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Astra mk3 1.6 coolant problems

bigg1115

bigg1115

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Hi .

Hoping someone help me with this one.

I have recently bought a Vauxhall Astra Mk3 1.6 on R reg.

I have been using as my daily driver.

Had no problems with it at all until Thursday gone, when I was checking under the bonnet and realised the coolant bottle was stone cold. All other pipes and radiator red hot.

So I pulled the small return pipe from the radiator to expansion tank off . Fired the car up and and there's no water pumping out of it. (From radiator pipe to water bottle).

So I though may aswell put a water pump on it as it a hour job on these 8v engines.

Finished the job. And still no water going to the water bottle.

It has my head ready to explode lol as there's no pressure in the system . Heaters are piping hot. No oil in water or water in oil .

I did notice the date stamp of 1997 on the radiator, so it's been on since new. But with it getting hot all over, I am assuming it's not blocked and causing the problem.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 
If it were me, I’d take the rad out and flush some water through it with a hose just to be sure.

It’s just two top bolts, the top and bottom hoses, the return hose and the temp sensor plug. Lift it out and stick a hose down each outlet and check what the flow’s like.
 
Hi Andy.

Thanks for the reply. Already tried running a hose through it. Does seem ok but water still won't return to water bottle. The bottle is constantly freezing cold.

I have ordered a new radiator just incase . Still can't understand why the water won't pump back to the water bottle. I even got pissed off with it yesterday and drove for a hour with the water bottle cap off . Pulled over and water in the bottle was still cold.

Thanks again mate.
 
DavebGsi said:
bit of a question, is it actually causing an issue?
Click to expand...
Yeah. It's running at 3 1/4s of the way up on temp gauge. The fan doesn't kick in at all as the bottom of the radiator is always freezing. And water bottle is always cold which is not right.
 
DavebGsi said:
does sound like the rad is blocked, does the thermostat open ok?
Click to expand...
Yeah mate. The water pipe from thermostat housing is boiling hot where it joins to radiator. The radiator is only hot where that pipe joins it. Everywhere else is freezing cold even after a couple of hours driving.

Thanks for replying mate.
 
bigg1115 said:
Yeah mate. The water pipe from thermostat housing is boiling hot where it joins to radiator. The radiator is only hot where that pipe joins it. Everywhere else is freezing cold even after a couple of hours driving.

Thanks for replying mate.
Click to expand...

Yea sounds like the rad is blocked then, could be worth trying to get a second hand rad for it, or even better a new one. I wonder if you can buy rad unblocker or anything if you remove it?
 
Is the coolant pressure in the system ok not over pressured when running? The rad is defo worth checking/ replacing due to age milage if still same get coolant systen checked for hc content just to rule out any internal problems,when the cars been running and heater hot is the coolant bottle hot? Coolant itself hot? What happens if you drive it and recheck it straight away? Does the heater stay hot always?
 
Karlos said:
Is the coolant pressure in the system ok not over pressured when running? The rad is defo worth checking/ replacing due to age milage if still same get coolant systen checked for hc content just to rule out any internal problems,when the cars been running and heater hot is the coolant bottle hot? Coolant itself hot? What happens if you drive it and recheck it straight away? Does the heater stay hot always?
Click to expand...
Hi Karlos.

Put the new radiator on today. Still the same.

No pressure in the system. Heaters always red hot.

Coolant bottle is freezing cold. Even tried leaving the cap off and kicking its head in for 20 minutes. All of the radiator gets hot now since the new radiator has been fitted. But still get no hot water pumping to the bottle.

All other pipes are red hot. Temperature sits at 3 quarters. But I'm assuming that's because the water is only circulating around the heater matrix.

It's got me puzzled like.

Thanks.
 
Can you follow the coolant pipes round the engine and check each one is warm/ hot to elimanate a blockage if the car is left running does the cooling fan cut in? Are all pipes pressured is the coolant cap ok? Sorry loads if questions just trying to think, have you tried removing thermostat and running car to see if better circulation?
 
Hi Karlos.

Yeah all pipes are red hot apart from the thin one from top of radiator to water bottle. Radiator gets hot all over. Fan cuts in as it should.

Just water bottle still not getting hot and sitting at 3 quarters of the way up on temp gauge.

Just tried some flush in the system. Then tried putting a jet wash in every pipe incase of a blockage.

It's got me and everyone I no puzzled like. Just don't understand why the water won't circulate back to the bottle.

I might take thermostat back out. But can't see why I would need to as I seems to be operating ok.

Thanks for the reply.
 
Its very strange you would think if the coolant was not circulating properly the car would overheat or show a fault somewhere? The waterpump should push it around the engine? Could you fit some clear plastic pipe in to the return and just see if any kind of water return is going bk to bottle?just another thought does yours have aircon?
 
Karlos said:
Its very strange you would think if the coolant was not circulating properly the car would overheat or show a fault somewhere? The waterpump should push it around the engine? Could you fit some clear plastic pipe in to the return and just see if any kind of water return is going bk to bottle?just another thought does yours have aircon?
Click to expand...
It did have air con. Someone has cut all the pipes though.

I removed the thermostat today and if I rev the engine really hard I get a little bit of water out of the small water pipe that connects to the expansion tank.

Thanks again.
 
Where the heater pipes go in to the car is there a block/ housing it goes through or is it just matrix pipes if its had aircon there mite be a txv valve on the housing which mite be seized shut i really cant remember how the air con was piped through on the mk3
 
you put the thermostat in the right way round?
wonder if the water pump is on its way out~? pump a bit, but no much
 
The return pipe to the header tank is a self bleed mechanism, you could hzve an air lock somewhere in the system, the other thing i would change is the heater matrix itself as these are very orone to corrision and if it's leaking, would cause an overheat AND air in the system.

Also if there is corrosion, this could get into the system and cause a blockage.

You could even join the two hoses for the heater matrix temporarily to bypass it and see if that makes a difference.
 
bigg1115 said:
Hi .

Hoping someone help me with this one.

I have recently bought a Vauxhall Astra Mk3 1.6 on R reg.

I have been using as my daily driver.

Had no problems with it at all until Thursday gone, when I was checking under the bonnet and realised the coolant bottle was stone cold. All other pipes and radiator red hot.

So I pulled the small return pipe from the radiator to expansion tank off . Fired the car up and and there's no water pumping out of it. (From radiator pipe to water bottle).

So I though may aswell put a water pump on it as it a hour job on these 8v engines.

Finished the job. And still no water going to the water bottle.

It has my head ready to explode lol as there's no pressure in the system . Heaters are piping hot. No oil in water or water in oil .

I did notice the date stamp of 1997 on the radiator, so it's been on since new. But with it getting hot all over, I am assuming it's not blocked and causing the problem.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Hello i would like to know, if you were able to resolve the problem, as im having the same.
 
There is also some kind of temperature sensor at the back of the engine. It's not the termostat. Think it's only reading the engine temps to the ECU, but also does something with the temp gauge in the dashboard.
If it's giving faulty information to the ECU the engine can run lumpy.
If there is no pressure or there is no coolant running through the system (hense the hoses are cold), then something must be blocking the system somehow, but also an air buble can cause this issue, not sure if there is another way to bleed the air out except the coolant reservoir?
 
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