Hi I have a Skoda Felice Fun, its was all going well till a week ago when I broke down on the M25 on the way back to Devon. It was the thermostat the AA man took it out and did a test to see if the head gasket had gone, he said it hadn't it took age's to get air out of the system but we eventually got it out and he let me go. Since then i have had to use it around locally i haven't done the thermostat yet but it is over heating the fan is working and there's no sign of oil in the water or water in the oil. Can anyone help? I know I need to do the thermostat but it should be running colder now not over heating.

Hi,

Your car broke down - but surely this must be something else than just a faulty thermostat? What were the symptoms?

Did the AA man remove the stat? In that case I agree that your car should be running colder now. However, you could still have an airlock, see this thread:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/felicia-fun-forman/over-heating/86704/

Or parts from the plastic stat house or the plastic water pump impeller could have broke loose and interfer with tha coolant flow?

it didn't break down stop, it over heated and i stopped it before it died. will look at the other post, do you think it will hurt if i put normal water in it while i do some tests, the water where i live is very soft.

Bog-standard (non-longlife) coolant is onl a few quid, so it might be better to play it safe while you're trying to diagnose the fault. Assuming you get it sorted, you'll want to drain and refill with the good stuff of course (G12 / G12+)

Further to that, how's the water pump? Would explain why it's overheating even though the thermostat's been removed...

any simple way to test the water pump?

If there's no thermostat and the water pump is working, then the coolant should circulate freely through the radiator and should not overheat - especially if the fan is working as you say it is. So this points into the direction of a faulty pump.

Try to start and leave the engine idling. Do all coolant hoses, radiator, and so on warm up evenly? If so, the water pump is probably working.

Any suspicious noise from the water pump (badly worn bearings?)

:iagree:

You are certain the stat's out of it, just in case the problem's a stat that's failed closed?

yep the AA man gave it to me.

its not quite as simple as my old tractor. i need a

manual.

Ok squeezed pipes top and bottom yesterday the top one was far hotter than the bottom. went for a half hour drive today all seemed good got to just below half way on the heat gauge. left idle for a few mins got hot fan came on it got to happy medium but when i revved it while idle it got cooler. I'm still thinking the pumps worn and a bit of an airlock.

Ok squeezed pipes top and bottom yesterday the top one was far hotter than the bottom. went for a half hour drive today all seemed good got to just below half way on the heat gauge. left idle for a few mins got hot fan came on it got to happy medium but when i revved it while idle it got cooler. I'm still thinking the pumps worn and a bit of an airlock.

This sounds as pretty normal temp gague behaviour: half way when on the run and fan coming in after a few minutes idling. But of course there still might be air left in the system, and donät forget the heater matrix - take a drive with heater on maximum (full circulation).

What engine do you have? If the 1.6, when is the cam belt due for change? Good idea to change the water pump at the same time.

right, i had this with my 1.6. the stat does more than you think, it regulates the temp rather than just opening when hot and closing when cold.

when the AA man took mine out, it would stay cold all the time, but when i sat in traffic, it would over heat.

solved it by pulling over and squeezing the pipes till both were hot. this will help, but she will never run right without a stat.

o and yer, run your heater on full blast while squeezing the coolant pipes.

Thanks for all your help ive found it was the water impellor, It had fallen off.

all sorted now. thanks again.

:iagree: By the way, have you replaced the thermostat now?