cooling, runing to hot , xantia vsxi

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luke bremner
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cooling, runing to hot , xantia vsxi

Post by luke bremner »

I have a xantia vsxi 2lt that has run hot since I have had it (6 months).
last weekend I was driving through local streats singing along and just freaked out when the temp was trying to go pas max. I pulled over and tryed to get some water but could only get mineral water, the water was full and had good presure, the temp gage sad it was 110dg but it was not boiling and I could put my little finger in it with out burning. the stop light did not come on as it dos work. When I turn the ignition on the temp gage now gos from low temp say 10dg slowly up to max. I think it is the thermistat but I'm not sure were it is. can you help me.
It has all ways run hot I have not had time to fix it as I only use to drive it down the road for 4 min tops to work, but now I'm going to drive for 15-25 min to my new job
alan s
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Post by alan s »

You don't say if the fans come on or not.
However, it does have the sound of possibly air in the system. On a CX, I've seen cases where the radiator has been ice cold yet some hoses were so much under pressure they were "singing" with steam coming from them.
I'd suggest start by firstly bleeding the system of any air so that is out of the equation, and after testing, if it still persists in carrying on like this, give us a rundown of symptoms as it shouldn't be real hard to rectify.
Whilst you have got away with it on a 4 minuite drive, if it is air, the talk of driving this car for 15 - 25 minutes is purely hypothetical....it ain't gunna happen!![B)][8]
Alan S
luke bremner
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Post by luke bremner »

hay alan thanks for the reply
the fan comes on as normal, when you unscrew the radiator cap there is a lot of air pressure. Im looking at buying a cheap run about till I get this fixed, as I dont like driving it like this.
alan s
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Post by alan s »

Luke,
I presume that you know that the cooling system on these vehicles have bleed screws on them?
This is a far cry from the "air pressure" that is evident when you unscrew the radiator cap.
I don't know your particular model but on BXs there are anything from one to 5 bleeder screws; on a CX there was 2 so they change model to model.
If this is all the problem is, it would be quicker to bleed the system than it would be to sign a cheque for a second car.[:D]
If someone who has a similar model could respond, we should be able to tell you where the bleeders are & then how to bleed the system if you have never done it previously.
Alan S
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Post by BonceChops »

If your temp is above max I would have thought it should be blowing water/steam from the radiator cap - is it?. Is it really that hot? or is the temp guage/sender lying to you. After you have bled the cooling system if it is still running that hot I might think about replacing the temp sender. If you do have an air lock in the system it can prevent the pump from circulating water around the engine (the pump can only pump water and not air). This usually causes overheating with the radiator cap blowing off.
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Post by JohnD »

As Alan has said - this sounds like an airlock. If this were my car, not knowing the history of the coolant changes, I would drain off the old fluid and replace it. Best advice is to do it every two years anyway. Also it wouldn't hurt to remove the thermostat and check the function in a pan of water. Because some of the hoses are higher than the reservoir you need to use a header tank. This can be a plastic bottle wedged into the neck of the reservoir. It needs to be fairly water tight. There are three bleed screws which need to be opened. One on the thermostat housing, one close to the heater outlet on the bulkhead and maybe the third one in the bypass hose. Fill up the header tank with the bleed screws open. Let the engine tick over. When water runs continously from the bleed screws, close them. Replace the rad cap and run the engine to bring it to temperature. After cooling, check the level.
luke bremner
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Post by luke bremner »

I now were the blead screws are, I dont now much about this type of car but there is a lot under the bonet so I dont wont to start pulling things apart that I dont now. thanks.
luke bremner
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Post by luke bremner »

just bleed the the car, heater outlet was bleader had water coming out, the thermistat bleader did for a short time then no water and the bypass hose had water coming out. The water temp was geting hot the temp gauge was on max so the temp gauge is not recording acuratly but if I run it for much longer it would'nt have been far from max temp. Keeping in mind that the oil temp was very low but if I run it for half hour it would have been on max to.
I think that the problem is going to be the thermistat and temp senser.
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Post by BonceChops »

When the temp gauge is saying max does the radiator feel hot at the top and bottom? What about the other coolant pipes are they hot? When the gauge is showing hot is the heater getting hot? - try it of full heat with the fan on. I changed the thermostat on mine because it was not running hot enough and it only cost a few quid. It yours is stuck shut you will get very little flow around the radiator so it will not feel hot but the engine will be.
luke bremner
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Post by luke bremner »

thanks chops
I think you are right
when I bleed sistem the radiator was cold the thermistat had no flow and the heater was flowing,
thanks mate
I'm geting tools redy to start pulling things out to get to it.
BonceChops
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Post by BonceChops »

Please let us know what you find. Been here before - changed stat on a mate's C15 van and it still overheated.
luke bremner
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Post by luke bremner »

I pulled out the thermistat tonight and started it up without one in, the temp stayed low and did not rise. I bleed the sistem and one of the bleeders heads basicly fell off, so I need to tap a thread through the old thread and get another bolt.
another thing to fix now but Im geting on top of it now.
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Post by BonceChops »

So it is looking like it was a thermostat fault. Good that is a very cheap fault.
luke bremner
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Post by luke bremner »

fixed the bleeder, now took it for a drive went well but I noticed the temp gauge was making slight jumps at times posibly when I am building up speed. I think the temp senser might be loos. but am un sure which one it is, I think it is on top of the thermistat housing with a blue cap and clips down.
BonceChops
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Post by BonceChops »

My temp sits about 80 but when I give it some right foot it moves up to 90. It drops again when I am a little more gentle.
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