Water Temp/Water Pump?
Hi there people,
Would like your views on this one for me. Driving along motorway today, temp was fine, sitting just below the 1/4 mark like always, into town, round town, lights, stops, starts etc, normal town driving, thats when I noticed the temp rising, got up to just under the 3/4 mark.
Stopped, popped the hood, water level in the overflow bottle was fine. Started and ran fine, temp back down to just below the 1/4 mark again. Back onto the motorway ( home was only 5mins drive away ) temp didnt move, got home fine, then thought whats it like at just idling. Sat in the driveway for a minute, and temp started to rise slowly. My question is, Is the water pump on its way out? Cheers.
It sounds pretty normal.When you are sitting in traffic the engine coolant gets hotter as theres no air flowing through the radiator.As soon as you start moving the temp will drop again as the air starts to cool the radiator.It probably wouldnt hurt giving the system a flush with a garden hose (make sure the vehicles heater is in the hot position whilst all this is done),once the water running out of the engine is clean, then add some fresh coolant mixed at the correct ratio.The thermostat could need replacing,(they are cheap to buy).And so is a new cap.And cleaning out the core with a hose so air can pass through the fins properly always helps too.They get full of dead bugs and rubbish.Hose it out from back toward the front of the car.Cheers.
Thanks for the reply. Yeah thats true what you said about the temp when sitting in traffic, but its never done that before. Driving in Wellingtons traffic can be slow, if not stand still at times, and its been fine since ive had the car. Does the water pump make any noise when its on the way out??
Yeah it will get noisy,you can check the bearing by removing the fan belt and spinning the pulley.If it feels rough to spin,the bearing is buggered. It should feel dead smooth whilst spinning it by hand. If it has any play in the pump shaft, you can also say its buggered. The noise and feel will be the main telltale signs.Also theres a hole at the bottom of the pump to drain any coolant that has leaked past the pump seal when it gets worn.Look to see if theres any evidence of any coolant thats been leaking out of this hole.If theres marks there from leaking coolant,its another sign the pump is old and needs replacing.
Was the A/C on?
I had a dirty condenser which gave me similar problems in traffic.
Water pumps don't usually have problems with flow, either the seal or the bearing goes or the shaft snaps and it stops flowing all together.
Also are your fans kicking in?
Either way sounds like air flow problems.
The stock water temp gauge should not move once up to normal operating temperature, unless there are other mechanical issues.
I'd be getting your coolant tested for exhaust gases (blown head gasket) or checking the thermostat.
Are you having to top the coolant up at all?
operation HQ under way.
BULL SHIT that said, all i can say is these vr vs temp gauses have a small tempture in range. 1/4 is about 90 deg c and 1/2 is about 100 deg c, 3/4 is 115 deg c which is all fine. if it was a vt or onwads i would beleve youOriginally Posted by ARATIC
a/c on it will be maintained at 1/4 roughley
Hi there people, A/C wasnt on, and when I have used it in the past, temp gauge didnt go past the 1/4 mark.
Have checked the levels, overflow is at the full mark, and radiator level was full.
Is there a way to test to see if the elec fan is kicking in at all?
Will do a flush and then get a tset done for exhaust gases.
Thanks.
I have had same problem car overheated in town once, turned out it was the water pump had failed. Got that replaced and it did it again?? I have flushed system twice and gone over fans to make sure they kick in etc (as far as i can tell they do) but it still gets up to the 3/4 mark?? I'm still trying to figure what it is although I will have to try out the condenser... and chech exhaust. If you figure what it is can you email me?? Cheers
how does the exhaust affect the car over heating?
if you have already changed a water pump id be checking your thermostat is actually working and opening when its spose to.
check thermo fans are working.
ive heard of fans wiring getting stuffed up when people change something and the fan goes into reverse and pushes hot engie bay air over the radiator and that heat it up even more. not sure how true this is?
are you actually using enough cooloant?
have you got a block in the system?
get it pressure tested and go from there.
and as for a cars temp gauge not moving once warmed up that if fine for VT onwards but the vs usually bounce all over the place from 1/4 on highways to just over 1/2 way in traffic.
do wat i did and get the colder thermostat. mine hasnt ever gone over half way even in traffic since i got mine. still does the usually fluctuation depending on driving conditions but even in summer in peak hour traffic it didnt reach half way.
Donating Member
Spot on!....mine regularly goes to 3/4 before the fan kicks in and has done that for the last 7 years. It's crazy replacing parts when it will make no difference.
