Overheating on motorway.

[rlees85]

on the way back from work - not too far on the motorway (say 30 miles max) well just near my junction to exit and i noticed the temprature gauge was right in the red...

scared the poo outta me because on my car it NEVER moves from one point about half way up the gauge.. let alone right in the sodding red!!!!!

just wondered: can giving the car too much stick on a motorway, on a day like this, cause this to happen? or should i start looking for coolant system faults grr

 

[tse_adam]

oh today's weather could be the sole reason for your car to overheat but of course it is also recommended to check for coolant level, pipes etc.

dont panic just yet.......

 

[rlees85]

coolant level is fine, was bubbling like a biatch in the reseviour tank lol

 

[Ed]

Wait for car to cool check level then fill if needs be if it does it again do a compression test to check car if that seems ok change the thermostat as a starting point.

 

[rlees85]

thanks for the replies. ill keep an eye on things and basically do what ed says if it starts acting up again.

i noticed yestoday when i changed the plugs the gaps were not big enough nor there the plugs tighted up to even near the right torque so ive now set the gaps to 1.1mm and tightened each plug to the torque in the haynes manual (so the plugs are now completely textbook - dont know if that will help!)

 

[Antony]

ive never known my car to even get halfway up the guage.... even whilst thrashing the living snot out of it....... and the fan never comes on... ever.:suspect:

 

[RIK]

i wish i had a temp gauge on my car you should think yourself lucky you know when your cars hot

 

[rlees85]

true rik... nah mines never moved over half before thats y its #### me up abit...

i just took it out again and gave it a right tonne of #### but i cant get it to overheat again - engine fan wont even come on...

i hope its a one off... / that or i fixed it now by having a mess about earlier

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right well on the way to work this morning (30miles odd) the gauge didnt move away from the normal operating temprature - infact the engine fan didnt even come on!

could it just be my coolant is weak and cant handle the hot weather (maybe as it needs a change? its the green stuff and its been in for 20,000 now i think) thanks

 

[Igloo]

my temp bar stays about half way, Yet whenever i stop the fan kicks in, even if im stopped at a junction for about 20 seconds.

Is this right? facelift K11

 

[hughes_16v]

doubt it will be the weather, regardless of the temperture at 70mph the wind chill is cold. stick your hand out the window for a few seconds and youll know. i have to drive around with my temp gauge always on red.... my gauge works backwards

 

[rlees85]

i drove back today, nice and carefully (70-80 mph in 5th) in the same scorching heat and it seemed happy altho i think it was starting to creep as i was gna leave the motorway but wasnt noticeable really, it cudda been me being paranoid.

going to get the coolant changed 2nite or tmr!

 

[GuyWood]

Mine's started doing exactly the same thing. Cruise all day at 80 but cruise at 90-95 and the needle goes upto about 1/4" from the red. If I then slow down a bit, it goes back to normal and stays there.

I'm pretty sure it's something to do with the thermostat because it's been stuck open for the last 25,000 miles ie takes ages to heat up in the morning. I bought a new one about 15,000 miles ago but never got round to fitting it. Guess I'd better do it tomorrow .

 

[rlees85]

well touch wood mine aint done it sinse i done the coolant and yeah i have "tested" it at high-rpm...

try changing ur coolant... i seen some1s car about blow up on the motorway today and it wasnt nice :/

 

[Fordy]

what spark plugs do yo have in it?
is the engine a coil pack one,
if so you need the fr8dcx spark plugs as stated here as these are much better suited to the coil pack engine

and trust me they are better than the ngk bkr5e as the heat range is different