How Hot Does Your Gti6 Run?

[allye 530 3 Cars]

Rallye has been great so far apart from my ongoing problem with getting hot in traffic.

 

runs perfect during normal driving and even under load, but when I stop for traffic for more than a few seconds the temp guage start to climb, quite quickly. Now I understand the GTI6 water temp sensor reads high on 205 guages but it gets nice and warm rather quickly. A TD rad would help but getting it to fit will be fun also I'm thinking about ditching the twin fans for a couple of slim lines?

 

I have thought about draining the collant and bleeding it again to see if I have some air in there!?

 

Any help and experiece would be much appreciated

 

Ali

 

(I'm so worried about it getting too hot in traffic I turn the heaters on and some times turn it off!)

[pugpete1108 62 1 Cars]

i run or ran 1 slimline 12inch fan on my 6 engine and it was fine in traffic until it mayod up and overheated

 

deffo something not right there tho, try bleeding again. is your rad in good nick?

[welshpug 1,657]

how old is your thermostat?

 

mine doesnt take long to get to 83 degrees, but from there on it does take a while till the fan comes on, once its on it drops down pretty quickly (this is in a ZX with the standard gti6 rad but a ZX single fan running single speed!)

[allye 530 3 Cars]

forgot to say it a GTI rad, 2nd hand. Fairly good nic, managed to ding a couple of fins pulling it in and out when lowering for the conversion. Maybe a nissens one could be a good purchase.

 

Thermostat was new when converted

Edited September 29, 2011 by allye

[Tesstuff 222]

If I can keep a v6 very cool in my 205 then you must be able to keep a GTi6 cool.

 

I have a Golf vr6 rad and twin 10 inch slim fans.

 

Never gets hot even in traffic.

[Redtop 14 2 Cars]

Is it genuinely getting hot or is the guage working correctly? I know some of the gauges can be vague at times. Even get one of those laser [infra red] temperature guns and check out how hot it is actually getting. If your dead cert on there being a genuine issue it wouldn't take much to wip the rad out and get a rad place to check it over for any blockages etc. You could get the car running with the bottom hose off and run the outside tap hose through it to clear the system out if you have any doubts on blockages.

 

How long has the car had the '6' conversion and has it had this issue since then? Maybe worth checking your thermostat is operating ok in a saucepan of hot water. Do you know what it's rated at to open? If it's round 90 and your guage is out you might be panicing over nothing??

[allye 530 3 Cars]

You quite right I maybe panicking over nothing. But I would rather not boil my new £100 head gasket I got it on the road in June (ish) prob about 1000 miles under it. I know it warming up at a standstill as the needle sit perfect on the guage under normal driving then rises as soon as its stood for any period of time!

 

I have indeed had the laser thermometer on it whilst I was running it up for the first time on the ramps, exhaust mani gets up to 300 degress+ melted a bulk head bung in the process . As to the thermostat it was never when building it and I remember buying the lower temp rated one under the advise of Anthony, the 83 degree one. Of course never checked it though.

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

I've got an 82'c stat in my 6, never really wanders towards the red. It sits on the 2nd thick white line away from the red and stays there. Low temp fan switch helps although my low speed doesn't work. That's a point wanted thread next

[welshpug 1,657]

83 degrees is standard for an XU10J4RS

[mojo1997 0]

i'm sure the temp gauge on all 306 Gti 6's rise's significantly in traffic. Mine used to move quite quickly to three quarters then not get any higher.

 

Some members of the GTI 6 forum have changed their stat to a lower one to keep the temp cooler.

[judley 3]

I'm having a similar problem with my 205 GTI-6. Has anyone got the part number for a cooler running thermostat please?

[welshpug 1,657]

running a cooler thermostat wont help, increasing the efficiency of the cooling system is what you need to do.

[Cameron 16]

Agreed, the thermostat will be wide open when it gets hot so fitting a cooler one isn't gonna do s*it!

[boldy205 75]

Trapped air as you said could be an issue, though i have so far, never had a problem with mine over heating. I used a new nissens rad, std 205 fitment, and new hoses. You might also look at the routing of the coolant system. As the way its all plumbed in makes a difference i think? Might be worth a search?

 

Matt

[maxi 36 1 Cars]

Gti6's in general do seem to run hot, even my 306 does.

 

Ive done mountains of 205 6's and they do all suffer from the same charachteristics as you mention, fine when driving and thrashing but do get warm in traffic. As has been previously posted the gauge isnt 100% accurate but even so with the 306 equipment the show a bit on th warm side. My advice to you is not to panic. Start with basics, check the rad and coolant hoses are in good nick with no leaks. Second of all you need to upgrade the cap on the header tank, the 205 one will not only be weak but even in brand new form isnt rated to withstand the pressure generated by the RS engine. Im pretty sure from memory I run a 20-22Ib item - this si an item commonly missed on the conversion, frowned upon by some but take it from experience, you do need one. Secondly, check you have sufficient fresh antifreeze in the system. A lot of people just think its for winter use but anti freeze helps to keep the coolant system at a lower tempreature, not to mention battle against corrosion internally within the engine. Thirdly, make sure you have replaced your water pump and thermostat. If the coolant isnt being circulated efficiently it will radically increase running temps.

