What a bad ending to a brilliant weekend.
When returning from Kruger yesterday towing my caravan I noticed the temperature on my aftermarket gauge was holding between 100 & 110 degrees (factory gauge is useless jumping all over the place). Water & coolent levels fine. I put my heater on full blast to try and lower the temperature which seemed to work for a while.
Stopped at a toll gate and while standing idling the gauge dropped quickly down to just above 80. Next uphill quickly climbed back to 110 and the heater stopped blowing hot air into Pajero (much to the wifes dismay as we were close to Belfast). Stopped and opened bonnet and could hear boiling in the hoses and water bottle level quite full. Waited to cool, took out bottle and added the warm water to radiatior. Discovered that I need about +1.5 litres to fill both bottle & radiator. Added coolent travelled 5km then the same again. Called it quits and transported my baby home on a breakdown.No water in the oil thank goodness but what can the problem be? Thermostat????????
Hi Gordon,
It sucks when that happens, I can suggest checking the following:
There is a plastic T-piece join below the radiator T not sure where, but had mine replaced as it was leaking)
Check Thermostat
Replace radiator cap with OE part
Get radiator removed, cleaned and rodded by someone like Silverton radiators.
From there it gets more expensive as in water pump, head gaskets, etc so let's hope one of the small things fix it.
On the board for the temp gauge, try and get the joints resolvered led to believe this sorts that problem.
Cheers
David
It sucks when that happens, I can suggest checking the following:
There is a plastic T-piece join below the radiator T not sure where, but had mine replaced as it was leaking)
Check Thermostat
Replace radiator cap with OE part
Get radiator removed, cleaned and rodded by someone like Silverton radiators.
From there it gets more expensive as in water pump, head gaskets, etc so let's hope one of the small things fix it.
On the board for the temp gauge, try and get the joints resolvered led to believe this sorts that problem.
Cheers
David
Some more info, is that the tell tale sign of the cracked T-piece is some signs of coolant. Floor (not much).
Also check your hoses for leaks. Silverton can do a system test as well, which will check for signs in water, indicative of a head gasket failure.
Cheers
David
Also check your hoses for leaks. Silverton can do a system test as well, which will check for signs in water, indicative of a head gasket failure.
Cheers
David
Gordon,
What is the normal reading on your aftermarket gauge when driving, also 100 – 110? At that temperature, the only thing preventing the loss of coolant through boiling, is the pressure cap on the radiator and the quality of the coolant mixture. We know the expansion tank overflowed, so we know coolant escaped past the pressure cap into the expansion tank.
How do you check your coolant level - do you remove the radiator cap (when cold) to make sure the system is full?
How confident are you of the quality (integrity) of the coolant mixture?
A possibility to consider is the following:
Friday when I entered the Kruger, it was 33 outside. I’m assuming you had similar conditions. It is possible that your Pajero could have had reduced cooling capacity – either because of a faulty thermostat, an underperforming water pump, a radiator that is slightly clogged up inside or dirty on the outside (grass seeds)? Under these conditions you may have lost some coolant, but not enough to show up. In the Kruger we operate mostly at idle speed with hardly any load on the motor, and things cooled off during the weekend. Only on the way back, climbing up to the plateau under high engine load, did the lack of coolant culminate into your problem.
The fact that you don’t have water in the oil (or vise versa) is unfortunately not definitive proof that the head and/or gasket survived your ordeal. Because the heater stopped feeding warm air, we have to assume no water was left in the system to circulate through the heater radiator. I don’t want to be a doomsayer, but you have to consider the possibility of some damage to your motor.
If I were in your shoes, I would start with the low cost solution first: replace your radiator cap, thermostat and coolant. Please ensure a good quality coolant at the prescribed mixture. Then do a few test runs and see how things work out. A visit to a reputable radiator shop to test your cooling system for performance as well as for a leaky gasket is also a good idea.
We really hope things work out OK and that your motor stood up to the test.
