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likelyness of a radiator blockage (C20XE)

bobcat

bobcat

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the old xe is starting to show her age once again luckily its not oil pressure problems this time but water temp issues (its an late style xe dispak i think)

right....

it will start and drive fine but once warmed up it will go straight past normal running temp and sit just under 100... got anti freeze in the system... only started happening resently so havn't driven it at all incase i cause damage to the headgasket and head... anyway

the rad and hose on the thermostat side gets very hot but the other side of the rad
(battery side)
stays luke warm and the pipe leading to the block stays stone cold??? i thought id swap the thermostat with a differnt one i had knocking around and same problem still... heaters blow warm and cold air as normal...makes all this point to the rad being blocked right???? spoke to a few poeple in the know and they say this is very unlikely but i dunno.. resently had my cam belt replaced and the mechanic that did the work said the waterpump was fine. but this was before christmas and could easyly have broken down by then...

im stumped sumone sort me out! its driving me mad!!
 
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can easier pop the rad out and put a hose in 1 end and see what comes out, the water should flow happier from 1 side to the other with no back up,

also not to say u have 2 fooked thermostats

if the pump fins had come off for example the temp would go up the faster u drove/ more engine load, does this happen?!
 
Have you tried removing both hoses and flushing it? worth a try but by all descriptions it sounds like it.
 
im waiting for her to cool down before i try flushing the rad. DavebGSI you could be right they could both of had it there both from high millage xe's and yes it does slowly go up as i drive it but only starts going up once its warm it just dosent stop lol!!
 
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it sounds like you have an airlock in the heater matrix
do the heaters get hot at all?
if not its deffo airlocked in the matrix and easiest way to solve it is to jack the front of the car right up as high as you can and keep flushing water through the system with the top hose off the rad until you think all the air is out of the system then refit the top hose and top the water system up
airlocking is a common fault on mk3's
hope this helps
 
If it was an airlock in the matrix you wouldent get the heaters blowing hot.You should ALWAYS replace the pump when you have the cambelt changed.Seen as you`ve got the belt off anyway it makes sense and normally its a pump/roller failing that causes head damage rather than the belt breaking.Your mechanic needs his lazy arse kicking for not doing it,you cant see the condion of the fins of the pump looking at it from the outside.
 
Plus the matrix has zero or very little influence on the cars running temp. flush the rad, lets face it a pump works or not. Whats involved in a water pump, body/housing, pulley, impellar, shaft, two bearings and a seals.. Now where can it fail.... seals go you loose coolant, bearings go very noisey, impellar breaks zero heating/overheating for the pulley to break the shaft needs to snap, If that happens it wont be running. As regards to cesaro's comment he is spot on you do a cambelt you do everything pulleys tensioner and pump, If people can only afford certain parts (not saying this is your reason) then wait, also I will only use maindealer parts in such a vital part of the cars mechanics. flush the rad and see what happens, You could have an abnormal blockage in the system to. Goodluck. J
 
I changed the pump on a mates car afew years ago that was overheating badly.Pulled the pump out to find it had plastic fins on a metal shaft.The fins were just spins when you turn it but the shaft felt fine.
Also seen metal fins corroded/wore down do badly they hardly turned the water at all.
 
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