srane4213

the fan blades were not damaged and are working as they should.....however....yesterday on the highway...I was cruising and around 90-100 kmph and I could see the temp gauge needle starting to cross the 90 deg mark.....so I switched off the AC and started slowing down...and the needle went down to the normal position.....Also this was after the car had been running for and hour or so.....and yes there was a little coolant loss.....it was just below the minimum mark on the expansion tank but I didn't get a warning on the cluster....now I'm super confused as to what might be the problem??

I thank the car gods for this....my timing belt never snapped.....just the tensioner gave away....and car started making all sorts of weird noises.....luckily I was not moving....I was waiting at a traffic signal when this happened....I drove a short distance (~50 meters) to just bring the car to the side of the road.....opened up the TB Cover....and saw tensioner hanging loose.....tightened it up and it was seized up...but timing of the engine was still intact...so towed the car from there....

Hi Burhan..... Take it from me...better not to wait for a TB change. If it breaks it can wreak havoc. Also when you change the TB, change the tensioner, idler pulleys and also the water pump to be safe. My tensioner gave away when I was leaving for a long trip.....I had inspected the TB visually and it was in good condition and also I could see the TB was changed when my car had done 70k kms. But the previous owner skipped the tensioner change.....as a result I was stranded midway on my trip and had to get my car towed to the workshop.

Hey Guys, an update.... Was still leaking coolant so decided to have a pressure test done on the cooling system. The radiator was leaking from a corner....have rectified the issue by repairing the radiator and drove for around 65-70 kms today.....no leakage as of now and the car has not overheated since...….only issue I faced was that the power steering pump hose which runs from the reservoir to the PS Pump was brushing against the fan blade and had developed a hole which was leaking the PS Fluid. Luckily had an extra hose in the boot of the car, so changed the leaky hose and topped up the PS Fluid....had to drive the car with very low PS Fluid for around 3 kms till I could find a spares shop topped it up and all is good since. Will update regarding the coolant leakage issue in a few hundred kms.

I had checked the cylinder head for straightness and it was proper (I don't know the exact terms for these but since I was on a budget I did all these jobs myself) . Before installing the head, I had cleaned all the oil, coolant passages. And yes the old HG was damaged. Attaching a pic for your ref.

Guys an update. The car overheated yesterday on the highway I flushed the coolant and changed it again with G12 coolant.....it's not overheating as of now but I have run the car on city roads only after flushing the coolant yesterday. Attaching a pic of the drained coolant for your ref. Also attaching a pic of the engine head which was taken during the HG change.

They run on the low speed mode initially and switch to high speed for a short while on highway runs.....

I have a similar issue on my Octy 1.9 Tdi Alh Initially I was loosing coolant and a alarming range, I had to top up the expansion tank every 15-20 kms. (The car was not overheating at this point) I got the radiator opened and cleaned and it was almost 50% blocked. The issue still persisted after this, so I checked the thermostat and it was stuck in closed position even in boiling water. As a temporary fix while I waited for the new thermostat to arrive, I went ahead and ran the car without the thermostat for a few days. The conditions were better for a few days initially and the car stopped overheating (the car ran a lot cooler than it was supposed to though). This might be because of coolant getting circulated even without the reaching the desired temp. But even then I had to refill the coolant after 350-400 kms. So I suspected the heater core as I could feel the passenger side carpet and it was wet most of the time (Got to know later on that the door seal was leaking). After this I bypassed the heater core for testing purposes, and still I was loosing the coolant but not at a very high rate (car was overheating sometimes randomly). I had to top it up very 350-400 kms but this time I found oil in the coolant. To tackle this issue I bypassed the oil cooler as well and post this car ran fine in city traffic but used to overheat on highways randomly, but when the 2nd stage of rad fans kicked in the temp. used to come down below the 90 deg. mark on the cluster. One fine day, the car began overheating in city traffic as well and the temp. warning popped up on the cluster. Next day I checked the oil filler cap and I could see water in oil. So, changed the Head Gasket, Water Pump, Timing kit, Serpentine belt, got the radiator cleaned again and installed a new oil cooler along with a thermostat. Now after all this, the car runs fine doesn't overheat at all the radiator fans kick in when they're supposed to the AC runs normally. The only thing still bypassed is the heater core and I'm still loosing the coolant every 300 kms or so....I have to top up the expansion tank with approx. 1 Lit. . Any ideas as to what might be wrong?? Sorry for the long post. TL;DR Car overheats, changed HG, WP, Refurbished Radiator, New Oil Cooler, New thermostat, bypassed heater core....car doesn't overheat now but still loosing coolant. P.S The old head gasket was damaged. If needed I can post a pic.

You might wanna check the brightness level switch, the one next to the headlamp level switch. It might have failed. I had the same issue in my Octy. If it is the culprit, you can change it, as an alternative and a quick fix, you can short the 2 wires of the connector to the switch, but that will result in 100% brightness all the time.

Might be the alternator pulley as I have the same issue, it is a one way pulley and hence the sound might be an indication of the one way clutch mechanism failing.

Is it safe to bypass it as a temporary fix or will it have any adverse long term issues?

The oil is looking completely fine.... there's no water in oil.... I've inspected the dipstick and the filler cap. Just the level was a bit on the lower side which I've topped up.

Hi guys! I have a Octavia Mk1 1.9 Tdi Pd. I have been having overheating issues which were solved by getting the radiator cleaned (internally). I got the rad cleaned, drained the old coolant, flushed the system, and refilled with the correct type of coolant (G12). There is no visible white smoke from the exhaust at start-up, or when the engine is at its operating temp. (90 deg according to the temp gauge on cluster). Today while driving I got the coolant low warning lamp (Warning lamp blinking accompanied by 3 beeps). So, I let the car cool down, and opened the reservoir cap only to find muck (oil mixed with coolant) in the tank (pic attached from the internet but mine looks somewhat similar). I am suspecting the oil cooler which is situated below the oil filter has failed internally which is letting the high pressure oil into the cooling system. My question is, if I am unable to source the oil cooler immediately can I bypass the same as a temporary fix? Also, there is normal amount of oil in the intercooler so I know the turbo seals have not gone bad. Had cleaned the intercooler 5k kms back. But the oil level on dipstick was low, have topped it up for now. I'm guessing this is the only place from which the oil seems to be escaping. The car has done 94K kms till date. Thanks in advance. Regards Shreyas Rane