 3/4. Switch off aircon, and the temp takes forever to return to normal. Any ideas?

M8 i had this problem recently, what happens is when your running the A/C the thermo fan is switched on as soon as the air con kicks in,

now if your not running aircon your thermo wont activate until 91-94 degrees which is factory specs, so in saying that it allows the engine to get bloody hot before the fan comes in, which in my opinion is pretty bloody stupid

why would they let the engine get to near boiling point before the thermo cuts in?

[Zuicider]

could it be the clutch on the aircond pulley? not disengading when it should causing it to continously run and put stress on the motor?

[2greedy]

if the clutch isn't disengaging yes that could cause it but the air in the car would still be cold if it wasn't disengaging?

[Zuicider]

yer the air would still be cold

[2greedy]

yer the air would still be cold

Afew things ya could check m8 is water flow see how well it's flowing? if that seems ok check themostat to make sure it's opening and closing? just pull it out get some boiling hot water and put the thermostat in it and if it's working it should open and once it cools it should close again, i had to do mine recently as it was stuck open.

check water pump make sure it's working ok, and another thing that is common on these cubboard door's is partially blocked radiator, so may be worth getting it cleaned too?

hope iv'e helped in some way m8.

[308vkcalais]

Can you be my daddy too ??

...only if u have a car that neva needs fixing.

[Riff88]

Got a VN s1.5. Usually runs nice and cool. Thermo fan comes on like it should. On a hot day (37 deg) switch on the AirCon, the thermo fan comes on like it should and the temp gauge goes up quickly to over 3/4. Switch off aircon, and the temp takes forever to return to normal. Any ideas?

I'm having a similar problem with my VR, that I've only had for around 5 weeks.

When I first got it the AC had no gas, so I didn't really have any problem. However, when I got a regas & had the AC running the needle went all the way up (in the course of a 30 minute drive) to the point where I had to pull over & the car boiled over. I started paying close attention to the temp & noticed that on a hot day the car wouldget to about 3 nothces off red, but if you turned the AC on it would pretty much go straight to red. I decided to give my radiator a good flush. After driving it the next day I noticed the difference right away - It was getting to 4 notches, then the thermo fan would kick in & the needle would slowly creep back down to 3 notches (It is worth noting that the needle never went down at all - only up).

Anyhow, I can use the AC now, but on a hot day the needle goes up into hot - it just takes alot longer. So the fact that my flushing the system made things better (albeit not perfect) tells me that the radiator is most likely blocked. A radiator specialist told me it needed to be "rodded", & would cost $250..... Still thinking about that one.


Cheers !

[andynogo]

$250 to rod a radiator?!? Tell him he's dreamin! Last one I had done was less than $100 and took a couple of hours. I also did my wagon's radiator myself a couple of months ago and it cost $20 in lead and that was it (but only if you have the right tools- black'n'red spanners ). About half the coolant passages were totally blocked.

[Bitz R Broken]

...only if u have a car that neva needs fixing.

I haven't seen a commodore that doesn't need fixing yet

[Bitz R Broken]

A radiator specialist told me it needed to be "rodded", & would cost $250..... Still thinking about that one.

My brand new rad was only 240 fitted.... not that it fixed my problem.... also i will never trust the damn temp gauge again i spent 6 hours at hosp tonight after burning my gut when the temp gauge was less than 1 line...
I'm starting to hate my 'cheap' VS i'm just hoping its not a head or valley gasket, though i don't have oil in the water or water in the oil, but my bottom hose sucks in and my top hose gets FAT, and i think my thermo shit itself in the last few days, but on a good note i fixed the error codes i was getting