In the past few weeks my felicia has been overheating, and no body knows whats wrong with it. Took it to the garage and first they changed the thermostat, didnt work and then they told me that the radiator is blocked and I need to replace it. As I am a student and short for money I have tried flushing it to see if I can unblock it but it turend out its not blocked.

I have even took the whole radiator with the fan out and looked for any damages or anything, then I put it on level surface and put some hot water in to see if the whole radiator warms up and it did and water came out the other end fine and not even dirty or anything.

Now I have no idea what is wrong with it, the water pump is working, the thermostat is brand new and original, the radiator is not blocked but still the water is not cooling the engine as it is not going round.

There are two main pipes going into the radior, the one on the bottom is cold and the other is hot, before when it was fine they were both warm but not hot as the water was going into the radiator and cooling it down.

Any ideas what might be wrong with it? thanks

Have you physically checked the water pump? You can usually tell if it's working by taking the big pipe off and water will come out in a swirly motion.

The inlet pipe (on the left) to the rad should be hot - the other should be warm (on the right). Get a hose pipe, take the pipe off the engine, and blast it down the rubber pipe into the radiator with the other hose off - do it both ways through all the pipes on the rad. It really looks as though water isn't getting through properly.

The other option is head gasket failure, which is by no means terminal or even expensive, but the mechanic would've spotted that.

Have you physically checked the water pump? You can usually tell if it's working by taking the big pipe off and water will come out in a swirly motion.

The inlet pipe (on the left) to the rad should be hot - the other should be warm (on the right). Get a hose pipe, take the pipe off the engine, and blast it down the rubber pipe into the radiator with the other hose off - do it both ways through all the pipes on the rad. It really looks as though water isn't getting through properly.

The other option is head gasket failure, which is by no means terminal or even expensive, but the mechanic would've spotted that.

Thank you for your help

I have checked all the pipes and I have even tried flushing it as you have described. Today I have took the engine cap off and found out that its covered in white, this perfectly shows that its the head gasket.

Dont know how the mechanic didnt spot that but theres nothing else that which could be wrong.

thanks

It's normal on those for a little bit of White sludge on the bottom of oil filler cap, it's just condensation.. So don't go condemning the car based on what you found.

If one of your pipes on the radiator is not getting warm it proves 100% that coolant is not passing through it, there is something subtle going on with your thermostat, maybe the little plastic bridge that holds the pin in the thermostat has broken... The first thing I would do is whip the thermostat out and carefully inspect the covercfor signs of damage... Then run it up without the thermostat fitted and see if it still over heats.... A new thermostat housing is about £30 from gsf and that comes supplied with a new coolant sensor too.

I seriously doubt that the head gasket has gone tbh.... That isn't something they often suffer with on that engine.

It's normal on those for a little bit of White sludge on the bottom of oil filler cap, it's just condensation.. So don't go condemning the car based on what you found.

If one of your pipes on the radiator is not getting warm it proves 100% that coolant is not passing through it, there is something subtle going on with your thermostat, maybe the little plastic bridge that holds the pin in the thermostat has broken... The first thing I would do is whip the thermostat out and carefully inspect the covercfor signs of damage... Then run it up without the thermostat fitted and see if it still over heats.... A new thermostat housing is about £30 from gsf and that comes supplied with a new coolant sensor too.

I seriously doubt that the head gasket has gone tbh.... That isn't something they often suffer with on that engine.

Here is a picture of the iol filler cap

https://twitter.com/#!/otahedervary/status/169039813079609344/photo/1/large

Yes spot on that the coolant is not getting through. The thermostat is original from a Skoda garage so itshould be fine, I will have a look at the plastic bridge bt I think they would have spotted that in the garage when changin the thermostat. Have a look at the picture and tell me what you think, thanks

ok...whip the rocker cover off and have a look, think its either a 5mm or 6mm allen key... get a pic then post it up

ok...whip the rocker cover off and have a look, think its either a 5mm or 6mm allen key... get a pic then post it up

I cant get it off lol are there any more bolts to undo apart from them three on the top? Or am I realy weak and thick?

Here is a picture where I am so far, I have even looked at the oil level checker and after wiping it a putting it back it seemed as there is water in it - wasnt black but brown mixed with white.

https://twitter.com/#!/otahedervary/status/169097503256489984/photo/1/large

That dipstick could mean something. Still sounds like thermostat, recently fitted a brand new one to the fun--not vw part, can`t remember whose but nearly £20.

Never worked at all just overheated. Used a second hand one, perfect.

As tom says take it out.

Edited 13 February, 201214 yr by rolo

give it a thump with a mallet of something else soft, they get pretty stuck on over the years