'Warning High Engine Temperature'

[SimonR]

My R-Series VP has had a fault ever since I've owned it where the engine temperature indicator reads full and the lady won't shut up about it.

MaestroMatt went to Rover today and bought me a new temperature sender (which screws into the thermostat housing) but this didn't solve the problem.

Anyone know what else may be up with it?

It's not the biggest of problems but it does annoy me sgnificantly ;)

[steve smith]

it sounds like your temperature gauge is up the swany or u could have a blockage somewhere does she feel hot if u go under the bonnet ????

[threelitre]

Hi!

We had a similar problem with a 1.3 here. The temp gauge was always reading high... The solution was a new ECU, the old one obviously did something wrong...

Try to plug in another ECU, probably someone can borrow you one to try?

Alexander

[SimonR]

Thanks for those answers. This happens immediately that I start the engine so I'm pretty sure it's not a blockage and, thinking about it the previous owners reported the problem when they gave it to me. I drove it back 140 miles that day so I know it's just the reporting equipment that's faulty

Which ECU did you mean, Alistair? - I've got access to several other R-Series cars so it'd be very easy to swap the ECUs around if I knew where they were!

Cheers

Simon R.

[Wonko_The_Sane]

Given that it does it as soon as you switch on, I'd say electrical/ECU/Shorted sensor.

I know that warning well...my "on board bint" does it as it sees fit..oh, along with "Warning! brakes require service.":laugh:

[G Force]

Originally posted by F153JUE
Which ECU did you mean, Alistair? - I've got access to several other R-Series cars so it'd be very easy to swap the ECUs around if I knew where they were!

Cheers

Simon R.

Simon, the fuel management ecu is the one to look at, I would imagine yours is the early dash so it is located by two pozi screws in the dash to the lower right of the steering column. Undo the screws feel for the unit behind the dash and give it a sharp tug down.

cheers gary :)

[SimonR]

Right I'm going to try this tomorrow so I'll hopefully know by Monday..

Thanks folks. :)

[SimonR]

Right, I finally got the time to investigate this today and after I'd reseated the connector on the ECU she shut up! The guage is also working properly now, so maybe it was just a loose connection after all.

However, experience with mk. 1 Maestro VPs tells me not to consider something fixed until it breaks again some years later - then you can say 'I fixed that for a few years' rather than 'it's fixed'!

It nearly caught fire as well, as the fuel line into the carb split randomly. I trimmed it off but will be replacing all the fuel lines in the very near future, certainly before I take it out on the road properly.

[Ricky]

I see I wasn't the only one with ramdom fuel line splits then, I drove mine all the way back from chippenham (55 miles!) and the fuel line gave up with 100 yards to go, had to push it the rest of the way! :laugh:

[tony]

at 3.46 when do u sleep????:eek:

[MaestroMatt]

I've had random fuel line splits - best to renew the lot as they go at the worst times. Also, the carb in the R series doesn't have a lip on the fuel intake pipe to make the fuel line fit tightly and it can randomly pop off unless you clamp it down really tight with a jubilee clip.

[Ricky]

Originally posted by tony
at 3.46 when do u sleep????:eek:

I'm just about to go to bed now actually, i've just got in from work and am debating whether i should eat my roast dinner mum made me earlier..... i'll probably sleep now until about 2 or 3 pm and then i've got to go back to work for 4, not exactly normal hours but never mind, keeps me busy!
When my fuel line split it was about 5-7 cm down itself, so it just popped off easily, it had no jubilee clips on it, just relied on the tight fit to keep it there! it has a nice long pipe to attach the rubber though, much better than anything I have yet to find on the other "love of my life", the 309.....
I really must get out more!

[Sam]

My maestro keeps getting overheated when it is stationary but then when it's on the move it's ok. I have repositioned the air inlet closer to the grill to allow the engine to draw more air, I think this might be the problem, but I can't understand why it should be any different than from how it was originally.

Can any one help me on this one????:confused: :banghead:

[Maria]

Mine does that, and I never got to the bottom of it. It's in pieces at the moment so I can't investigate further :(

[F690OTF(RIP)]

Both our Maestros have done this, but I never thought anything of it. After all, until the fan comes on you would expect the cooling to be significantly better when the vehicle is moving (thus forcing air past the radiator) than when it is stationary. What exactly do you mean by 'overheating'. If you mean that the fan comes on, then I wouldn't have thought you've got much to worry about. If, on the other hand, the temperature gauge goes full scale and you get smoke or steam coming from the bonnet you might have more of a problem. I assume your fan's working.

Hope this helps,

Peter

[Austin-Rover]

I have also noticed the temperature will creap up very fast when for example in crawling traffic. Is it not a case of attaching a more powerful fan to cool the radiator?

