Corsa 1.4 2007 Weird Overheating

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JessStars

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Hi I hope you guys ccan help me before I fly into an absolute panic.

I was driving to work this morning and a robot was out (thanks, rain) so I was stuck at this particular robot for abut 15 minutes. I happened to look at the heat gauge and I noticed it was overheating (the needle was nearly in the red). I wasn't in a posisition to pull over or anything so I remembered some advice I got and turned my heater on to full blast. This seemed to help and the needle went down again. Once I got past the broken robot and i was able to drive properly again I kept an eye on the heat gauge and it behaved normally. I turned my radio off and listened for the fan which seemed to be working properly. Just before I got to work I was stuck at another broken robot and this time I watched the gauge with an eagle eye. as soon as it got above a quarter the fan kicked in and the gauge went back down to a quarter, which is how it normally behaves. When I got to work I idled for a while and watched the heat gauge and everything worked like normal.

A few months ago I was driving a from Durban to Joburg and my thermostat decided to die so that was replaced recently. I bought this car from my boyfriend and about a year before I bought it, the fan broke so that has also been replaced fairly recently and I don't suspect that these could be the culprits. I'm just waiting for the car to cool down before I check the coolant, although I don't think it is leaking as I haven't seen any puddles under my car. (force of habbit to check under my car because of my old Uno that leaked oil and water like an old person with no bladder control).

Does anyone have any idea what could cause my car to behave like this? I'm not the most clued-up on cars so any explanation in laymens terms would be the best :)
 
You've done well to eliminate some of the issues.

Checking coolant/water levels is good idea.
After that, check for cracks in radiator hoses, or perhaps just a hose clamp that might have come loose.

If it is not related to the radiator/fluid/hoses, it might be that the engine is running too hot (gasket issues, perhaps?)...
 
Hi Nemus

Thanks for your response! I'll check the hoses when I check the coolant.

I don't know if it is a gasket issue as that happened on my old car and other than the one weird over heat this morning it isn't behaving any differently. I remember when that happened to my old car there was bluish smoke pouring from the exhaust, it kept stalling and overheating and had no power. My Corsa is essentially behaving exactly the same as it always has. I'm just confused as to why it would only overheat like that once and then be fine for the rest of the trip...

I'm going to check the coolant and stuff in a bit after it has had some time to cool down
 
It might be worth ckecking the condition of your coolant,muddy brown means it contains no anti-freeze and sludge and will eventually clog up the radiator.
 
Might also be worth checking your thermostat too. They have a habit of seizing. A 2007 model would likely need to be checked.
 
Sounds to me like the fan failed that one time.
Odd.
Maybe one of the windings is dodgy and it happened to be stopped in a dead spot.
 
Thanks skeptic_SA

The thermostat was replaced in September. Could it have died again so soon?
 
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Thanks Chromedome

I'll check the colour. The radiator was flushed when the thermostat was replaced in September could it have built up muck since then? I haven't put water in since then just anti-freeze
 
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Sinbad said:
Sounds to me like the fan failed that one time.
Odd.
Maybe one of the windings is dodgy and it happened to be stopped in a dead spot.
Click to expand...

I know, it is weird. I'm just going to keep an eye out when I drive home this afternoon.
 
ScottulusMaximus said:
Well there's your problem. Drain the radiator and put in the correct proportions of anti-freeze and water. Your radiator fluid isn't doing much cooling if it's filled with anti-freeze.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I didn't know it had to be mixed with water, although my dad did this for me last time and I'm sure he knew that. I just avoided putting anything in, which is probably just as bad.

Would lack of water in the anti-freeze cause it to overheat just once like that? If it needed water wouldn't it be consistently overheating?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to understand :)
 
JessStars said:
Thanks! I didn't know it had to be mixed with water, although my dad did this for me last time and I'm sure he knew that. I just avoided putting anything in, which is probably just as bad.

Would lack of water in the anti-freeze cause it to overheat just once like that? If it needed water wouldn't it be consistently overheating?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to understand :)
Click to expand...

AFAIK Plain water transfers heat better than plain coolant. Coolant lowers the freezing point and raises the boiling point of the liquid and prevents internal corrosion of the engine and cooling system. Plain coolant would have superior anti-corrosion and a wider operating temperature range but wont remove heat from the engine like you want it to.
 
skeptic_SA said:
AFAIK Plain water transfers heat better than plain coolant. Coolant lowers the freezing point and raises the boiling point of the liquid and prevents internal corrosion of the engine and cooling system. Plain coolant would have superior anti-corrosion and a wider operating temperature range but wont remove heat from the engine like you want it to.
Click to expand...

Thank you, you have explained this very comprehensively and it makes sense :) I will definitely check this out and hopefully that us what was causing the problem because it seems like a simple fix :)
 
ScottulusMaximus said:
Well there's your problem. Drain the radiator and put in the correct proportions of anti-freeze and water. Your radiator fluid isn't doing much cooling if it's filled with anti-freeze.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I will get it checked out and if this is the problem it seems to be an easy fix :)
 
Question is why the coolant needs topping up from Sept last year till now.
 
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