Roelf
What is the normal reading on your aftermarket gauge when driving, also 100 – 110? At that temperature, the only thing preventing the loss of coolant through boiling, is the pressure cap on the radiator and the quality of the coolant mixture. We know the expansion tank overflowed, so we know coolant escaped past the pressure cap into the expansion tank.
How do you check your coolant level - do you remove the radiator cap (when cold) to make sure the system is full?
How confident are you of the quality (integrity) of the coolant mixture?
A possibility to consider is the following:
Friday when I entered the Kruger, it was 33 outside. I’m assuming you had similar conditions. It is possible that your Pajero could have had reduced cooling capacity – either because of a faulty thermostat, an underperforming water pump, a radiator that is slightly clogged up inside or dirty on the outside (grass seeds)? Under these conditions you may have lost some coolant, but not enough to show up. In the Kruger we operate mostly at idle speed with hardly any load on the motor, and things cooled off during the weekend. Only on the way back, climbing up to the plateau under high engine load, did the lack of coolant culminate into your problem.
The fact that you don’t have water in the oil (or vise versa) is unfortunately not definitive proof that the head and/or gasket survived your ordeal. Because the heater stopped feeding warm air, we have to assume no water was left in the system to circulate through the heater radiator. I don’t want to be a doomsayer, but you have to consider the possibility of some damage to your motor.
If I were in your shoes, I would start with the low cost solution first: replace your radiator cap, thermostat and coolant. Please ensure a good quality coolant at the prescribed mixture. Then do a few test runs and see how things work out. A visit to a reputable radiator shop to test your cooling system for performance as well as for a leaky gasket is also a good idea.
We really hope things work out OK and that your motor stood up to the test.
Roelf
I experienced the same symptoms. as there was no OE thermostat available (waiting for 4 weeks now) I went the "boer maak 'n plan" route. The thermostat was stuck in the close position, I got it moving again, and I drilled 4 x 2mm holes around the edge. After a couple of hundred kilometers it is still working fine, but I'm looking more on the temp gauge than on the road.
Sounds exactly like the symptoms I had last month. Was the thermostat. It was taking turns begin stuck open and closed.
Another thing I learned as well: Once the coolant has boiled, you probably have some air in the system causing airlocks. I noticed that the engine was overheating even with the thermostat removed.
There are two bolts you need to remove to bleed the system. Remove both, then fill the radiator until the first one overflows. Close it and keep filling until the second one overflows. Close it and keep filling until full.
Another thing I learned as well: Once the coolant has boiled, you probably have some air in the system causing airlocks. I noticed that the engine was overheating even with the thermostat removed.
There are two bolts you need to remove to bleed the system. Remove both, then fill the radiator until the first one overflows. Close it and keep filling until the second one overflows. Close it and keep filling until full.
Pierre-Andre
2001 Pajero 3.5 GLS LWB
2001 Colt 3000i 4x4 D/C (SOLD)
2001 Pajero 3.5 GLS LWB
2001 Colt 3000i 4x4 D/C (SOLD)
+1RoelfleRoux wrote: If I were in your shoes, I would start with the low cost solution first: replace your radiator cap, thermostat and coolant. Please ensure a good quality coolant at the prescribed mixture. Then do a few test runs and see how things work out. A visit to a reputable radiator shop to test your cooling system for performance as well as for a leaky gasket is also a good idea.
Overheating is unfortunately a result of one of many causes.
As with many problems, start off with those items which you will have to replace in any case (as Roelf said).
From your description, I would guess that you have one of four causes:
- Defective thermostat (easy to diagnose and fix)
- Blocked radiator (specialist attention required)
- Defective radiator cap (easy fix)
- Defective viscous coupling on cooling fan (easy, but expensive fix)
If not that, you could have a blown head gasket (which a good radiator shop will be able to confirm or deny).
Regardless of what the cause is/was, make sure that you replace the coolant with the best quality you can find, at the correct dilution (between 40 and 60% coolant concentrate, the rest distilled water).
Gerhard Fourie
If you want to shoot somebody, make sure you aim at his head, not your own foot.
Me
If you want to shoot somebody, make sure you aim at his head, not your own foot.
Me