 

My last tip is to make sure you have a twin fan setup with the resistor cut out so when they do come on they will come on at full speed. I used to panic when driving my 241BHP 205 in traffic but a quick ride with the laptop showed temps werent as high as I thought and a quick 20 sec burst of the fans when they came in cools it down no problems.

 

Think logically and simply, give it a fighting chance.

 

Maxi

[maxi 36 1 Cars]

Oh and one other point......

 

Bleed it, bleed it some more.....then bleed it......... run it until the fans cut in.......................then bleed it again.

 

They can be a bastard depending on your hose setup.

 

Maxi

[allye 530 3 Cars]

Cheers Maxi!

 

The only bit of my entire coooling system that isnt new is a 2nd gti rad, I'v got BBM hoses, as you say a new (I think its the diesel one) header tank cap and new thermostat. Also I put in 2L of long life anitfreeze.

 

You may of seen a previous thread of mine about not being able to get my low speed fans working so I will cut out the resistor plug and see if that helps. Also my plan of action is to drain the system give it a bloody good flush and bleed it, again, again and again as maxo suggests

 

 

Thanks again

[Redtop 14 2 Cars]

Cheers Maxi!

 

The only bit of my entire coooling system that isnt new is a 2nd gti rad, I'v got BBM hoses, as you say a new (I think its the diesel one) header tank cap and new thermostat. Also I put in 2L of long life anitfreeze.

 

You may of seen a previous thread of mine about not being able to get my low speed fans working so I will cut out the resistor plug and see if that helps. Also my plan of action is to drain the system give it a bloody good flush and bleed it, again, again and again as maxo suggests

 

 

Thanks again

 

When your draining it again to flush it I would be putting more than 2l of antifreeze in Allye. I normally put 4 of the peugeot 1l bottles of antifreeze in my own cars. And if the winter is anything to go by last year a few ££ spend on extra antifreeze could save alot of hasssle and ££ from risk of a cracked block/head etc.

[allye 530 3 Cars]

4L! Is that not a bit much? suppose to 50:50

[GLPoomobile 958]

4L! Is that not a bit much? suppose to 50:50

 

Absolutely!

 

What's the GTI6 coolant capacity? 5.5, 6 litres?

 

Using too much AF is just going to undo any benefit of using it in the first place. You have to get the mix within the recommended tolerance of the brand you are using. 33% should be fine for most British needs, up to 50% for really cold winters. That's just from memory, so always check the bottle.

Edited October 2, 2011 by GLPoomobile

[welshpug 1,657]

its nearer 7 iirc, more than a 205

[Cameron 16]

Agree with GLP, 4l is far too much!

 

My Mi takes about 5l in total and I generally mix at 33% as recommended on the bottle - they recommended it for a reason!

[GLPoomobile 958]

its nearer 7 iirc, more than a 205

 

Which still makes 4 litres of AF too much.

 

As the yanks would say, "you do the math!"

[2052006 10]

How is it plumbed in? When I did my conversion I seem to remember reading somewhere that doing it a certain way (as in like the original 8v way) was better for cooler running than the standard gti6 way. I don't really know why this would be the case (and my memory may be playing tricks on me in any case!), but what I can say, is that I built mine with the hoses routed closer to the 8v layout and I've never had a problem with overheating.

 

Granted, it does shoot up quite quickly, but this is no different to pre-gti6 engine. And it is always brought down immediately on the low speed fan.

 

Thats using a second hand rad that I've been using for about 4 1/2 years, new stat at some point and standard single fan.

[fatony1 17]

Gti6's in general do seem to run hot, even my 306 does.

 

Ive done mountains of 205 6's and they do all suffer from the same charachteristics as you mention, fine when driving and thrashing but do get warm in traffic. As has been previously posted the gauge isnt 100% accurate but even so with the 306 equipment the show a bit on th warm side. My advice to you is not to panic. Start with basics, check the rad and coolant hoses are in good nick with no leaks. Second of all you need to upgrade the cap on the header tank, the 205 one will not only be weak but even in brand new form isnt rated to withstand the pressure generated by the RS engine. Im pretty sure from memory I run a 20-22Ib item - this si an item commonly missed on the conversion, frowned upon by some but take it from experience, you do need one. Secondly, check you have sufficient fresh antifreeze in the system. A lot of people just think its for winter use but anti freeze helps to keep the coolant system at a lower tempreature, not to mention battle against corrosion internally within the engine. Thirdly, make sure you have replaced your water pump and thermostat. If the coolant isnt being circulated efficiently it will radically increase running temps.

 

My last tip is to make sure you have a twin fan setup with the resistor cut out so when they do come on they will come on at full speed. I used to panic when driving my 241BHP 205 in traffic but a quick ride with the laptop showed temps werent as high as I thought and a quick 20 sec burst of the fans when they came in cools it down no problems.

 

Think logically and simply, give it a fighting chance.

 

Maxi

 

Where do you get one of those upgraded header tank caps? Do you have a part number?