dave4563
05-07-2012, 03:17 PM
My 1.4 VW polo has suddenly developed an overheating problem from the beginning of this week, which i noticed whilst sat in traffic, just after coming off a motorway, I glanced at the temperature gauge to see that that car was running at 110 degrees, which has never happened before! As I was only a short distance from home, I carried on driving and turned on the heaters to try and cool the engine down, which thankfully worked.
Once I got home, I checked the oil and coolant (both of which were fine) no coolant loss or oil in the water. I also waited for the engine to cool down, and then started it up again and let the car idle on my driveway. I waited for the car to warm back up to normal temparature to see whether the fan kicked in. It didnt, and the car started to overheat again up until the warning light came on.
I don't know an awful lot about this kind of thing, but am pretty sure its unlikely to be a head gasket as there is no oil in the water or vice versa, or the water pump as I had it replaced last year). Researching the problem online has led me to believe it is likely to be a thermostat or a fan switch... Any other possibilities? I have also checked the fuses for the fan and they all seem to be fine. Are these easy problems to fix? I have a haynes manual and would like to fix the problem myself if possible!
Any help greatly appreciated! Cheers.
Once I got home, I checked the oil and coolant (both of which were fine) no coolant loss or oil in the water. I also waited for the engine to cool down, and then started it up again and let the car idle on my driveway. I waited for the car to warm back up to normal temparature to see whether the fan kicked in. It didnt, and the car started to overheat again up until the warning light came on.
I don't know an awful lot about this kind of thing, but am pretty sure its unlikely to be a head gasket as there is no oil in the water or vice versa, or the water pump as I had it replaced last year). Researching the problem online has led me to believe it is likely to be a thermostat or a fan switch... Any other possibilities? I have also checked the fuses for the fan and they all seem to be fine. Are these easy problems to fix? I have a haynes manual and would like to fix the problem myself if possible!
Any help greatly appreciated! Cheers.