aaah!!!!!!!!! it overheated! 205 Gti

two-oh-philic

two-oh-philic

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Fellow Frogger
Joined
Feb 22, 2003
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Location
Glen Waverley, Melbourne
Hi guys my 205 overheated yesterday. I was at some lights and when they went green i went and revved my car just a little to about 4k, look at my temp gauge being a little high. "hmmm... that's wierd" thought i should keep driving to get some air in to the radiatortemp light went red, stop light came on pulled over, went to buy some water while car cooled down, came back, water was fine, started my car drove home.

This morning i drove it and saw that the temp gauge wouldn't get past the 2nd notch (it normally sits b/w the 2nd and 3rd) even after 20 mins or so of driving. I tried to listen if my fan worked, so when i got home i turned off the engine but kept car on the second thing b4 ignition... didn't hear anything. I'm not sure if it was supposed to come on though.

The reason for buying water was my fast idle problem the other day seemed to be fixed when i topped up the reservoir which was a little low. Also when i checked my water it seemed a little dirty.
 
It might be a dud Temp sender, did the motor actually feel overheated ? If it has a thermo fan was it running during the over heating episode ?
 
Hi two-oh,

Take u're car to Sims Motors in Prentice St Brunswick. That's where I take mine for problems like this (electrical).

Ciao,
Luca.
 
The terminals on the thermo fan switch can be bridged to check the fan for operation, however whilst it "may" be that, I would have doubts due to the fact that the temp is now running lower than it used to which makes it appear to have more of a mechanical cause than an electrical one.
A sticky thermostat could also be worthy of a check in case it has stuck closed & now is in the stuck open position, as well as bleeding the cooling system as air in there will also tend to give false temperature readings.
Either of these two causes can & usually do come back to haunt you when you least expect it. mallet

Alan S
 
Another thing worth checking might be any relays involved in the fan operation. Don't know about with 205's, but these sometimes cause problems for the supplementary electric fan on Series II 505's. Of course, the fuse is always worth a look too, but wouldn't explain why it went back to normal operation later.

Cheers

Rod
 
Anybody know what a new thermostat for one these would cost?

More info:

The reservoir has a thin clear rubber tube connected to it and a heavy duty black one. In touching the black one which was quite warm, it didn't seem to have any pressure at all in it after driving, Is this ok?

I think the fact that the temp reading is low after reasonably lengthy driving is a sure indication of the temp sensor being stuffed. Which might explain why i can't hear the fan, because the fan probably wouldnt go on if it didn;'t think the car was warm yet.
I'm getting a new master cylinder put in on tuesday so i'll just tell my mechanic to take care of it.
 
The same thing happened to me last year and I nearly cooked my engine. The fans didn't come on because the sensor is located after the thermostat and the themostat was shut (my water was also dirty)- no water was getting through. Unlike yours though, mine always runs a little bit hotter now but mechanics that have tested my engine say that the gaskets are alright and it's got good compression.
 
"water was a lilttle dirty" is a real worry on two counts. First proper "coolant" is only partly water and has additives like Ethylene glycol to both raise the boiling point and lower the boiling point ( hence its use as anti-freeze)and also to reduce the development of small hot spots where the coolant boils. It almost always includes additives which help prevent the electrolytic corrosive effects of having different kinds of metals ( aluminium head and block, steel cylinders, copper radiator ) all joined by conductive water. Have you ever accidentally eaten the foil with a piece of chocolate and had it touch your amalgam fillings - this kind of effect has disastrous effects on engines. "Coolant" deteriorates as the active components are used up preventing corrossion so it should be replaced at least every 12 months. Dirty water suggests rusty iron and corrosion and has not been a suitable coolant since the EH holden. So while you are replacing your thermostat ( $20 is little enough to pay to preserve your pug motor) please drain and flush your cooling system and refill it with real coolant.

mallet
 
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