expansion tank filling?

pipes should be at 15psi, so you can still squeeze em.. they shouldn't be rock solid.

did you check the rad all over for hot/cold spots and are the fins ok?

are you loosing coolant and is it actually getting hot

not loosing coolant, i cool it with the heater blower before it gets too hot..

rad n fins seem ok.... think i'm gonna swop rad for my mates as he's offered, his is a good one...

nick2303 said:

not loosing coolant, i cool it with the heater blower before it gets too hot..

rad n fins seem ok.... think i'm gonna swop rad for my mates as he's offered, his is a good one...

Click to expand...

i would try a couple of other things first.. like jm said.. are you sure it is actually getting hot and it isn't a faulty sender or earth.. then when you put the blower on the extra juice makes the gauge read normal again.

laser guns are a tennerish if you fancied checking

smells hot...

probably sounds stupid but it does..

needle drops slowly back to normal, not instant.. blower is blowing i'm just turning the heat control to hot so no change in voltage use...

what do you mean by hoses solid?if there solid when cold you have a cracked head or block or a head gasket issue,if there solid when hot thats normal but should be able to squeeze them once cool ,if the laters the case it really sounds like your rads suspect i bought one off fleabay there was no baffle in it,this is essential for a 300 tdi,with out it it will overheat on a run

Long shot, viscous coupling shot ?

With the engine hot and stopped, if you can spin the fan freely with no resistance the viscous coupling is shot.

If running the coolant through the small heater rad makes a big difference as you have said, it points to the replacement rad being a bit duff.

get a temp gun, test the temp of the top and bottom hoses, if the rads not dumping the heat its dead

new viscous..

bottom hose cooler than top hose ya can tell just by feel.. also poured water on top hose when hot and it evaporated in seconds.. poured water on bottom hose and it took longer to evaporate..

checked timing and was out a little.. probably from doin timing belt last weekend..

so reset timing, and now it dont overheat as readily.. gotta be doin 70 on mway before it starts to creep up, still drops when i switch heater to hot..

if the timing is a little off, is this gonna cause such an overheating problem?

got another rad to try...

been dj'ing all weekend.. so knackered today.. will swop it tmoz and see how it goes...

good luck

redid the timing again just to be sure... still hot...


put another rad on..... and success!!!!! rad must of been a duff one...


but now alternator has packed in!!!! borrox!!!!!!

wiggled wires and got it back to life for bout half an hour, then its stopped again.. had wires off and cleaned and re-attached,,, no success....

tel ya what, if it aint one thing, its ya disco!

Mines been nothing but trouble since I;ve had it (March of this year)

Jonnyb1990 said:

Mines been nothing but trouble since I;ve had it (March of this year)

Click to expand...

mines red with black round bits on it.