mattyh wrote:
Hi All,
My Vitara has recently been overheating.
Symptoms:
1. Temperature gauge going higher than normal (ie up and over half way, not into the red. Normal is about 1/4)
(The temp sender is only a year old. Replaced it a year ago as the temp gauge was all over the place, but the engine was fine)
2. Radiator level dropping
(After stopping when hot radiator overflow bottle is full, after engine has cooled down bottle is empty. So am assuming that the radiator cap is working and the hot engine is pushing out the coolant through the overflow bottle and this is the cause of the fluid loss)
3. Top radiator hose hotter than normal.
4. Have noticed a little bit of coolant underneath the dash. So presume the heater loop is leaking a little.
5. No noticeable fluid in the water pump weep hole (although the engine bay is pretty oily and dirty so could be clogged)
Tests done so far:
1. Tested the thermostat in a pot of hot water and that opened at the right temp ~80-90C.
2. Recent oil change - no water contamination
3. Recent radiator flush - no debris/rust or oil in water
4. Water pump pulley has a little bit of play in it and the engine is squealing at higher revs (suspect water pump bearing?)
So my questions are:
1. If the water pump bearing is shot does this have any effect on the impeller performance?
2. Any ideas what could be the problem if not the water pump??
Thanks for your help!
-Matt
My Vitara has recently been overheating.
Symptoms:
1. Temperature gauge going higher than normal (ie up and over half way, not into the red. Normal is about 1/4)
(The temp sender is only a year old. Replaced it a year ago as the temp gauge was all over the place, but the engine was fine)
2. Radiator level dropping
(After stopping when hot radiator overflow bottle is full, after engine has cooled down bottle is empty. So am assuming that the radiator cap is working and the hot engine is pushing out the coolant through the overflow bottle and this is the cause of the fluid loss)
3. Top radiator hose hotter than normal.
4. Have noticed a little bit of coolant underneath the dash. So presume the heater loop is leaking a little.
5. No noticeable fluid in the water pump weep hole (although the engine bay is pretty oily and dirty so could be clogged)
Tests done so far:
1. Tested the thermostat in a pot of hot water and that opened at the right temp ~80-90C.
2. Recent oil change - no water contamination
3. Recent radiator flush - no debris/rust or oil in water
4. Water pump pulley has a little bit of play in it and the engine is squealing at higher revs (suspect water pump bearing?)
So my questions are:
1. If the water pump bearing is shot does this have any effect on the impeller performance?
2. Any ideas what could be the problem if not the water pump??
Thanks for your help!
-Matt
G'day Matty, and Welcome to Auszookers !
Always good to see another WA member here...
In answer to your last two questions...
If the water pump bearings are squealing, it needs to be replaced anyway... you may find the impellers on the pump are corroded or worn down...
If you have just flushed out the cooling system, then you may have an air pocket somewhere... leave the radiator cap off, and rev the engine a bit, look and see if any bubbles come out, if so, keep going till the bubbles stop...
Overflow bottle going up and down when hot and cold is fairly normal from my experience... top hose being hotter is normal... the leak will need to be fixed, as the cooling system does need to be under pressure to work well, if pressure is low, because of a leak, it can run hotter...
Being a G16A engine, the carby has coolant going thru it, just check the hoses at the back of the carby, they can also leak sometimes, mine did when i had my carby Vit... hope that helps you some...
