Purchased a fabia 2006 it's a 1.2 engine,my son's just sent me a pic said temp gauge going higher than 90 which is normally where it sits when at idle ,do they go higher and how high is too high?

Spoiler

 

 

Probably thermostat failing. 

Are both radiator hoses hot near the radiator?

Radiator fan may also have problems. 

 

3 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Probably thermostat failing. 

Are both radiator hoses hot near the radiator?

Radiator fan may also have problems. 

 

Thanks,my son's out at the moment,but will check tomorrow and let you know,the 2nd pic is the highest it goes,but it then drops back to halfway at 90......or unless he puts heaters on

Is the thermostat easy job,may just replace it with it being an inexpensive item,but today I had the car idling for around 20 minutes+ and it never moved over 90....just when he's driving it.

I would investigate the radiator fan function first. Does the car have A/C, and if so does it work?

Edited 26 March, 20233 yr by Breezy_Pete

Will check if it works, only had the car a few days,just a run around get my son work and back,done 81k and really tidy.

If it has A/C that does work it gives a quick way of checking the radiator fan(s).

Within a minute or so of switching on A/C the fan should start up at low speed (relatively quiet).

If instead it does nothing for a longer time then comes on at full speed (loud!), you probably have a failed low speed function on the fan.

It's triggered via the refrigerant pressure when A/C is on, so no need to have hot engine to try this.

 

I've messaged my lad see if he can check it ,be in touch soon as he does,thanks for your help.

If the A/C isn't working well enough to trigger any such activity, this image should help you to test instead by linking contacts of the radiator thermoswitch connector (daylight job, and not that easy to access, approx 100mm above radiator bottom hose connection):

 

Edited 26 March, 20233 yr by Breezy_Pete

Thanks 👍

Ok..... just spoke to my lad.

AC don't work,no fans come on.

Temp went to 130 he switched engine off,then back on ..... immediately,  and gauge was showing 90....which is weird as he said he turned off the engine and back on within seconds.

He also took expansion/coolant tank cap off when it was showing 130(car switched off)

He said cap came off normal,no pressure or anything,  don't know why because it should have some pressure.

And he said coolant was hot,not boiling or anything,it was hot too touch like it would if it was at 90,but car was at 130.

Also when temp gauge goes over 90 heaters go cold.

Cars had a new radiator,as it can be seen,and he is not 100% but he thinks when he brought it,seller may have mentioned it had a new thermostat,but not 100% on that.

Sounding much more like a simple coolant temperature sensor/connection/wiring fault now.

When I read the bit about the cabin heating going cold at the same time as the very high indicated temps, I couldn't imagine what could be going on with the coolant (which flows through the matrix all the time, regardless of settings).

 

Then it occurred to me that there might be a safety interlock which prevents cabin air being directed through the heater matrix if the coolant temperature is being measured at e.g. >120C.

No idea if that really is 'a thing', but it could be.

Thanks,I have vcds so can do a output test and check if the fans are working, otherwise I'm going get car warmed up in next couple of hours and see what is what.

Please let me know where you find output tests for the rad fan(s), I just failed to do so. 

 

Yes will do

The cars been parked over night,I've literally started it and coolant temp has shot up to halfway at 90 and vcds is showing 67.5 and it's been running for around 2 minutes .... coolant in expansion bottle is Ice cold as you would expect 

Heaters are warm already,not hot but warm 

No coolant is flowing through this pipe,which it should I think 

Start by changing or temporarily removing the thermostat to eliminate that from your enquiries.

Both pipes coming from rear of engine, from bulkhead are hot,2 other pipes just above gearbox are hot,top rad pipe is hot, bottom rad pipe is warm.

Vcds temp is now showing 79.5

I'm sure it's been 10-15 minutes now.

Heaters seem ok.

80 degrees is on the low side, the thermostat will still be shut if that temperature is accurate.

The ECT sensor may be taking a dump.

19 minutes ago, vw754 said:

No coolant is flowing through this pipe,which it should I think 

 

I'd expect a trickle from that hose, increasing a little when engine revved.

Coolant temp on vcds is now 103.5

Heaters now cold all pipes are hot

 

Heaters now hot again 

Sounds like the system has an airlock somewhere...