Overheating

[Drummerboy15]

Hello All

I am new to this site and wanted to seek some advice. Our Toyota Avensis 1.8 GS Petrol saloon has been a great car since we have owned it and it recently went through its MOT with no advisories but the last week or so we have seen the temp gauge rise beyond the halfway mark and the last couple of days it has really overheated and the temp gauge has shot right up beyond the high red marker on the gauge.

I pooped the bonnet and the water / coolant bottle was almost empty so I filled it up and whilst I was there I put 2 litres of good quality oil in as well. I went to pick up my partner from work which is around a 4/5 mile journey and on the way home we had to stop as the temp gauge had shot right up and the car was seriously overheating.

I popped the bonnet again and the water/coolant bottle was less than half full - it had lost 50% of its content and the engine was smoking and very hot with a strong oily smell. I dipped the oil stick and the oil was clear. I tried to drive it today to go to Tesco's down the road and it started fine and drove as well as it normally does but the distance was very short so it didn't start to overheat.

I did pop the engine bonnet again today and I have seen a 2 inch (what seems to be a split) at the top of the radiator that I hadn't noticed before - could this be the problem?

I am bricking myself that it may be the head gasket - help and advice would really be helpful.

Thank you all in advance for any advice that you can offer me.

PS - Is it going to be expensive to repair at a garage if its a fuel pump or radiator or something else??

[Druid Boy]

So it sounds as though you have found the problem - the split in the radiator. You are clearly losing coolant but if it is the radiator then a new part ranges from £65 - 155 in Euro Car Parts. Fitting is probably 2 - 3 hours labour so up to another £150 plus your vat.

It should be fairly straightforward for a half decent diy'er to do and will save you big bucks.

[Konrad C]

Hi Sean,

It sounds like the plastic part of the radiator has a crack. It happened to my car and I discovered a hairline crack after noticing a drip. Before that I noticed the level of coolant in the expansion bottle slowly falling, but no sign of a leak until the leak appeared a few weeks later.

Look at my reply and the first couple of photos which show where the leak came from.

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/167136-should-bleeding-air-really-be-so-difficult/

My car is the mk1 so there may be some differences in changing the radiator.

I sourced mine at Euro Car Part at £54, yours will cost more.

Don't leave it long to change the radiator, I changed mine with a couple of hours of finding the crack.

Konrad

[Drummerboy15]

Hi Konrad

Thanks so much for that. I have contacted Euro Car Parts in Poole and can source a new radiator for £55 but cant get hold of it until after the Bank Holiday.

I will need to get it fitted at a garage. I am hoping that this will remedy the problem but if not will need to look at other possible causes. If it were the head gasket (worse case scenario) what would be the signs to look for?

Regards

Sean

[Drummerboy15]

Hi All

Is there anyone on this forum that lives in Poole, Dorset that would be prepared to fit my new radiator for me at a agreed price.

Regards

Sean

[gazza1286]

Sean - If you aren't able to fit the radiator yourself and have to use a garage it's best to let them source the part. That way the garage will (generally) guarantee the job as a whole. If you present them with the part and ask them to fit it there's no comeback if the 'part' fails as the guarantee provided by the supplier /manufacturer doesn't include labour.

[Drummerboy15]

Hi Gazza

Thanks for that. I had to take advantage of the euro car parts bank holiday online sale as money is tight and got it for £57.00 which was almost £80 off the list price. I didn't want the garage charging me over the odds for the rad - I do understand what you mean though and hopefully all will be good. I have just lifted the bonnet again to check the split which is actually about 4 inches on the plastic part of the top of the rad to the right of the radiator cap.

I'm hoping that this is where I am losing coolant and why its overheating.

Regards

Sean

[Druid Boy]

Sean if you have a 4 inch split in your radiator you can be absolutley sure that this is the cause of your problem. What is it that makes you think there may be another problem - such as the head gasket?

[Drummerboy15]

Well my last car kept overheating and used a lot of water and I was told it was the head gasket.

Regards

Sean

[Druid Boy]

Yup that makes sense: if the head gasket goes the engine dumps the coolant and overheats. In your case you have a clear fault already found so the first thing to do is replace the radiator. It unlikely that the head gasket has gone as well - unless you drove it a long way without coolant - and even then the head gasket doesn't always fail. Radiator first, pint on the way home second, monitor your fluid levels daily third.

Good luck

[Drummerboy15]

Thanks Druid Boy. Fingers crossed, we will see tomorrow or the day after. I will keep you posted.

Regards

Sean

[Drummerboy15]

have picked up new radiator and bought anti freeze and now just waiting for a mobile mechanic to call around at around 4pm - fingers crossed.

In the event that I still have a problem should my next efforts focus on either the thermostat or water pump?

Thanks everyone for your help and advice.

Regards

Sean

[Konrad C]

Sean

I followed this post, and if you lived a lot closer may have helped you change the radiator.

I pointed out to you that I had a crack in the plastic part of the radiator, and initially it is hard to find at first. Once the crack expands enough, then it will become easier to spot. This was the issue for couple of months. The only sign of a leak was the coolant level in the expansion bottle dropping.

This could be why you think the fault could be something else, no obvious leak until you found the crack.

I guarantee that once the new radiator has been fitted and system bled, your car should be fine. The coolant level takes a while to settle, so overfill by a few mm over the max mark on the expansion bottle. That's what I did and the level only slightly dropped after a few days, and not moved since.

[Drummerboy15]

Morning Everyone

Well the mechanic fitted the new radiator in an hour, it was very straight forward and started to fill the rad up with anti freeze/coolant and it was taking a long time and has now concluded that its the water pump. He did say however that the radiator had to be replaced because of the split. So I am now ordering a new pump from Euro Car Parts.

He spotted water leaking from the bottom of the engine on the right hand side of the car and has confirmed its the water pump.

Problem is he isn't available until next Wednesday to fit it. Ah well.....

[Konrad C]

Well I was wrong!

You have done the correct thing getting the mechanic to do the work, and he was thorough enough to spot the water pump leak.

Can I assume that when the pump is replaced, that you will be using premixed coolant or at least 50% with the standard coolant? I have always done the latter and now using premix. The water in my area is not good.

Thank for the update.

[Drummerboy15]

Hi Konrad

We after installing the new radiator and filling the radiator up with anti freeze and water, he was careful to get the trapped air locks out of the system and realised that it was taking ages to fill so he looked into the right had side of the engine at the bottom of the car and all the fluid was leaking out as quickly as he was putting it in and then confirmed that the water pump was knackered. I have this morning ordered a new water pump from Euro Car Parts (with housing) £40.40 inclusive of VAT.

Yes, it will need refilling and I think that I will go for a pre mixed anti freeze as and when the new pump is fixed into the car.

Thanks for you advice Konrad - Everyone has been so helpful.

Regards

Sean

[Drummerboy15]

No, You was right. The radiator had to be replaced as a matter of urgency as it was the most obvious fault to deal with initially.

[cmia]

with any overheating..

Check for air in cooling system

check termostat,

check pipes for temp

and after that

Check

1- Rubber Pipes

2 - Check Rad for cracks,

3 - Check Water pump.

To make life easier, get UV water and stick it in, drive around and let it cool down.

Once cooled look for leaks under UV light.

If the above doesnt show, do a HG test, with a block tester.