Problems with overheating in traffic.

hello

when i get stuck in traffic mk mk1 1.8 overheats oil temp goes up to 130c and water starts to rise,have manage to limp home with fans on full blast.

i have a polo radiator fitted, does anyone know if these are any different to the standard mk1 raditior ie more cores.

have checked for air locks and seems ok. fan cuts in, themostat works.

any info welcome
thanks
 

The oil and water temps will rise in slow traffic. Does it actually boil up and loose water?

Has someone fitted a big block 1800 into a 11/1300 car and left the smaller rad in? The GTI rad is about twice as big as the small black 11/1300 ones.

thanks for the reply it does boil over,

the radiator fits the standard mounts, so thinks its the same size.

its plumbed up slightly different as the top and bottom hoses are on the right not left. and the fan is mounted to to right.

 :dontknow:

Big block rads have the hoses to the left has you look in the engine bay standing in front of the car. Small blocks have the hoses to the right.

Usually the large engines also have the expansion bottle setup, the smaller ones just a cap on the rad.

The front panel has fittings for all sizes of rads so it won't look wrong/home made if a different size is used.

The larger rad is about 20cm longer than the smaller one and the core is 3.5cm instead of 2cm so I guess it holds approx twice the amount of water. You could try a new rad cap, the blue ones are supposed to be better and make sure it has some antifreeze in it but really sounds like you need to fit a big block rad? :dontknow:

When you say Polo radiator, which engine size of Polo did it come from?

Is your fan coming on once the coolant gets hot? If not, check it and the switch which controls it too. Any car will overheat when the fan fails to work in slow traffic.

Mine started doing this shortly before the head gasket went good and proper.

Check the hose that comes out of the cylinder head to the top of the radiator. If it is blown up like a fat sausage when the engine runs, and feels like it's under pressure - suspect a leaking (but not totally blown) head gasket.

Check your valve cover cap and dipstick for any signs of a mayonnaise like substance made from a mix of oil and coolant.

But do not panic.

I replaced mine, and others have replaced theirs.

It's a long involved job but does give you a chance to really check out your engine.

AliCabrio

its easy to swap an early mk2 rad in and very effective, use the wiring from the mk2 to make it a straight swap.

thanks for all your help it turned out to be the smaller rad fitted so have ordered the larger one today.

thanks for all your help

get a 180 degree F thermo stat and radiator fan switch from awesome gti mate, will start the fan and open the stat earlier.