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[kirky1991]

Hi

Could anyone offer me some help. I,well my uncle has a vw golf 1.8,P reg,Petrol and an SE,

Basicly it keeps over heating on small trips that are under 4miles long, any help will be greatly appreciative

Regards
Dan

[CJLee89]

check for a leaking and/or damaged radiator. possibly flush the radiator and fill it with new coolant. check all fluid levels and fill if needed. also make sure your water pump is good.

[_GhOsT_]

also check your thermostat

[kirky1991]

Ok guys, will do ASAP, too dark right now, i'll update when i've done it

[kirky1991]

Done all of the above part from replacing all of coolant fluid and i dont know how to go about hte waterpump, any heads up ?

[CJLee89]

not sure what year the Golf is but maybe do a search on '<year of make> VW golf water pump'. say its a 2000 VW Golf. do a search on '2000 VW Golf water pump troubleshooting'. or something of the sort.

i remember when i had my Civic radiator replaced it had an air bubble in the coolant system causing the temp gauge to read extremely hot. heres what i did to solve this. i let the car cool and started it up. took off the cap of the radiator and revved the engine up to cycle the fluid through the radiator. this got the excess air out and my temp gauge read normal. give this a shot. MAKE SURE THE CAR IS COOLED BEFORE TRYING THIS. YOU COULD END UP SEVERLY BURNED.

EDIT: just thought of something. make sure your radiator fan is running. they will not run all the time, only when the car hits a certain temp. if its not running check the fuse and/or relay.

there are endless possibilities. was your coolant low when you replaced it? check your oil and make sure there isnt coolant or water in the oil. even the temp sender might have gone bad as well.

[_GhOsT_]

heater core could also be clogged
thats what happend on my jetta (still need to replace it)

[Tripme]

I used to have a 99 Jetta.  My started overheating just like yours.  The rotors on the waterpump had basically exploded in the housing....(cheap plastic).  See if you can have that checked.

[jesterrace777]

Who was it who was talking about the fit and finish on VWs?  

[rms2001]

QUOTE(jesterrace777 @ May 1 2007, 02:00 AM)

Who was it who was talking about the fit and finish on VWs?  

 

Ya Ya, I can find some thing wrong with every car too. Common problems are common problems with any car. Maybe it be Toyota’s 22RE engine and antifreeze in the oil or VW busted water pump. Still wouldn’t stop my from buying  VW though.

[kirky1991]

Heya

It has been a while but we have fitted a new water pump etc but it still hasnt worked, Any know if a head gasket replacement is easy ? i think it is over head cam so it'll be a bitch cause of the timeing etc, i think that though....so it may not be over head.

Regards
Dan

[CJLee89]

have you checked the oil to see if theres any unusual fluids in it?

and im not sure how to go about the head gasket. try to get a hayes repair book for your year Golf. found at your local autoparts store. even online.

[kirky1991]

Hhhmm, dunno bout he oil, But what would it mean if there was an usual fluid ?

Weh have a hainsmanual for it somewhere, we've had a qoute for around £300    so we are gonna see what we find out first

[CJLee89]

like anti-freeze, coolant, water, anything thats not oil. lol. water definately isnt good. after water has been in the oil for awhile it will turn to acid.

i would look at and fix (if need be) the cheapest things first. so you arent spending money if you dont have to. what year is your golf?

the haynes repair manual might have a trouble shooting section in it. if it does, look for over heating.

i did some googling on overheating VW's. most common things to check is water pump, thermostat, and head gaskets. i did see that the gaskets are not easy or cheap to replace.

found this:

QUOTE

First of all, lets try basic checks first before going into heavy tasks.It could be that the thermostat is not opening-faulty. Run the engine from cold for about 15-25 mins, have a hand feel of the upper and lower black water hoses (do this carefully water hose may be hot).If the bottom hose feel cooler than the upper hose, then thermo. is faulty. If that is ok, while engine is running, let somebody give the throttle a sudden burst and observe the hoses visually if they expand and contract suddenly. If this is the case, then you know your water pump is ok.Check your cooling fans, make sure second speed works (second speed is much faster). It could also be that your pressure cap on expansion tank is not able to raise the water boiling point. At this stage,if the above is all ok, i will suggest you visit a competent workshop for help.

[hamwbone]

Does the radiator fan on that car run all the time? If its not belt driven and it's electric it might not be turning on at slow speeds. When you go on longer/faster trips the radiator might be getting enough air on its fins to keep it cool. Some cars have a radiator fan switch assy/relay that can go bad. Just a thought. Also along those lines of slow speed overheating, did you have an oil change recently and did they damage/ or throw away completly the plastic that has to be removed to access the oil filter from under the car? this can also cause misdirected airflow bypassing the radiator