1996 Skoda Felicia 1.3 5door hatch..

Hi people! I have an issue and I'm not too sure where to look :S please help...

Today I was sitting in traffic and the temperature kept rising and rising, I then put the heater on full blast (HOT) and the temp dropped down... the temperature also seemed to drop when I was driving but was rising non stop when sat in traffic in one place...

I checked:

water resevoir and topped this up

I don't see the fan working, maybe this could be part of the issue

I checked the oil levels and topped this up too

radiator hoses, not any visible leaks and the water i filled up is still at max

Edited 4 October, 201015 yr by nwskoda

sounds perfectly normal!

The fan should cut in by about 105^oC - if it doesn't at all I'd first check the fuse (fuse 17) is OK and that all the wiring connections to the sensor/switch in the radiator and the fan itself are good. If that all checks out then either the switch or the fan itself has failed (most likely the switch).

From what you've said the thermostat and head gasket are probably fine still but the Skoda engine does not take kindly to overheating and the temperature getting into the red for any length of time is generally A Bad Thing. It is normal for the temperature to go up and down a bit on the 1.3 - hopefully not as much as it used to when it relied on pumping 12 litres of coolant to the other end of the car and back, though

^^ I agree; check the fuse, then see if the fan runs when you put current straight from the battery across it.

It if does, then it's the radiator thermo-switch or wiring. If it doesn't, you need a new fan. Simples.

thanks for the quick replies... will be checking the fuse and fan tonight... it hasn't hit the red yet, the most I let it get up to was above halfway then I turned the fan heater on full blast and it came back down to around 70-75C.

optimal operating temperature is around 100C?, as Robin stated the fan wont kick in until 105C, until that point it will let itsself warm up. as long as the fan does indeed kick in at that point you shouldnt have any issues

a decent anti-freeze is always reccomended though, especially as its coming to winter

get an old paperclip and use it to connect the 2 spade terminals together that go onto the switch, this should make the fan start up (keep fingers and anything that you dont want damaged well away from it)

if the fan runs then it is most likely the thermo switch (usually is) if the fan does not run it may be the fuse , the fan motor or the earth wire to the fan