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Vt intermittent temp rise + starting issues.

trav27

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Hey guys,
While stopped at the lights [most of the time], the temp gauge will rise and the 'hot' chime goes off, while this is happening the heater will stop and blow cold air. Usually this will last for about 15-20s at most, then the heat kicks in and then temp goes down. Within the past 5 months, the radiator and water pump have been replaced. Ive bled it out several times this week, changed the thermostat, radiator cap and temp sensor. Before driving back from Taree to Sydney today, i bled it out once again. And it was running perfectly till i reached Gosford. And that's where the temp was going crazy till i reached home,didn't overheat though. Same deal on the way up to Taree as well.

This brings me to my next question, how does the system build up air? Considering it was perfect for about 3 1/2 - 4hrs worth of driving. The bottom radiator hose looks a little brittle, could that be the cause? I should also add that the hoses haven't swelled up or anything like that.

Last Monday it did actually overheat, and since then on occation she struggles to start, i have to put my foot on the accelrator as well. My guess is the spark plugs? Ive been meaning to remove them and check for water. On top of that, i have noticed a slight rainbow tingle to the water. So I'm hoping its not the head gasket!

Something ive noticed while bleeding it, its usually only loses about 1-2L of water [evaporated?] and there is air in it every time.

Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated! It stressing me out! lol
 

trav27

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Thanks for your reply mate I'll be getting that done sometime this week :) any other ideas?
 

djdomohudson

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Check out your Heater Valve Tap. It may have a crack. It took me months to realise this (because it eventually blew in Hungry Jacks car park haha). This was the original reason my car kept intermittently overheating. I thought maybe the fan was faulty or the thermostat was faulty, or that my cooling system wasn't quite right.
I flushed it, bought a new thermostat, bled the system... And then had the Heater Valve Tap blow on me. So if that was fine in the first place I mightn't have had the other problems with the car.
As for not starting nicely that could be a completely separate issue.
Anyway check out your Heater Valve Tap.

Replacements cost $28 from Super Cheap Auto.

Looks like this:
IMAG0048_zps6fec7155.jpg


Located here:
2012-09-26172328.jpg
 

trav27

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Check out your Heater Valve Tap. It may have a crack. It took me months to realise this (because it eventually blew in Hungry Jacks car park haha). This was the original reason my car kept intermittently overheating. I thought maybe the fan was faulty or the thermostat was faulty, or that my cooling system wasn't quite right.
I flushed it, bought a new thermostat, bled the system... And then had the Heater Valve Tap blow on me. So if that was fine in the first place I mightn't have had the other problems with the car.
As for not starting nicely that could be a completely separate issue.
Anyway check out your Heater Valve Tap.

Replacements cost $28 from Super Cheap Auto.

Looks like this:
IMAG0048_zps6fec7155.jpg


Located here:
View attachment 160332

Thanks mate ill check that out tomorrow! i would have never though of that haha :) Was it hard to change?
 

djdomohudson

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Haha I never thought of it either (until it blew up on me so now I know).

It's a bit of a pain in the ass to change I found, unless you have the right tool to unclamp the hose clamps. I was using long nosed pliers. It took about 20 mins half an hour to get it out, same again to put it in. If I had the tool it would have taken ten minutes all up. Mind that it's part of your cooling system so when you undo the hoses you might spill coolant so get something that's going to stop up the ends of the hoses. Usually a fat bolt will do


I wouldn't ask a mechanic to change it for me you'll spend well over $100 bucks for something that cost only $28...
 
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Tree cutter

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Another thing to check would be the lower inlet manifold gaskets. You can loose coolant through these and also have a vacuum leak which can make it hard to start and idle roughly.
 

luckyvt94

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Another thing to check would be the lower inlet manifold gaskets. You can loose coolant through these

I would consider getting there done mine was doing the same with the temp. It got so bad I had to add 2-3 litres of water everyday and a pig to start while warm. I took it to a mechanic and he replaced the gaskets and I haven't used a single drop since January. He told me if the gaskets leak in certain places the water can leak onto the pistons and not allowing them to travel all the way. Hydrolic lock up I think he called it
 

trav27

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Thanks for the Replies guys, sounds like it could be the manifold gaskets, been finding gunk in the radiator too. Just a quick update though, after changing the thermo, I noticed a few days later that the new radiator cap hasn't been sitting in right for the past week. All I've done since is re fill it with water and adjusted the radiator cap, since then it's been alright just to drive to work 5 mins away with it not playing up too much. Although just then, I heard the pistons rattling under acceleration (overheating) but the temp only creeped up to half way. I pulled over and noticed that the radiator cap has flown off by itself, pouring out steam plus I was hearing some crackling coming from the engine. Possible water sizzling but I couldn't see. Any ideas?
 

trav27

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Okay to add too that. After i filled her up with water and started her up to see quite a lot of white smoke + it idling really badly. HOPEFULLY that it was caused by the Inlet manifold gasket and not the head gasket :(

Here' a video of the idle + white smoke. This is the first time Ive seen it idle that rough + blow out white smoke though. Please take a look and tell me what you think!
Vt commodore + white smoke + weird idle - YouTube
 
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