"If anyone disagrees with anything I say, I am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also to deny under oath that I ever said it." --T. Lehrer
"The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made." -- Jean Giraudoux
Hi there folks, thanks for all your replys so far. Some good ideas to try out. Have done a search on here about flushing the system, can someone tell me the best way to flush it? Is it like my old VL, just drop the top and bottom hoses, and put the garden hose in and wait till the water runs clear?
This is the first time that the temp has gone above the 1/4 mark since ive had the car, almost 2 years now, thats why I am asking theses questions.
Thanks again.
mine also hits 3/4 whilst idling or in slow traffic unless the aircon is on , you can just hear the thermo fan kick in then it starts going back down again.
Exhaust Guru
Since every car is different and what you describe is normal for the VS, but, and it is the crucial but, you say it isn't normal because it hasn't done that before in the 2 years you have had the car. Therefore it must be a problem somewhere.
Have you flushed the cooling system since you have had it? Coolant does deteriorate over time, not the coolant itself, but rather it picks up contaminants from the engine that decrease it's effectiveness.
The best way to do it is to remove the top and bottom hoses and reverse flush the radiator by running the water into the bottom and letting run out the top. Do that until the water runs clear. Then remove the thermostat and refit the housing and run the water through the engine, it doesn't really matter which direction it runs, do that until it runs clear. Refit the thermostat, a new one preferrably, and refit the hoses and refill with coolant, making sure to bleed the system.
If that doesn't fix the problem, then it may be the waterpump or the actual radiator that could be partially blocked.
Donating Member
Just noticed you have a V8....maybe you need to check the engine driven viscous fan...if the viscous fan clutch has failed , the fan will free wheel and you will get no cooling when stationary. I think you can check by watching how fast it stops spinning when you turn the engine off (if it keeps spinning it means the fluid drive bit is not working)
See this link on how they work:Thermostatically Controlled Engine-Driven Fan.
"If anyone disagrees with anything I say, I am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also to deny under oath that I ever said it." --T. Lehrer
"The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made." -- Jean Giraudoux
Hello again people, Have just done the flush etc, and noticed that the fan was easy to spin by hand, and like hako said above, it kept spinning after the engine was turned off? So is this just a case of having to replace the fan?
Thanks for all replys so far, have all been a great help so far.
operation HQ under way.
also when cold like ice cold the fan should have high resistance when trying to turn
Donating Member
You can probably just buy the centre viscous clutch which the fan bolts onto....not sure what it costs but it won't be cheap. I'll scout around and see what I can find.
Edit....one on Ebay 2nd hand starting at $20 and a brand new one here for under $100. Your problem with the temp rising when stationary will definitely be caused by the fan.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Holden-VH-VK-...item5887d64653
"If anyone disagrees with anything I say, I am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also to deny under oath that I ever said it." --T. Lehrer
"The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made." -- Jean Giraudoux
Should that be the other way around?
Like the whole point of having the clutch hub is so that it puts less load on the motor when cold and locks up more as it heats up to pull more air???
Anyway I doubt there is anything wrong with it unless you can see signs of the fluid leaking out.
Donating Member
These fans fail not necessarily because they leak the silicone, it's usually the bimetallic coil that controls the action (or reaction) of the silicone by sensing the air temperature that fails.
But the reason for failure doesn't really matter - if it keeps spinning for a few seconds when a warm/hot motor is switched off then it is not working correctly. If it stops spinning shortly after switching a warm/hot engine off, then it should be OK. Just check the link I posted previously.
"If anyone disagrees with anything I say, I am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also to deny under oath that I ever said it." --T. Lehrer
"The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made." -- Jean Giraudoux
Hi there people, well car went in for a WOF today, and while it was in there, got them to look at the issue at hand. They pressure tested it, was fine. They then noticed there was a small amount of play on the shaft of the water pump, and that the fan did keep spinning after it was turned off after coming up to temperature.
So its a new pump and fan hub that is needed. Will update when its done.
Thanks for all your replys.
Hi again, question, can someone tell me if the fan hub off the V8s are the same as the ones off the V6s? Thanks.
I used to have an 80's model Toyota that ran on a viscous/clutched fan. When I first brought it, it used to over temp something shocking. Replaced the fan with a good one and the temp stayed within a good range forever after.
Just had my waterpump and fan done, while they were doing it, they noticed that there had been a small leak on the outside corner of the inlet manifold. Anyone had this problem before as well?
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