fan

hi all i have an astra .k reg..problem is my fan has packed up ,dont know
why at the moment..its in the garage tomorrow but can anyone tell me how to
permanentlywir the fan to run all the time so i can get to the garage

 

Pull the plug off the sensor on the radiator and use a bent nail to connect
the pins ?

 

yep
pin pins in the plug, not the vacant ones on the radiator

ps, the sensor in the rad is a known problem
it is easy to do it yourself and cheap

mike

 

do i replace the sensor or have i to replace the rad...or the fan which is
spinning freely enough when spun by hand..

 

Sounds like if you bridge the connectors in the cable, the fan should run
all the time when the ignition is on. If it doesn't, there's something wrong
with the fan or its power supply - so check the fuse and trace the current
back to the fan if the fuse is OK.

If the fan runs with the connectors bridged, it must be the sensor. I don't
know this particular vehicle but I'd be surprised if you have to replace the
whole rad just because the fan sensor fails.

Mike.

 

no it unbolts, just BE SURE you do not have any airlocks after you refit &
fill.
it WILL blow if it is dry cooked

mike

 

i bridged the sensor plug and the fan ran all the time but still the car ran
hot to the point of the needle going into the red before i had gone two
miles..i have replaced the sensor which was 14 quid incidentally but the
needle still rises prettty quick but not as fast as before..got a problem
but i dont know what it is...baz

 

adding to the last post i sent , when i replaced the sensor i was told to
just let some water gush away before putting in the part,should prevent
airlock...could an airlock be the source of my problem of overheating or is
it the engines condition..its done over 100k....baz

 

take it to a garage, prob the thermostat

mike

 

yep, could very well be an airlock
i did warn you

mike

 

yep you did mike, ok i will bug you one more time,how do i cure an
airlock...incidentally just had a wheel bearing done and while it was there
i asked the to do an fault find on the problem..they didnt have time but
mentioned they could do a check for a blown head gasket...yipes

 

drain the system down and fill it very slowly.
or top it up when cold and give the top hoses a good squeeze a few times and
bounce the car,
now of course i must question what you call overheating?
just in the red is not that unusual but not correct, if ofcourse it is well
into 90/100 area i'd see about checking the thermosta.
do you get hot air after a while?

mike

 

cheers mike, i will try that asap...after only about a mile or less the
gauge starts to go up quite quickly and doesnt stop till the top....up with
the bonnet and the water in the expansion tank is bursting to get out, the
hoses are solid with pressure..i cant then move til its cooled down but then
of course its up again just as quickly..i have noticed that the blower air
is cooler than normal....cheers ...baz

 

thermostat

mike

 

im beginning to think your right..tried the empty and refill but it just
warmed up even faster...no cream in the oil yet so i will keep an eye on
that...where is the thermostat located...am i right in saying to test it you
have to remove and place in water of a certain temp to see if it opens..if
it doesnt then replace .?....cheers

 

yep
it will be marked (stamped) on the rim

Depends on the model. The 1.2 is easy(ish) as it lives inside the top hose
somewhere I think (never worked on one but was assured it was there)

The 1.3 and 1.4 had it behind the cambelt backplate as you say - the most
stupid place for a stat I've never seen. If you look at the sides of the
cover you can see the backplate - if there is a notch then the backplate
has a cutout. I don't know when this changed - later models had a solid
plate.

The 1.6,1.8 and 2.0 litres all had it on a housing on the end of the
radiator top hose AFAICR and obviously that's a 3 bolt and remove the
housing, no need even to undo the hose clip.

mike

snip*************

 

thanks for your help mike i will crack on and get it done but im sure i will
post again with this car..as the guys from the garage keep tellimg me "its
an old car its bound to have things wrong etc...ps.. guy told me that with
astras a good way to rid yourself of an airlock is to run the car for 15
minutes at idle speed with the coolant cap removed then squeeze pipes and
bounce the car, reckons it never fails.... problem with that is after 15
minutes my car would have melted it gets that hot, altho it is an
pressurised system..we shall see...baz

 

i know this sounds daft. but the radiator Is getting hot isn't it?
and are you sure the water pump is ok?



might well be terminal, blocked channels in the head or WHY

mike

 

problem with that is after 15

Been following this with some interest and am reminded of an old diesel
forklift I used to use that would always overheat after a similar time.
always removed cap from radiator and made sure there was water in the rad.
even ran with no cap on, but still overheated.

Came the day when me and boss stripped it down to find out whats wrong,
after removing rad, and it was sitting on floor leaned up against a wall, I
removed the cap and found.......water still in the top of the radiator. It
was an old rad, and the core was totally blocked, allowing no water flow at
all. Motor was probably no more that 1/3 full of water.

Point is that although it looks ok, you might not be getting the flow
through the rad. As mikefnb pointed out, could be the pump as well. Just
pointing out how things can look ok but still go tits up.

(a different) Mike

 

hi all im back again,think ive got it sussed, the sensor i
bought(non-vauxhall) for the fan was the wrong one,looked exactly like the
old one but wrong.Put my old one back on ,(the one that didnt work)and lo
and behold it started working again, the only thing i have noticed is that
the fan kicks in a little later than before,(just over 90).no pressur like
before, what im thinking is that when i changed the sensor back and lost
alittle bit of water i may have shifted an airlock..anyway running fine now
..cheers .baz