What an overheating day

hello
ow boy today i was stuck in traffic for an hour,then the temp gauge started climbing above middle,vc fan was howling its heart off.
went to the mecanic,he diagnosed a blocked rad,we removed the rad and send it for rodding for the second time in 6 months,then flushed the system with a hose including the heater matrix,toped out the water,kept the car idling for 20 min,gauge dead center.drove it to pick up my little one and the missues,after 5 min the gauge shoots out to the red then the light came on,automaticaly turned the engine off and limped to the shoulder of the road,when the fooker cooled again i turned it on,put the heater on max then flyied to the mecanic again,we thouched the rad it was dead cold in the bottom,opened the rad down screw the water came out stone cold,so he diagnosed a faulty tstat,so i went and got one for 50$ can u believe that?replaced the knackered one,topped the water again,drove it 4 a test temp gauge dead center.
then i went to get the family and got stuck for one and a half hour with gauge dead center,then i turned the car off checked the expansion tank it was below the cold mark (normal the new tstat drank the water),i squeezed the top hose it was half presurized,what does it mean?there is still airlocks in?i didn't put antifreeze yet,i will do it tomorrow morning to make sure that everything is ok.
after 1 hour of driving i turned the enghine off for 10 minutes,then when i restarted it the gauge jumped before the red mark,then got down again and no overheating,squeezed the top hose it was half way presurized.what is happening?airlocks?:doh:

When cold, take expansion bottle cap off and switch engine on. Leave it running until it gets up to temperature and then put the heaters on full for about 10 mins. Switch it off and replace cap, that should get rid of any air.

check ac condensor fans / fuses.

my intentions indeed.thank you poppers,lets wait for tomorrow and c.

rasheed said:

check ac condensor fans / fuses.

Click to expand...

cheers rasheed
fans r working,fuse box new,they didn't have time to get on,the needle creeped slowly then jumped all of the sudden before replacing the tsat.after replacement no overheating in traffic or going up hills,dead center,then with the engine off for 10 min after one hour of driving in traffic,and after restart,the needle jumped to the max of the white line then quickly went down to normal.

May sound silly, but start it up and check battery voltage. Any figures under 12 can give a dodgy display.

Was happening in mine, and although my alternator isn't putting out as much as it should there was some volt drop in the cables so I connected 1 directly from + of alternator to bat, and body of alternator to battery.

Tried it, temperature stayed down.

rasheed said:

check ac condensor fans / fuses.

Click to expand...

The engine should stay in the safe temperature range with or without the aircon fans, on the petrol they are only triggered when the temperature goes way above normal, on the diesel engine temperature has no effect on them.

put antifreeze today,it seems no overheating anymore,but just to make sure,how can a water pump be tested properly?i feel since i got my rangy that my temp gauge is almost half a millimetre above center,and it gets there after 30 minutes of driving,and when driving on hard corners,or while cornering it moves till one millimetre above center,then go back to half a millimetre above center!don't mean to sound crazy but it is the truth.
and is it normal to have the bottom hose rad (short rubber 4 inches tall hose going from bottom platic rad to tstat) warm-hot,as well as the bottom of rad,while middle to top section of radiator hot?

hello again
i fave fitted today a ground cable from neg of battery to alternator body bolt,still the tmp gauge reads half a millimetre above center?are all of p38 up to 99 the same?and wht about the bottom hose from rad housing?it should be at a cooler temp from top hose and top rad right?that y there is a radiator i assume,so it is defo wrong to tell that the bottom hose from rad body must be at the same temp as top hose?correct me if i am wrong.
thank you

i have twin kenlowe fans on my 4.2v8 rrc

i am always having to put them on once temp drops to below half i turn them off.
after approx 10-15 mins its back up way over half so on with the fans

i repeat this process as and when needed,i thought it was just the way v8s ran,or am i wrong?

its my 1st v8 so still getting to grips with it

used to do that with my old bimmer