over heating plz help

[simbo]

just bought mk11 gti on g plate seems to be over heating, water in the radiator?? any idea what the problem might be , i know as much about cars as woman(not alot ) thanks

[richandhazel]

Could be any number of things, can you be more specific? i.e is it only when caught in traffic, or is the radiator staying cold but the engine overheating etc.

[tinman]

I agree with Richandhazel that it could be anything, but depending on how bad the problem is and how much time you have, check the water pump.

We had an overheating problem once. The VW dealership had no idea what it was - but they said they'd replace the engine for 1500 quid, which was nice.

However, our local mechanic discovered that the water pump was the culprit. It had shed all its blades and the water was going nowhere.

Regards,
Justin

[capron]

I had a MkII 1.8GTi 16V for two years  - until last week when some tosser drove into me a wrote it off. I've had similar problems with the engine overheating. A couple of things to check:

1) Check the radiator resevoir cap is on properly and the seal is ok - if not steam can leak out, causing to loose water over time and then overheat & blow the cap off. A replacement is only ?15

2) When the engine is cool, open up the resevoir cap, and let the engine run idle, there should be a flow of water coming from the radiator into the resevoir. If you rev the engine the water should flow faster.

My water pump was old, so therefore didn't pump much water through when it was idle ( in London traffic ) and therefore it overheated. It was ok when the engine was revving or driving.

3) If it happens often you may have a leaky pipe/seal in the cooling system.

Hope this helps.

Matthew

[alz]

A lot has been said already, but, does the fan come on before it overheats? which should happen. If it doesnt it might be the thermostatic switch for the fan. I had a similar problem of overheating - and the temp gauge used to go up a lot, but the fan never 'kicked in', turned out to be thermoswitch (on radiator) which tells the fan to 'come on'

[Justins145bhpMK1]

Is there any oil in the water or emulsification around the oil cap? Head probs if so im afraid.....