[Sam]

Yeah the fan comes on, but still I can't undestand how the temperature can go up so fast. I've never given it the chance to go too far into the red but it seems it would probably carry on goin up if I did.

It is worse when crawling in slow traffic. :confused:
Surely it's not normal for an engine to get this hot when idle, especiallly in the winter.

[Sam]

Originally posted by RDGelder
I have also noticed the temperature will creap up very fast when for example in crawling traffic. Is it not a case of attaching a more powerful fan to cool the radiator?

Does the needle go into the red on the temp guage?

[Austin-Rover]

Originally posted by Sam
Does the needle go into the red on the temp guage?

It gets very close, but as yet i have not seen the red light flashing. My last Maestro got very hot very fast - so much so that when i turned my back on it for ten minutes - it overheated and spit coolant into the interior. This may have had something to do with the fact the fan was disconnected! :laugh:

[Sam]

Does it do the engine any harm if it gets this hot regularly?

I've only had my Maestro for a few months so I presume this problem is worse in the summer??? :(

[D87 SMW]

Originally posted by Sam
It is worse when crawling in slow traffic. :confused:
Surely it's not normal for an engine to get this hot when idle, especially in the winter.

It is. It's not as warm when travelling along, as the air rushes into the radiator, and cooling it. Whilst the car is stood, there is no air rushing at it to cool it, so it gets hot. The cooling fan should do it's job after a while.

[H48HPE]

Its not a problem so long as the needle doesn't go into the red. My cooling fan comes on in standing trafic, the only reason for this is that the engine is generating heat and pumping coolant through the radiator but the radiator can't cool it cos theres no air rushing through so the coolant goes back hot and warms up a bit more etc etc. the standard fan is fine in my oppinion, its not as effective as a moving car but its ok, and will cool the coolant. as I say, as long as its not going into the red on the gauge. the warmest mines been is about 2 mm past the half way mark when the cooling fan comes in and keeps it around there.

On a long fast motorway run in the summer the temp sits around the middle of the gauge, again its nothing to worry about.

One thing I would recomend is that you flush the cooling system through to make sure theres no dirt blocking the radiator.

Andy

[Beaker]

A trick to cool your engine down quicker is to put your interior heating on hot and on full. Should cool the engine down as it is taking the hot air away from the engine. Don't forget to open the window as it gets rather hot sometimes :)

[Sam]

Originally posted by H48HPE

One thing I would recomend is that you flush the cooling system through to make sure theres no dirt blocking the radiator.
Andy

What do you mean by this? How would dirt be blocking the radiator? :confused:

My needle hangs just on the edge of the red when in standing traffic...it does worry me sometimes :mad:

[E_T_V]

One persons definition of overheating is not the same as someone elses. Overheating to me is when the water leaps out of the expension tank as steam and boils all over the place.

It is perfectly normal for the fan to come on when in standing traffic. If on a non-digital gauge the fan doesen't come on before the temperature reaches the red then there are three possibilites
1. The fan doesn't work at all - This is easily checked
2. The sensor that operates the fan is faulty
3. The thermostat in the engine is stuck closed - This would mean the car would overheat when moving at speed also, so unlikely in this case.

Digital dashboards have their own quirks which can lead to them warning of high engine temperature 20 mins after you've switched the engine off, can't they jon! ;)

[Sam]

Is there anyway of adjusting the sensor or is it set at a standard triggered reading?

Where is this sensor located?

Thanks

[E_T_V]

The sensor is preset so can only be replaced. It is located on the drivers side of the radiator itself (it has two electrical connector coming from it)
To test the fan simply place a piece of wire between the two electrical connectors with the ignition on and the fan should leap into life. If not then there is a fault with the fan.

The main problem is lack of use.. remove the grill and spin the fan to make sure it is free (or to free it up in a lot of cases. Add a few drops of oil to the motor spindle too) Then replace the fuse in the fuebox which goes when the fan can't spin freely. Test it again and it should now work. If not then the motor might be duff but this is unusual.

If the fan spins happily when the connectors are joined then the sensor is most likely defective. Obtain a new one and the seal that goes with it and it is an easy replacement.

[Sam]

Any ideas where I can get hold of one of these from?:confused:

[E_T_V]

Any good motor factor will be able to get one for you. They are a common component fitted to many cars.

If you have to I'm sure rover will be able to too but charge you more of course.

Hope this helps

[H48HPE]

The fan should cut in when the needle just passes half way, if it doesnt come on untill the needle goes into the red section then I'd agree that the fan sensor on the radiator is broke.

