Cooling Problems

[Teamheath]

Strange one for you please.

Temp guage in the car doesnt work, not sure if the heater works either but when the cars gets up to a proper working temp the coolant starts to steam out the expansion tank.
Have checked the sensor on the bottom right hand side of the rad and the connectors were all really badly green and corroded so they have been replaced temperarily for bullet connectors ( will heat chrink then for waterproofing when i've sorted the problem).
Not sure if its cleared the problem tho.  I've never heard the fan come on, and it was still overheating when it was driving.

Blocked pipe??
Broken thermostat??
Dodgy wiring to the sensor i just fixed??

Any ideas welcomed....please.

[takethefifth]

Knackered expansion tank cap to change first.  Then the thermostat if it's still not warming up properly. 

[Teamheath]

The cap is fine i think, its steaming out the breather hole on the side.
Will see tommorrow how well my re-connections have gone down i spose.

[mattkh]

and the connectors were all really badly green and corroded so they have been replaced temperarily for bullet connectors Any ideas welcomed....please.

Hi
Does the fan come on?
How many wires have you got going to this connector?

[takethefifth]

I would still change the cap, once the seal goes the system doesn't pressurise properly and the water hits boiling point at too lower temperature.

Explanation - http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/boiling-point-water-d_926.html
 

Edit: Also if the water was boiling to soon then the fan wouldn't kick in as the water wouldn't hit the required temperature.  You can check the fan itself by bridging the pins on the radiator temp sensor with a paper clip. Bottom of the rad on the battery side iirc.

[Teamheath]

Ok no worries, i'll borrow a cap of my mates tommorrow once the cam belt is done too.
Its the connector going to the plug/sensor at the lower right hand side of the fan.  It had 2 wires going into it, 1 of which had already been scotchlocked and had corroded again.

As for the fan coming on i've never heard or felt it come on before.

I'll have a go at the bridge i think to check the fan, thats a good idea, that i'll change the cap too.

Any other ideas please??

And thanks for the inputs so far guys, very helpful.

[Diamond Hell]

When I had overheating problems on my car it was getting hot after coming off motorways etc, first I replaced the thermostat, then the waterpump (bushes went), then the head gasket went (incidental, I think).  Finally when I'd done all of that and it was still getting uncomfortably hot I replaced the radiator and that totally sorted it.  20 year-old radiators aren't exactly in the first flush of youth and at £35-40 it's not exactly a big spend!

[Teamheath]

Thats a pretty good call actually, i'll see if i can test it tommorrow and if its done get one of my mate, i'm sure he's got a spare, after all he does have 4 Golfs....
How much would i be looking to pay for one from a VW dealer??  Can't use ecp or the like unfortunately as i've got a road trip at the weekend.

[Diamond Hell]

ETKA says 155 Euros - OUCH!

Whereabouts are you in Europe?