I bought a Laurin and Klement 110 TDI recently and it runs great apart from this one issue.

I've read a lot of threads about overheating but none match the symptoms my car is exhibiting.

On the open road the temperature gauge stays at a steady 90C even up long hills and at high speed.

I went home over the mountains last night, some nasty passes that required 2nd gear at some points and the coolant temperature rocketed.

I've checked the water pump impeller through the thermostat hole, tested the thermostat and drained and refilled the coolant.

It seems to behave better without the thermostat even though it tests ok in a hot pan.

Any ideas?

Edited 22 August, 20169 yr by eye_flys

Firstly, is the coolant level OK? It should be half-way up the round white bottle.

 

Next, if that's OK, does one of the radiator fans run on low speed with the Climatronic in "Auto" mode? Also, when the temperature was high, did you hear the fans cutting in using "high speed" mode? If either of these is a no, I think you have an issue with the fans and/or thermoswitches for them.

 

If the coolant is low and the fans work correctly, I'm afraid that you may have a failing head gasket, so get the coolant analysed for combustion gases.

I bought a Laurin and Klement 110 TDI recently and it runs great apart from this one issue.

I've read a lot of threads about overheating but none match the symptoms my car is exhibiting.

On the open road the temperature gauge stays at a steady 90C even up long hills and at high speed.

I went home over the mountains last night, some nasty passes that required 2nd gear at some points and the coolant temperature rocketed.

I've checked the water pump impeller through the thermostat hole, tested the thermostat and drained and refilled the coolant.

It seems to behave better without the thermostat even though it tests ok in a hot pan.

Any ideas?

It could be a blocked radiator. Have you flushed it out with a hose pipe? If the flow is clear then I'm affraid it could very possibly be the head gasket as KenONeill stated, and a sniff test is required to confirm this. I had my head gasket replace just over a month ago, as my problem was after putting the engine under a load for prolonged periods of time, it would loose coolant (but never overheat). It was blown from the cylinder on 3 and 4 into the water ways. You can buy head gasket sniff tester kits on eBay for approx £30 I bought one and it confirmed head gasket.

Thanks for the useful replies. I have a recon head and head gasket set in stock so if the worst comes to the worst it won't be too expensive.

I'll look into getting a sniff tester, didn't realise they were available relatively cheaply.

Thanks for the useful replies. I have a recon head and head gasket set in stock so if the worst comes to the worst it won't be too expensive.

I'll look into getting a sniff tester, didn't realise they were available relatively cheaply.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/COMBUSTION-LEAK-TESTER-KIT-for-DIESEL-HEAD-GASKET-BLOCK-FX-53D-100ml-FLUID-/272200137008?hash=item3f60647930:g:f7UAAOSw9KpXArSc

 

This is the one I bought.

Edited 22 August, 20169 yr by Guest