The radiator is made up of several long thin alliminium channels which run between a tank at each side of the radiator. over the years the engine corrodes inside, more so if the previous owner didnt change the antifreeze every two years (which contains corrosion inhibitors) this coroded material is held in suspension in the coolant together with other debries such as bits of rubber thats rotted from the inside of the hoses etc etc. this stuff tends to settle in such places as the radiator and heater matrix, which partially blocks it and then cooling efficency is impaired.

The answer to the problems of internal corrosion and clearing crap out of the systey is to drain and flush it (I tend to do this every year but the book says every 2)

To do this the engine should be cold and you need to remove one of the hoses at the base of the radiator, the water will pour out ( most likely rust brown if its not been done for a while) then once its drained id remove the radiator and flush it backwards, by pouring loads of clean water through the bottom outlet (although you may get away with leving it in situ and flushing from the top) either way do it till the water comes out clear ( at this stage you could replace the fan switch and seal if its worrying you). then romeve both heater hoses and put a hose through one of the heater inlet pibes and flush tht till the water comes out clear from the other pipe. flush water through the various pipes and the engine block etc, just flush everything.

If I were you id then connect all the hoses back up and fill with clean water only and run the engine, till its pumping hot water through the radiator then allow it to cool and drain this water off, (I like to do it cos its just one last flush, but most probably dont.)

Then you need to fill the system back up with clean water mixed with antifreeze ( I recomend unipart, and also you need to note that you must not mix different brands together as it causes hot spots because the two wont mix) I use a mixture of 50% antifreeze to 50% water which protect down to a stupid temperature but only cost a little more so why not.

by the way, make sure the heater is on hot when you refill or it'll get an airlock.

If you refill it and it the heaters crap youve got air in it an need to remove the heater outlet hose with the engine running an wait till water comes out with no air.

f whilst your flushing the water just wont come out clean it may be worth using some flushing fluid.


Andy

[Sam]

Originally posted by E_T_V
Any good motor factor will be able to get one for you. They are a common component fitted to many cars.

If you have to I'm sure rover will be able to too but charge you more of course.

Hope this helps

Do you know what the component number is? Is it a standard part on all maestros and montegos?

Cheers.

[H48HPE]

part number (rover) is:

GVS 104 (thermostat switch kit)

They appear to be the same no matter what engine it is.

I'd personally go to my local rover dealer for this because it'll be a rover/unipart part and only the best will do for me. I know some people have had bad experience with dealers but mine are good with parts, try them out on a small item like this to see what your local dealers like.

At what point on the temp scale does the fan actually kick in on your car? as i say, mine comes on at roughly half way and then wont go over two lines past the half way marker. If yours comes on at half way but doesnt keep the temp down id be thinking about the radiator being blocked up.

Andy

[E_T_V]

If you are having the problem that your fan kicks in at the correct point (between half way and 3/4's) and the temperature keeps rising then there are two possibilities, either as said your radiator could be blocked (it isn't uncommon) or your waterpump may be knackered.

If your radiator is blocked it is usally most obvious when you are belting up a huge hill. If the temperature rises above the 3/4 mark when you do this then it could well be blocked.

If your car only overheats in traffic then it is more likely a fan/switch fault.

Aside from removing the waterpump to see how badly corroded it is a quick test it to remove the radiator top pipe, lift it high above the engine bay so that water doesn't flow out, then crank the engine briefly (you'll need an assistant to do that) if water gushes out then it is probably ok).

My money is on the fan sensor from what you've said so far. changing it should be a five minute job.

Hope you get it sorted

Dan

[talkingcars]

randomly pop off unless you clamp it down really tight with a jubilee clip.

DO NOT use a jubilee clip on fuel hoses, not recomended on water hoses either, when the rubber expands the sharp edge of the clip cuts into the rubber. Any good motor factor should stock fuel hose claps which work the same but don't have the sharp edge.

As for over heating, I have an aftermarket bonnet vent, can't get the darn thing hot enough unless I block it over in winter. It is as important to have the engine warm as it is not to have it too hot.

Anti-freeze should be left in at all times, as said above it has rust inhibitors. Apart from the obvious rusting away of the engine, core plugs etc it also keeps the water pump bearings lubricated - not sure about other models but I know the pump on the 1.6S siezing up shows when the cam belt snaps!

If you have an unreliable cooling fan you could always wire a dash board switch in parallel with the switch in the engine bay. Did this on a non MMM car once.

IMHO if you wait for the car to start blowing steam from the expansion tank you are setting yourself up for a head gasket failure.

All my maestros and montys have been thirsty, a bottle of rad seal helped but the cars could all have done with a low water warning. My current car was using a litre a week until it got sealed, don't know where it went.

James