Over heating - It just might not be your head gasket

[Stockport Dave]

Come listen while I tell you a story. About a bongo owner who boiled his radiator. But had a happy ending.
I was driving along and heard a strange hooting sound, a bit, I thought, like a leaf trapped in the heating duct. I pulled over turned off the heating fan and lo - it disappeared. About a week later at the start of a long journey the sound started again but this time very loud and insistent. My son identifies the source (the radiator top up tank) , my eyes zoom to the heating gauge then pop out of my head. The sound of course was steam escaping! Limp to nearest water source. Undo the filler cap and it shoots out of my hand and, fortunately, hits not my face, but the bonnet. – I slowly fill the engine system with water.
Drive from Manchester to Warwick and back – no problem. Except for one small thing … every time I check the water there are high pressure bubbles coming up. This is a classic symptom of a damaged cylinder head gasket.

Crestfallen I phone around for quotes – chap in Stockport says £600 plus VAT. Phone Wheelquick in Wigan and spoke to Mike senior. Well if you’re going to do that you just as well change the radiator, they’re usually blocked also you could do this that and the other probably about £1000 all in.

I think he must have heard the despair in my voice (or was it the sobs?) and said this … It could be that you have air in the system, try bleeding it (he gave me instructions). I did what he said. Yup! It fixed it. Somehow my head gasket had survived. A common problem, he told me, is that the sensor that controls the radiator fan packs up, this then causes overheating. To check yours, run the engine until the water gauge is about 11 o’clock and wait some more (or rev the engine) – if you fan doesn’t start you know you have a problem. To check if it is the sensor pull the plug off it (it is located on drivers side, screwed into the block near the top – it’s got a plastic body and 2 wires to it) and the fan should start.

So, I go from a £1000 bill to about £13.00 due to one phone call and a very decent chap called Mike.
Oh Lucky man!

ps later found out I had leak from water pump

[Bob]

Restores your faith, there are a lot of good, honest people out there who will do you a good turn. And PHEW, got away with that one.

[bigdaddycain]

So it was you phoned him was it dave?

I recall him telling me about your query a week or so ago...

I had no clue about the engine fan resistor,but i did make a mental note of it in case owt cropped up.

Did you source the water pump from him dave? I got a price around £30 cheaper than anyone else.

Its a relief when you know the cyliner head is ok eh?