Engine overheat

kalibwenm

Member +
Hi guys,

on friday i was cleaning my engine bay, and i moved the coolant reservoir to where the radiator fan is to be able to tighten a loose bolt that holds the fuse box, and somehow i forgot to put it back in place, so i closed the hood, and then i went for a drive the next day...on my way back from the drive, i noticed the engine feels rough, like it's loosing compression, and then smoke started to come out from under the hood...i was going uphill at that time, so i paniced, and stopped the car, switched off the engine and opened the hood imediately...there i saw that tha fan had forced it's way off the radiator fan motor, thus the radiator was overheating, and coolant was flying everywhere from the reservoir...

The next day i checked for coolant leaks on the radiator, i checked the oil cap, i ran the engine to see if it smokes and i saw nothing...so i replaced only the fan on my radiator, and top up the coolant in the system, and everything seems to be working fine...but after a test run, i noticed that whenever i would go uphill, or start to boost, the heat rises up way faster than before the incident happened, yet it cools down very quickly when i go downhill...so i'm really worried here, do i have a thermostat problem, or a headgasket leak somewhere, because when this happens, the engine runs a bit rough all of a sudden, and engine check light goes on...what could possibly be the problem from the description i've provided?...

Your contributions would be greatly appreciated,

thanks in advance,

cheers :):rockon:
 

Jay

Admin
Whilst it is possible the thermostat could be sticking due to the overheat, I'm more inclined to think you have damaged the headgasket or waterpump. Would certainly be worth doing a compression test or a sniffer test on the coolant to rule cylinder issues out and also ensure the pump is being driven by the aux belt. If there is any doubt with the thermostat you could remove it and see if you still have an issue.
 
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