Hi guys,

Today l bought a wee 51 plate 8v classic fabia and on the drive home about 55 miles l have noticed two faults.

The first fault concerns the heater. When set at 22c tge air blows warm for about 15 miles then it blows cold without adjustment. I immediately thought head gasket but the car had plenty coolant in header tank and tank was warm to the touch. I slowly in increments loosened the header tank cap incase of back pressure but there was none.

The liquid in the header tank was at the right level and luke warm. I felt the radiator and it felt cold bar the top right hand corner looking from the front of car where the hose joins the radiator to the engine.

I put the cap back on and started the car and the heating started working again.

My question is would a failing head gasket cause these symptoms ( no water in oil mayonnaise or steam in tail pipe) or should l be looking elsewhere for the culprit?

My second query concerns the power steering. Just as l got home and turned into my street the steering got heavy then went back to normal is this the steering angle sensor being a git?

Thanks in advance for any tips and advice.

Yes, steering angle sensor, No, more likely the thermostat has been removed or is stuck open.

Thanks sepulchrave your advice is appreciated would the thermostat jammed open not mean that the car temp guage would read cold? My guage goes to halfway and stays there even though cold air comes through heater vents?

Edited 28 January, 201412 yr by colzie64

The power steering can also be affected by a bad earth. The power steering pump draws a lot of current. There is a short lead from the battery negative terminal to the strut tower. Make sure the connection is clean and tight as its a common problem and easy to check/rectify. Also make sure the battery is up to the job.

Thanks sepulchrave your advice is appreciated would the thermostat jammed open not mean that the car temp guage would read cold? My guage goes to halfway and stays there even though cold air comes through heater vents?

 

Ah, in that case it sounds like the hot air flap may be stuck in the air box. Try cycling it from cold to hot and back and forth to try and unstick it.

Thanks for the feedback guys will check earth lead on steering column and the on off motion for heater and report back here :-)

Hi, I agree with the battery comment re power steering issue (I had the same problem on my 2003 fabia 1.9Tdi) and it was the battery that was on its last legs, a new battery cured the problem (There are many garages that will test your battery for you free of charge.)

I think the comment re the hot/cold flap is also probably correct but I would also keep a faulty thermostat in mind as some of the symptoms you point out suggest a thermostat broken in the open position (When a thermostat fails they nearly always fail in the open position.

I hope this helps

regards and good luck

Graham

Hi graham l pulled the thermostat housing apart today and the thermostat fell out in three parts is this normal? I also noticed the two plastic location lugs are broken which l would think would contribute to the heating issues. Is that the case in your opinion mate.

Made a hash of trying to link picture of thermostat as l am using a nexus tablet to post.

Edited 1 February, 201412 yr by colzie64

...l pulled the thermostat housing apart today and the thermostat fell out in three parts is this normal?

 

No, it's broken like I told you originally. Replace it, problem solved.

Thanks sepulchrave l have ordered thermostat and housing with sensor from fleabay... Thanks for your input. :-)

Sorry for late reply I've been doing some work on my car glad you found the problem and no thermostats should not fall out in three pieces.

Well done sorting this problem out for yourself and well done

Regards

Graham