Hi everybody...

I have a Fabia 1.9 TDI and it

before getting the air-con regassed check all the fuses expecially the ones on top of the battery...

if the air isn't getting hot, it will be either caused by the temperature control flap behind the dash or by the fact that the hot water isn't getting to the heater matrix because of an air lock...

try running the engine from cold untill it's hot hot! with the cap off the coolant expansion tank. this should disperse the air trapped inside

the fans not coming on is either caused be not enough coolant in the radiator (could also be caused by an air lock) or its the rad fan switch on fuse/relay or associated wiring

i'm sure that sombody will disagree with this, but the coolant should only expand inside the system if there is a leak or air is being let in to the system somewhere, possibly the heater hoses

I'm interested in this too - on mine the thermostat had gone, which caused the engine to overheat but WITHOUT showing an above normal temperature, rest seems about the same i.e. boiling out of the reservoir, then the light comes on, that kinda stuff.

The only thing that is different is that on mine (vRS PD130+) the two fans come on slowly when the aircon is turned on, but I'm not convinced the high speed fans are coming on, will still have to investigate that.

Regarding coolant expansion - basically it should not leave the system BUT if the pressure builds up a lot (which it does when significantly overheated), the coolant gets released via the expansion bottle, it has an overflow on it.

I am still not convinced there is a problem with my headgasket as a result of this, and the fact you're seeing similar behaviour related to the fans makes me wonder about this once again.

In your case you do want to check out the fuses for sure, on the fans, your resistor pack may have gone which means the fans go between off and high speed, pulsing, which apparently kills them. If the fans are actually broken it won't be cheap either unfortunately.

I'll try to remember to dig up the link on this when I finally get home tonight, if not, please post back with your findings on the fuses, when you turn on the aircon the fans should come on after a little while (about 10 seconds IIRC on mine), and turn off after a little while (again about 10 seconds) when you turn off the aircon.

PS regarding cost the parts (minus regas) aren't too expensive, about a tenner for the thermostat, dunno about the switch bit. You'll want the washers etc too I suppose but I reckon about 50 quid should cover all that at retail price + with a safety margin

Thanks for the helpful posts guys... WW_VRS.. will get back to you tomorrow night as not had time.

Regards

Jamie

Cool no problem, I've relayed the info to the peeps trying to get mine sorted as well, and they're now wondering if there is a second switch that is faulty for whatever reason. Boy I hope so, head gasket is 450ish quid so would like to avoid it

I've had both fan motors replaced under warranty on my 04 Fabia vRS - apparently their failure is pretty common on TDi Golfs with this engine too.

Mine only tried to overheat once when I had the aircon on on a hot day - the fans also help to cool the aircon compressor which is mounted directly behind the secondary one (hence why they should come on when the aircon switch is pushed).

Is it possible you've toasted the compressor? Don't know....my aircon compressor must have got bloody hot but so far appear to have got away with it.......

if the air isn't getting hot, it will be either caused by the temperature control flap behind the dash or by the fact that the hot water isn't getting to the heater matrix because of an air lock...

try running the engine from cold untill it's hot hot! with the cap off the coolant expansion tank. this should disperse the air trapped inside

After installing a Kenlowe HotStart pre-heater you have to bleed the air out of the cooling system. On my Fabia vRS I found this meant revving the engine to 3000 RPM to get enough flow to clear bubbles out of the heater matrix. That made it a 2-man job - one on the accelerator and one under the bonnet.

PS regarding cost the parts (minus regas) aren't too expensive, about a tenner for the thermostat, dunno about the switch bit.

An air con regas shouldn't be more than about 65 quid. You can buy a DIY kit in Halfords for a penny less than 40. If you did that, you'd fill it up on the low pressure side (to the right of the compressor if you're stood facing the engine)

Is it possible you've toasted the compressor? Don't know....my aircon compressor must have got bloody hot but so far appear to have got away with it.......

Considering the air con works on a heat pump principle, the compressor gets pretty darn hot when it's working (i.e. making cold air). Therefore, I wouldn't have thought the extra waste heat in the engine bay from when the engine overheated would have hurt it in any way...

I think the opposite happened - ie the latent heat from the working compressor in the engine bay caused the engine to overheat as the fans weren't working to keep the engine and compressor cool. The engine kept cool even with no fans on a baking hot day, so long as I left the aircon off.....

It's an interesting theory. :rubchin:

How about the extra load required by the compressor being "on" (it's never really off on the Fabia) being just enough to tip the engine cooling over the edge???

Hi guys.. took it to a dealer and the mechanic thought that the waterpump isn't working. He also advised me that the timing belt (>60k) should be replaced as retensioning the existing one would not be a good idea. Labour's the big expense as getting to these items takes a while. All for £280

The mechanic was kind enough to spend a good 15 minutes explaing this to me and he seemed genuinely knowledgeable and not after ripping me off. However he wasn't 100% sure the pump is at fault only 90%....

He is sure it's not any electrical fault.

Any thoughts?? Tempted to tell him to get on with it but £280's a killer for me

TBH If you go through the trouble of stripping the car down to get to the pump, you may as well replace it.

Other parts to check are the thermostat + thermostatic fan switch, and the fuse.

It IS a common fault that supposedly has been fixed (although apparently not in all cases) with the resistor failing causing a pulsed fan between off and high speed, which in turn causes other faults.