Forum:
Hi
I have a 1993 Applause (Australia). I took it for its first long drive since we have had it and about 30 mins into drive overheated.
Changed thermostat but still overheats. Res tank bubbles and spurts out hot water. Fan comes on but not as offen as should.
Took to a mechanic today and he couldn't find a problem. He drove it and let idle for half hour. Theromostat worked, water pump ok, fan kicked in when it should. I picked it up and on the way home it overheated again.
Can anyone help please. Not a lot of help in Australia.
Thanks
Kellie
Heated Debate
Sounds suspiciously like an air lock in the cooling system, if the fan switch is in air and not water it will not activate the electric fan.
Drain the cooling system, refill slowly with water, ensuring the heater control is in the hot position, and not cold; and run the engine until it is hot. Bleed the system thoroughly and top up, run the engine for a few minutes and then drain the water out.
Note the colour, if it is sludgy and brown the system is contaminated with corrosion, previous owners have not kept it filled with anti freeze.
remove as many pipes as possible at one end, push a hosepipe in and flush each part of the cooling system until it runs clean, do not forget the radiator.
Fill the system with water and cooling system cleaner, bleed the system and run the engine, follow the instructions with the cleaner.
Just one other thing to check! is the correct radiator fitted to the vehicle, i have seen radiators from lower powered models fitted to vehicles, these have less cooling capacity and lead to overheating.
thank you
Thank you for your help. We will get onto it. It just seems strange that we have had the car for 6 months doing little trips to work. Approx 15 mins @60 kpm and NEVER had a problem with it. I took it on its first run 30mins 110 kmp and overheated. Now it overheats doing the shorter trips as well.
Thanks again. You have been a great help.
Kellie
I have had the 1990 model
I have had the 1990 model for a few years. and i have had this problem before.
All i did was got some really good coolant (Cant remember which, was a long time ago) and Mixed it a lot stronger than it was supposed to be. (Only about 15% Stronger)
And that stopped it Spewing coolant everywhere from both short and long trips.
It only ever did it in the Summer.
About 2 years after that, the Bloody coolant pump pully snapped right off from the engine. (apparently a common problem) Replaced it with a new pump, and now, its not even boiling with Just water.
So from what im guessing, the coolant pump is a load of crap from the factory.
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Cylinder Head.
If the overflow reservoir bubbles smell like exhaust fumes then the cylinder head is leaking. Hopefully it is a broken head gasket rather than a cracked cylinder head. A compression test of each cylinder will prove if its a cylinder head problem.