Hot running

[Dean]

Ever since i've had my VP it's had this problem where it seems to get up to temperature very quickly.

Coming back from BL day, going up A! at about 70 mph, the temp gauge sat at just over half.

So today i've decided to investigate

First thin I did was drain cooling system ready to flush, coolant very clean and clean water came out of rad when got hose pipe on it, next tried thermostat, but gave up as I couldn't budge bolts, anyway when it's running top hose is very hot and bottom hose is cooler, so I thing it's working.

Then I thought water pump, took return pipe off expansion tank to see if any water came out, it did but very slowly, not half as fast as my Metro does. So does this mean my water pump is nearly dead? :worried:
(already scared myself of changing it by reading haynes manual!)

Help very much appreciated

Cheers

Dean.

[MGTurbo]

Lean set up on carb. check plugs, they may be white. Cure is to enrich the fuelling.

[Dean]

I'll check plugs and see what I find, the engine does sometimes want to cut out when you pull up at a junction.

I'll let you know Gareth.

Dean.

[Dean]

Checked my plugs, according to Mr. Haynes it is indicating that I have a over rich fuel mixture. Think i'm going to get it Crypton tuned ASAP.

Would getting it tuned help cure my hot runninh problem?

Dean.

[e692wtt]

Are you positive the engine is actually running too hot? It could just be that the temperature sender is telling porkies, or the Fuel ECU faulty, or a dodgy connection.

I'd expect the engine to take up to 2 miles to get up to temperature, to be honest - if driving at 30mph in town - because that's how my 1.6-engined cars behave. If it's a lot quicker to warm up, according to the temperature gauge, I would have doubts that the gauge is reading reliably. (I know it's a digital dash in this case.)

You could always check the resistance of the temperature sender when the engine is 'hot' and again when cold, and compare your readings with somebody else's (not my S-series Monty, sadly, because it has a temperature sender off a Mini after I bypassed the Fuel ECU, but I could get the relevant figures off my Maestro when I next visit it). This would rule out the temperature sender part of the 'overheating' equation anyway... ;)

[Dean]

Yes, pretty sure engine is running hot, when it was on the drive it took it less than 5 minutes to reach half way on the temperature. When I drove the car home from Runcorn the wings were hot!

It gets hot in the saloon too, but I think this is due to lack of rubber boot at the bottom of the steering column, which gets hot as well, and a hole in the plastic boot where the steering column meets the rack.

I've already done the obvious things, listed on first post, so what is there to do next, don't fancy driving all the way down to Knebworth if it's going to run hot and risk serious damage.

Any further help is very much appreciated.

Dean

[E_T_V]

First thing I'd do would be to change the temperature sender as it is cheap and easy to do.

Also from what you say are you ure it is overheating? our white 1.3 and my diesel take about 10 mins to warm up and they both sit at halfway to 1 bar over the middle of the gauge.

Does the radiator fan work? if it does cycle on and off when in heavy traffic or stationary then the radiator and water pump are working ok. unless the gauge reaches the red or water is blown out of the expansion tank then I'd not worry too much. Jon has recently had a similar problem and his temperature gauge has been telling him porkies :D

[Dean]

Cooling fan runs great, maybe it's just me, i'm not used to the 1.6 and it's characteristics. all i'm used to, petrol wise, is my 1.3 Metro. It does keep telling me that engine temperature is high, maybe that's just 1980's technology! The car now keeps constantly telling me that it has low oil pressure!!!, isn't the off switch great :)

When you're driving at speed the gauge doesn't seem to drop though? Maybe it'll behave better when I get it tuned, really want to go to Knebworth in it.

Cheers

Dean.

[Green Maestro Man]

Hi all,

Just to add, my Maestro's temperature gauge always sits at half when up to speed and warmed up (usually after 10 minutes driving). Never thought that was too hot - as other cars I have driven do the same thing...

[Dean]

Hi all,

Just to add, my Maestro's temperature gauge always sits at half when up to speed and warmed up (usually after 10 minutes driving). Never thought that was too hot - as other cars I have driven do the same thing...


As I said before, maybe i'm not used to the 1.6, my Metro's temp gauge (1.3) normally sits between 1/4 and 1/2, never over, and the same for my diesel Maestro.

Just a bit worried as the dash keeps telling me "Warning, high engine temperature." But i'm working on it, the fuel mixture is wrong, it's too rich plus it's running a bit rough, so i'm going to get carb adjusted by my local garage and see if that helps.

Regards

Dean.

[MaestroMatt]

It will either be the temp sender or the ECU which sits in the dash just above your knees. If it is the former then replace it as this affects fuel mix too and you will get peculiar running (it's under £20 from Rover), the latter can cause the lady to make the erroneous high temperature proclamation. I have a spare ECU that works fine (replaced mine when it didn't need replacing) if you want it.

[Dean]

The fuel mix is too rich, i've checked one of the plugs and it's black. According to Haynes manual this indicates mixture too rich.

Think i'm going to replace temp sender, cos as you lot say it's cheap and easy.

I've also replaced the vacuum 'T' piece on the carb that runs to ECU, as this was in several pieces and held together with tape :horror:

Matt,

My ECU is under the bonnet, not above glove box, mine is a 'S' series, don't know if ECU's will be same, if they are i'd be interested in it, Private Message me.

Think i'll try all of the above before I start playing around with carb settings!

Cheers

Dean.

[Simon]

If its an S series, then the Programmed Ignition Control ECU is under the bonnet on the left wheelarch, but the fuel ECU is, I think, in the glove compartment roof panel and its part number is ADU 8495. These rarely give trouble.

[e692wtt]

I seem to recall it's a Mk I dashboard, and if so then the Fuel ECU will be behind the dash on the driver's side, as MaestroMatt says.

I would say that any "Fuel ECU problems" will actually be in the connector to the ECU and not the ECU itself...

My Vanden Plas Maestro's digidash temp gauge shows a reading exactly half way up the scale when the engine is warm, whether it is cold or hot weather, or the car is running at speed or in a Motorway jam on the way back from the BMC/BL Rally... the radiator fan cuts in and out as expected, the gauge never fluctuates. I guess we get spoilt by using cars with analogue instruments that have temp gauges that rise and fall as the engine temperature fluctuates :laugh: . I know which I'd rather have... and it's not the digidash! :horror:

Even so, try changing the temp sender, and clean up all the connections you can find (probably only at the temp sender, Fuel ECU and the dash instruments themselves...) ;)

[MaestroMatt]

Dean, if you decide you do have an ECU in the dash then PM me if you want it - I am not sure how S-Series-with-digital-dash cars work! My guess is that your fuel ECU is the standard S-Series one Simon describes and is probably not the problem.

My digidash temp guage sits in the middle when the engine gets up to temperature and the cooling fan goes on when (or just before) the guage goes up by one more bar. I don't know what you're on about, Rich - the digidash is far superior to analogue instruments!

[Beaker]

My fan sounds like it is taking off when it comes on. Does anyone elses? It certainly gets a few looks when you are in a traffic jam, in a busy area such as a town centre :D

[MaestroMatt]

Yeah, mine too. The R Series fan is a heavy duty piece of kit, probably made out of old helicopters.