I ahve replaced the coolant in my 1990 Jetta Cli 8v with Evans coolant, only beacuse I took the cooling system off the car and clean it all out, plus i had heard good things about the coolant hey. I had corrosion at the point where the flanges attached to the head, but I applied chemi metal to the surface before I refit the flanges. I have since rebuilt the system, even though it was all drained i added the Evans flush then redrained the system, in-fact took it all apart again as I had to remove the gearbox, then put it all back and topped up with Evans 180 classic. There are no leaks and the car gets up to temp really quick which is great and the top pipe gets hot before the bottom one does, but the gauge now reads just 3/4 where my previous car was dead in the centre! IS this normal or should it be reading cooler? The fan comes on after a long drive and I'm backing the car into the garage and then cuts out shortly after, like a minute. This when the temp tips over 3/4. I have replaced the temp sender (black) and the thermostat (blue) as these were faulty and before I was getting no readings at the clocks. Just wondering if the engine is gettig too hot or if its ok? I have the old black cap but have ordered a new blue one hey. Thanks
it should red 1/2 under normal driving conditions. but if you're sat still for a bit it should go up to around 3/4, fan should then cut in and bring temps back to about 1/2 before stopping
Thanks John, Hmm, thought so. I had a feeling it was running hot. I might drain, refill and bleed again, before I do anything else, PITA job and not sure if it will change anything but hey ho. I have white smoke a bit from the back also so wondering if the head gasket is on its way out. Will do a compression test soon and see if that tells me anything. Thanks again
was the black sender genuine? it may be over-reading slightly. what mix of coolant was it, i go with 50/50 purely for simplicity sake and its fine. may be the flush put some crud into the rad and partially blocked it? once its up to temp and thermostat has opened have a feel across the rad see if there are any cold spots. as you say new blue cap can only help
I can't remember but I think it was either VW heritage or AVS, got a feeling it was AVS hey. Might go and get a genuine item from VW and see if that helps. The coolant is evans so its already made up, just pour it in and away you go after bleeding the sytem hey. I will change the black plug for a genuine item then maybe do a comp test when I get chance. To do this I should Remove all plugs, Open throttle fully crank 3 or 4 times per cylinder 1990 8v CLi Thanks
yep you got it, i would pull the black wires off your coil as well to remove any chance of spark, and the fuel relay to stop the pump but i assume you already knew that. coolant should be ok so long as it has corrosion inhibitors in suitable for alloy and cast iron, i cant imagine it wouldnt have these as most engines made have a mix of iron and alloy in the coolant systems.
If you have a multimeter or access to one I have some guide readings. I took them to see if a newer second hand genuine sender was under reading (and it is) as the coolant gauge is not 100% reliable at the moment. The readings are after a warm up run 88 oil, coolant gauge half way. The test leads measured 4 and the sender 104 so 108 ohms total on the meter. The spare under reader measured 100 ohms in total 2/3rd to the middle.
so what resistance should a correct temp sensor be giving at normal operating temps? or cold? i put a new one on mine (old was under reading) and new one now seems to be over reading.. my coolant is a bit rusty, as my metal water pipe is junk (i should really fix that) and i ran just water for a few weeks (as i was lazy and knew it had to be drained out anyway - and when i did drain i did not flush)
Hmmm, so I have not driven the car for a while as have been away so haven't been able to check the readings of the senders yet. Thing is, I went for a short drive to pick up parcels (yes Jetta bits as well as things for the wife to be) and in that short journey, it was enough to get up to temp no worries. However, the temps did rise past 1/2 way again, up to the point where the fan cuts in. All the pipes are super cannot touch they are hotter then the sun hot and the car is smelling hot. This I am thinking is not right? I'm having trouble seeing why she is getting so hot especially as it's new coolant, new senders, new flanges and fittings, new blue cap, new metal pipe. I think I have to drain the system and refill it and see if I can flush something out of it. Really start to worry me hey, really don't want to overheat anytime!
I have the distinct impression I am not getting enough from the engine, really down on power and flat especially when pressing on. I have changed the plugs, distributor, leads and rotor which made a night and day change but it has gone back to feeling flat. It pulls ok low down but then nothing. I am well aware it's not a sports car and only an SPi but still, a 1.8 should do better I think. It does have a CAT. Can I clean these out or is a replacement job? To be honest I have a jetex exhaust system on my old car to get off and fit that would be better!
whats the engine code on that one? I recon the timing is the same as the digifant GTI engines but it would be best to double check first
It seems like it's genuinely running hot. I guess it's hard to say if it was doing it before with no coolant gauge. I would try what John suggested above in #4 feeling for cold spots as it warms up from cold and also what point the stat opens up the flow to the radiator. When the coolant thermostat failed in my car it wasn't opening properly eventually causing the car to overheat.
Cool, thanks for the info guys, I will go for a drive today but before I will I shall see check the radiator for cold spots, the pipes when they get hot and if the thermostat is opening up when it should.
ok from what i can see, you unplug the vacuum line to dizzy and set timign to 6 degree BTDC (diamond on flywheel) at idle. best to mark where dizzy is now just in case! there is a vw emmissions sheet I have found which mentions pluggign it into vagcom to set it to basic settigns mode, but i dont know if you will have a diagnosis port on your car?
Hmm, not sure if I have. There is a random yellow connection up by the bulkhead next to the coil that for the life of me I have never been able to find what connects into it, so can only think its something external, such as VAGCOM?? If so then this is soomething I would gladly get. Any suggestions where and how I get this? Please excuse my ignorance but I guess this requires getting a timing light, taking out the plug in the gearbox to view the top of the flywheel and at idle as you say, see what the reading is on the gun, loosen the bolt at the bottom of the dizzy and twist it (SLOWLY) until it reads 6 degrees (if not there already) on the timing gun or am I being a nonce? Needless to say this something I have not yet got round to doing ....... ever. Thanks again
it could well be a connection for the ecu L line (earlier diagnostic connection) you can find the cables required to talk to it but mostly they wont, trev posted up a mod somewhere on how to mod the cheap usb cables to work with the older L line diagnostics somewhere if it wont connect. but anyway, you might not need to do this anyway. what you do is get the engien up to temp, then disconnect and plug the vac line on the dizzy. as you say unscrew the large green/white bung on the gearbox so you can see the flywheel then hook up your timing light. There are 2 marks on the flywheel a smaller punch marker for TDC and a large diamond for BTDC, you need to adjust the dizzy till the diamond lines up with the hole. it may be worth checking the static belt timing first while you're at it in case the cam is a tooth out or something. use the punch TDC marker on the flywheel and the OT mark on the cam sprocket lined up to the inner belt cover
Ok cool so when the Diamond on the flywheel lines up with the point inside the inspection hole I'm all good timing wise (assuming the cam hasn't jumped)? I reckon even I could manage that. If the OT mark on the flywheel is spot on, but the cam timing is out, I guess I have to reset the cam before I do anything? Sorry, kinda new to this hey.
yeah if the cam and crank are out you'll have to loosen the timing belt tensioner and move your cam to suit, then retension. spin it over 360 degrees and recheck the marks plus the belt tension and if good fire it up and continue with the ignition timing check note that the intermediate shaft can spin free once the belt is loose so take the dizzy cap off and make sure the dizzy doesnt move, or if it does put it back. it just has to be close to tdc enough so that it can fire up, you can fine tune it once going. there is a notch on the dizzy casing keep the rotor arm lined up to that
