Hey guys,

after fixing my steering gear I got a new problem
My engine is overheating.
Today we had around 25°C (77°F), not that hot.
After driving for around 10 minutes, the temperature indicator sits over 2/3.
The water is boiling and running out of the surge tank (correct word?).
We already checked the radiator cap, it seems to be tight.
We believe there is no water in the big hose going to the motor.
Any ideas?

I did the fault code check and it reads: 12, 55
12 is "Battery or computer recently disconnected" and doesn't matter. 55 is the end message.
So no problem here.

Thanks
Patrik

 

you never finished your thread on the steering gear fix... what did you do to fix it?

The over heating may be the thermostat failing. If you decide to replace it that would be a good time to flush the system out too and add new 50/50 conventional (green) coolant while you're at it. You can use water from the faucet but try to purge all you can before refilling with coolant and/distilled water but not corrosive tap water.

If there's a lot of rust and corrosion in the radiator there could be blockage and it's not circulating nearly enough and you can guess what that means.

radiator cap may look good but if old maybe better to replace, it's inexpensive. When I shut off the engine warm the upper raiator hose builds pressure and holds that pressure. when cold it still has pressure but not nearly so much as when hot.

Check the clutch fan with engine off and cold too, if it spins freely it's not good. If it wobbles no good either (water pump time)



these are some things i'd check were it me...

 

Hi,
thanks for your reply.
We already flushed the system and replaced the water 50/50 with distilled water 3 weeks ago.
The upper radiator hose didn't have pressure yesterday when it was hot.
What could that mean?

 

It is kinda weird that you've driven it 3 weeks no problem and out of the blue decides to act up huh?

I honestly don't know for sure but wonder did you you change out the thermostat too? coolant level good? you would have mentioned if there were any signs of leaks... With cap off and run it up to temp does the coolant circulate? Do you have any access to a pressure tester?

just tossing out some ideas, let us know what you find

Jim

 

Yea, we didn't drive it much in the last 3 weeks and the temperature outside was much cooler.
Today we removed the thermostat but it is still overheating.
Coolant level is fine and there are no leaks.
How do I see if the coolant is circulating?
When the cap is off the water is just sitting there.
Water pump?

 

Here's a short video I found that tells and shows some of the things to check for a faulty water pump


I'm no expert by any means but am thinking more likely that your radiator may be clogged if the pump checks out ok and no thermostat installed, there's not much else left other than .... heater core, do those 2 hoses get hot

 

Having a good radiator cap keeps the pressure up in the radiator (which raises the boiling temperature of the coolant) and also allows the radiator to draw coolant back from the overflow tank as the engine cools down. I suggest you get a new radiator cap if yours is original.

The overheating could be due to the radiator being plugged. I would get the van up to temperature (wait for the temperature gauge to come up and then drop down as the thermostat opens). Then let it warm up some more until the top and bottom hoses are warm. After that, turn it off and run your hands over the radiator looking for cold spots. If you have cold spots the radiator is plugged and will need to be replaced.

Steve