A bit of history: a couple of years ago it overheated to the point of beeping and flashing engine lights. Workshop said it was the water pump, changed it and the belts. Said they needed to spend time getting pump bits out of the radiator etc.\
Last year had some overheating problems again, my usual workshop said the water pump was weeping (I certainly was). It found that a split in the small coolant pipe that goes from the thermostat housing back to the heater core. There was just enough slack in the pipe for me to cut it and put it back on. It worked ok for a while.
Now I have issues where the temperature gauge needle swings wildly from half-way up to the top. The radiator fan runs almost constantly on full speed but -- this is the trick -- the top radiator hose is hot but the radiator itself is cold. The heater core is bloody hot, so coolant is getting around.
I've changed the thermostat, tested it in a saucepan and it opens, and flushed the radiator. Twice.
There may be a small leak in the radiator, but it remaining cold is confusing me.
Any ideas or suggestions?
As an aside I just started a new job with a long-is commute, about 30 minutes in city traffic and about 40 minutes highway. The car is averaging 6.0 litres per 100km and is running well apart from the overheating. It's got 220,000km on the odometer. I just changed the oil and it does not have water in it.
Last year had some overheating problems again, my usual workshop said the water pump was weeping (I certainly was). It found that a split in the small coolant pipe that goes from the thermostat housing back to the heater core. There was just enough slack in the pipe for me to cut it and put it back on. It worked ok for a while.
Now I have issues where the temperature gauge needle swings wildly from half-way up to the top. The radiator fan runs almost constantly on full speed but -- this is the trick -- the top radiator hose is hot but the radiator itself is cold. The heater core is bloody hot, so coolant is getting around.
I've changed the thermostat, tested it in a saucepan and it opens, and flushed the radiator. Twice.
There may be a small leak in the radiator, but it remaining cold is confusing me.
Any ideas or suggestions?
As an aside I just started a new job with a long-is commute, about 30 minutes in city traffic and about 40 minutes highway. The car is averaging 6.0 litres per 100km and is running well apart from the overheating. It's got 220,000km on the odometer. I just changed the oil and it does not have water in it.
