General Heating Problem

[lammy2203]

Hello everyone.
Hope somebody can help me with this problem

About a couple of weeks ago when i turned the engine on i heard a gush of water coming from under the dashboard area, this continued for the next week to 10 days. Someone told me that it sounded as though there was a blockage in my heating or the valves were sticking. Now i am getting no heat at all, blowing constant cold air. Could it be the valves or something more serious. The temp gauge is running up nearly to the red line does this indicate something else. I bought the haynes manual but it has nothing in and also could not find anything on the web apart from this site.
Help the wife is moaning the face off me

 

[jug]

the valves have nothing to do with overheating, and can not make a gushing water noise. whoever told you that obviously doesn't know what a valve is.

the gushing noise is air in the heater matrix and coolant hoses. air that has got there due to a leak in the cooling system.

you are definately loosing coolant. the level of coolant has already dropped so much that the heater matrix is now dry (full of air). that is why your air vents only blow cold air. if the engine is now overheating it means the amount of coolant loss is already dangerous and the car should not be driven at all. driving it could warp the head and cause major engine damage.

you must find and fix the coolant leak. there are only 2 possiblilities, a head gasket leak or a normal leak. hope for a normal leak, it will be far easier and cheaper to fix. look for any dripping from a coolant pipe or the radiator, also look for green fur where coolant has boiled.

if you cant find a leak and it turns out to be the head gasket leak, you'll be spending a couple of hundred quid. if the engine has overheated then the head gasket will probably have been damaged even if the original leak was not at the head gasket. a car should never be driven if it is overheating, not even for short journeys.

 

[Tomasso]

First of all - add some coolant or at least some demineralized water...

Apart from jug just said - there may also be a leak from the heater, which is pretty common. Check under the driver's floormat for liquid. If so, you may need to replace the whole heater as the o-ring seals are not available as spare part.

Also - if you see that the heater is leaking, take care of that, as the coolant may be running on the airbag controller, leading to it's malfunction.

 

[mountainmachine]

First of all - add some coolant or at least some demineralized water...

ehhh? Isnt it the battery you top up with deionised water?

 

[jug]

First of all - add some coolant or at least some demineralized water...

Apart from jug just said - there may also be a leak from the heater, which is pretty common. Check under the driver's floormat for liquid. If so, you may need to replace the whole heater as the o-ring seals are not available as spare part.

Also - if you see that the heater is leaking, take care of that, as the coolant may be running on the airbag controller, leading to it's malfunction.

by 'heater' he means 'heater matrix' (small radiator used to heat air for air vents), its behind the dash and a real pain to replace. as Tomasso says if you have a wet patch in the pass side footwell it suggests the heater matrix has leaked. since you did not mention this i assume this is not the case.

if you do add coolant or water to replace the coolant you have lost, you also need to bleed the cooling system to get the air out. if you dont bleed the air out then the air will still be in the heater matrix no matter how much coolant you add. also, regular refilling is not an alternative to fixing the leak. if the leak gets worse you could easily end up in a situation where the coolant is completely drained in a matter of seconds. then the temp gauge will not show any signs of overheating (cant measure temp of air) and the engine will run until it warps so much that it seizes. thats bad, very bad, and expensive, and i've seen it happen so many times when people try to ignore coolant loss problems.

 

[Andy_sx]

as said alreay it will be a problem with the cooling system, a leak of somekind somewhere, be it perished hoses, dead rad or heater matrix or funked head gasket...

if it is the heater matrix i can confirm it is a royal ball ache of a job, im not unaccustomed to getting the tools out and am quite competent in doing work on cars, but i must admit it was awkward and time consuming. allmost everyone has to remove the dash (but a mate on Boo had his replaced by fiat in caterbury i believe with the dash still in ) but i hinestly could see how it coud possibly be done, i had to take the interior out anyway (dry the carpets properly) take the steering wheel off, strip the trim off the dash and then remove the entire dash, and even after that its still not easy to get to the heater matrix!!!

 

[jug]

a mate on Boo had his replaced by fiat in caterbury i believe with the dash still in

wow! did they remove the firewall instead?

 

[Andy_sx]

wow! did they remove the firewall instead?

nope, just lifted it to make acess easier apparently, to say im shocked is an understatement, imo its less hassle taking a gearbox off, and thats after its lost all its oil over the engine bay!

 

[lammy2203]

Thanks for this info just a couple of things to add

I checked the coolant expansion tank and the level was full with fluid
I am wondering if the temp gauge is faulty as i have had some problems in the past. When i started the car up today the gauge was on halfway even though the car had not run for about an hour and when running the gauge lies about three quarters up but never goes into the red. Also the problem only started after i had a new clutch fitted could a pipe have been nicked or trapped in someway.
Also could it be something as simple as an air lock

Thanks

 

[jug]

I checked the coolant expansion tank and the level was full with fluid

thats a good sign.

I am wondering if the temp gauge is faulty as i have had some problems in the past. When i started the car up today the gauge was on halfway even though the car had not run for about an hour and when running the gauge lies about three quarters up but never goes into the red.

from that i would say the temp gauge is definately faulty, which is also a good thing in these circumstances. the coolant temp sensor needs to be checked out. it could also be a problem with the gauge itself.

Also the problem only started after i had a new clutch fitted could a pipe have been nicked or trapped in someway.
Also could it be something as simple as an air lock

i cant think how a clutch change could have an effect. there's no need to reomve or even touch any coolant hose's when replacing the clutch, but whenever any work has been carried out it is wise to assume the possibility that this could be the cause of almost anything.

an airlock sounds more likely. try using the bleed screw on the heater matrix hose with the engine running. once the bubbling stops and clear fluid is escaping close the bleed screw and top up the coolant. then keep the engine running for a few more minutes and repeat the process. if this gets hot air coming out the airvent you know air was in the heater matrix, but figuring out how it got there is important, it shouldnt ever have air in it unless there is a leak somewhere in the cooling system.