help - car doing wierd stuff.....

[revjames]

This is wierd, My sons car was playing up and I went to help him on saturday. He has a Rover 25 and it was overheating and heater blowing cold. I put it down to a frozen rad as he has been topping it up without putting antifreeze in.

The next day I went with him and we picked his car up from where he had left it and topped it up and now it seems fine.

My car is a Rover 45 and it had a new head gasket fitted by a garage in august. Today, sub zero temperature. I was waiting outside the supermarket and had the engine running with heater on. Suddenly the heaters began blowing cold even though the temp on the gauge was normal. I drove up the road and the temperature started climbing. It was almost in the red so I pulled over and turned it off. The expansion tank was at the max level and no sign of coolant loss, radiator felt warm and the top hose was hot. Could find nothing wrong so started it up and headed home, temp fluctuated between 1/2 and 3/4 all the way back but heaters warm again? whats going on?

Any genuine suggestions welcome...... O)

 

[roys]

Bluffing a bit, what about a faulty thermostat, or frozen hose as it sounds like the engine isn't getting coolant via radiator as engine is getting hotter but nowt getting to heater mattrix so heater still cold. As I say I am no expert so it is a bit of a bluff.

 

[sellers]

blockage or airlock maybe.

I'd do a full flush of the system then refill and bleed.

 

[revjames]

Thing is head gasket was done in august (under warranty) no coolant has been lost since and I know it has antifreeze because the coolant is visibly pink in colour. I just thought it strange that my son has a car with the same engine and I have the same fault as he did?

 

[ryansdad]

Good luck!! All Rovers IMHO are carp and prone to head gasket/ overheating problems. My missus has a 216 which was a bottomless money pit, got rid on fleabay eventually. I also bought a 75 from a local auction and within 2 miles it was overheating, pulled over into local garage and burned my arm taking the expansion tank top off:_|.Looked at it after it had cooled and it was obvious that someone had tried to fix it-new rad etc. Suffice to say it went to another auction the day after and I would never consider buying a Rover ever again. :red card

 

[gselectrical]

K- Series engine? Was the head skimmed when gasket was done? Gaskets on them are like paper. Replace them when they go with another "paper" gasket and it will go again.

I got a Landrover head gasket put on the missus' old Rover. Worked a treat and lasted.

Could just be the cold weather though.

GS

 

[revjames]

K- Series engine? Was the head skimmed when gasket was done? Gaskets on them are like paper. Replace them when they go with another "paper" gasket and it will go again.I got a Landrover head gasket put on the missus' old Rover. Worked a treat and lasted.

Could just be the cold weather though.

GS

Yes it was the MLS 'Land Rover' gasket head pressure tested/ skimmed car has done over 5000 miles and lost no coolant and had no problems other than todays episode.

 

[Apache]

Sounds like the thermostat to me. Take it out and make sure it's not gunked up. Run some hot water over it will show you if it's working. Could even have had a lump of ice in it, how cold was it with you?

 

[revjames]

It was pretty cold today probably -5 at least. Trouble is Patch, the thermostat is right under the inlet manifold, realy awkward to get to. not like most engines on top and 2 bolts and the cover comes off. We'll see what its like tomorrow, in fact if it still does it I'll take it back to the garage that did the head.

 

[Evans Electric]

Thing is head gasket was done in august (under warranty) no coolant has been lost since and I know it has antifreeze because the coolant is visibly pink in colour. I just thought it strange that my son has a car with the same engine and I have the same fault as he did?

The Lord moves in mysterious ways,Rev.

I,m struggling with it Rev. but keep thinking of a frozen bottom hose .

Next time buy a Ford.

 

[revjames]

The Lord moves in mysterious ways,Rev. I,m struggling with it Rev. but keep thinking of a frozen bottom hose .

Next time buy a Ford.

Kicking myself really. I had the CMax with a 1.6 TDCi which did 55mpg

Had delusions of grandeur and bought the jag,

Come down to earth with the Rover (admittedly

 

[ianmacd]

Had a similar issue with a range rover. Had a small hole in one of the hoses somewhere that closed up when warm but let air in when cold so air was getting in the system and pushing the fluid out of the expansion tank as it drove along. No coolant leak was ever seen when sitting. Sorted it by making sure it always had an additive to the coolant to block leaks as it was eaier than finding the occasional hole.

 

[binky]

Could always try WD40 all the accessible electrical connections - might just be damp/cold combination. Suggest trying Rover owners club website as bound to have very knowlegable Rover buff who will diagnose in seconds

 

[revjames]

Thanks - all seems well today though.

 

[PC Electrics]

I put it down to the thermostat. I have the same issue with my Rover 820. It goes like this:

In this very cold weather you have the heater on full. The engine is also loosing more heat than usual direct from the block and sump. This means that the cooling from the rad isn't needed as much as usual so the stat stays shut for a long time. Meanwhile the coolant in the rad is very cold. When the engine does warm up sufficiently that it needs some cooling from the rad, the stat opens and there is a rush of cold water through the system. In my car this manifests itself as the heater going cool and I can see the temp guage drop significantly. When the cold water hits the stat it closes again and the cycle starts again.

My car does this all the time, summer and winter, but it is much more noticable in the winter. I've tried several different stats and usually the new stat seems to have cured the issue for a few days but then it returns. I've given up trying.

Also note that the cooling system on my car is as clean as a whistle, having been regularly flushed and the coolant refreshed as per recommended intervals. In case you're interested my mix of coolant is as follows: 25% long life high performance EG antifreeze, 75% de-ionised water and half a bottle of Red Line Water Wetter (the water wetter is primarily for the benefit of the exhaust valves and turbo, which is water cooled as it's a petrol - if it were diesel I wouldn't bother adding it).

I've noticed too, that both my car and van are running cooler in this weather (to be expected)

 

[revjames]

Thanks for that comprehensive explanation PC. That does sound feasable. Mine too is a petrol. Don't know about putting red wine in the coolant though....