A Few Little Issues After Replacing Radiator.

[Stephen W 12 1 Cars]

As the summer months are fast approaching, I'm trying to get my 91 1.6 gti up to speed on being a reliable runner.

Since I bought the car 4 years ago it's not given me much trouble at all but as we all know preventative maintenance is a lot less hassle than letting things go.

 

So I have just replaced the timing belt and tensioner along with the water pump. Whilst I was there I've changed the metal water pipe down by the chassis leg that looked like it had been down with the titanic.

The lower water pipes had seen better days so swapped those along with the radiator with one of the oe replacements that Tom Fenton recommended.

 

At this point I reused the thermoswitch from the old rad as it was working before, just replacing the washer so it didn't leak.

 

So today I fired the old girl up letting it get up to temperature to make sure everything was working ok. But this is where my questions start. I left the resovoir cap off and let it idle up to temp but the water temp gauge on the dash failed to rise past the first marker. I let it run a while longer keeping an eye on the water level until the cooling fan would come on......but it didn't.

 

Now I'm wondering whether the thermoswitch is faulty and or the fan resistor but would this also make the gauge not work on the dash? Or am I completely over looking the obvious?

 

I know this is a long post but hoping someone could point me in the right direction. I did try the search function but found similar problems but not quite the same as mine.

 

Thanks in advance

Steve.

[luggy 13]

Put the resevoir cap back on, rev the engine between 1.5 and 2k to get the coolant circulating, as the pump isnt exactly very efficient at idle, bleed the air out of the system via the 2 bleed points. If you still dont get any reading from the temp gauge check the connection at the thermostat housing.

[Stephen W 12 1 Cars]

Hi luggy thanks for the reply. I did bleed it on the small hose for the heater but didn't realise there was 2 so will locate the other one and try that.

By the connection on the thermostat housing is this the blue plug one? The ecu temp sensor? I also replaced this whilst doing the other bits. I'll have a look and check that also.

 

Thanks Steve

[luggy 13]

Hi luggy thanks for the reply. I did bleed it on the small hose for the heater but didn't realise there was 2 so will locate the other one and try that.

By the connection on the thermostat housing is this the blue plug one? The ecu temp sensor? I also replaced this whilst doing the other bits. I'll have a look and check that also.

 

Thanks Steve

The 2nd bleed point is on the outlet pipe from the thermostat, either a plastic or brass screw, if its plastic Id be very careful as they have a habit of shearing so if in doubt leave it.

No not the blue ecu temp sensor, they're located at the back of the thermostat housing, Id leave that as the last option as you haven't been working in that area.

[Stephen W 12 1 Cars]

Thankyou luggy! It's not always the simple things but this time it is. I found the 2nd bleed screw which was a caphead bolt so may of been changed in the past. The issue was an airlock and once bled up correctly the gauge rose as normal and then the fan kicked in.

 

Very pleased now just means I need tackle the rest of the jobs!

 

Thanks again