Radiator & Thermostat out. Anything else I should do now?
Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 7:28 pm
Hey guys,
I've had my GTV6 since 2003 and used is as a daily in the early years. After a few years it would sometimes run really hot, even boiling over on a few occasions. To solve this I hardwired the fans to a switch on the dash so I could turn them on whenever I was doing under about 50kph.
I'm now about to sell the car so I'm sorting out all the little niggly things. Oh and I live in Australia, so its quite warm here!
The Scenario:
-The car gets up to temperature normally, but sits well above halfway on the temperature when driving around.
-On occasion I have noticed that the overheating light would come on, and then pulling over and looking under the bonnet, the water would be boiling and the fans would only just be turning on... but the switch for the fans is on the radiator, a different place to where the sender is for the temp gauge
What I've done:
- Replaced the thermo-switch for the fans.
The switch is rated to turn on at around 87deg celcius (from memory).
This didn't make the fans come on earlier. I came to the conclusion that the switch was working fine, but the radiator was probably quite blocked. Whilst the water flowing out of the radiator was probably below 87deg (hence the fans not switching on), there was not enough mass-flow through the radiator to keep the engine cool. (Once again, the sender for the temp gauge is on the thermostat housing, not the radiator)
so next step...
- Taken the radiator out and had it completely reconditioned (it was chock-a-block full of crap).
The car was still running hot after this (but it did NOT boil over). Also , the fans still don't kick in when I would expect them to. I understand however that the temperature gauge may not be perfectly accurate.
I have noticed that on my dune-buggy when the engine is up to temperature that I can feel the water being noticeably pumped through the hoses. On the GTV6 I felt no such "pulse" from the water. The water pump was replace in the last 10,000km or so.
so...
- I now have the thermostat off with a replacement ready to go in.
The old thermostat looks fine, but I have the new one here and ready to go so I may as well put it in. I had the usual bastard of a time with a couple of bolts shearing off.
The Current Situation:
I have the Alfa in my garage with the radiator and thermostat out, waiting for me to get off my behind and go to the engineering shop to buy all new bolts for the thermostat assembly.
The Question:
Is there something I should be doing while in this current state?
eg - is it a good time to try and flush the block out or something?
I've had my GTV6 since 2003 and used is as a daily in the early years. After a few years it would sometimes run really hot, even boiling over on a few occasions. To solve this I hardwired the fans to a switch on the dash so I could turn them on whenever I was doing under about 50kph.
I'm now about to sell the car so I'm sorting out all the little niggly things. Oh and I live in Australia, so its quite warm here!
The Scenario:
-The car gets up to temperature normally, but sits well above halfway on the temperature when driving around.
-On occasion I have noticed that the overheating light would come on, and then pulling over and looking under the bonnet, the water would be boiling and the fans would only just be turning on... but the switch for the fans is on the radiator, a different place to where the sender is for the temp gauge
What I've done:
- Replaced the thermo-switch for the fans.
The switch is rated to turn on at around 87deg celcius (from memory).
This didn't make the fans come on earlier. I came to the conclusion that the switch was working fine, but the radiator was probably quite blocked. Whilst the water flowing out of the radiator was probably below 87deg (hence the fans not switching on), there was not enough mass-flow through the radiator to keep the engine cool. (Once again, the sender for the temp gauge is on the thermostat housing, not the radiator)
so next step...
- Taken the radiator out and had it completely reconditioned (it was chock-a-block full of crap).
The car was still running hot after this (but it did NOT boil over). Also , the fans still don't kick in when I would expect them to. I understand however that the temperature gauge may not be perfectly accurate.
I have noticed that on my dune-buggy when the engine is up to temperature that I can feel the water being noticeably pumped through the hoses. On the GTV6 I felt no such "pulse" from the water. The water pump was replace in the last 10,000km or so.
so...
- I now have the thermostat off with a replacement ready to go in.
The old thermostat looks fine, but I have the new one here and ready to go so I may as well put it in. I had the usual bastard of a time with a couple of bolts shearing off.
The Current Situation:
I have the Alfa in my garage with the radiator and thermostat out, waiting for me to get off my behind and go to the engineering shop to buy all new bolts for the thermostat assembly.
The Question:
Is there something I should be doing while in this current state?
eg - is it a good time to try and flush the block out or something?