1.3 water pump bad?

Hi guys. 

Just acquired a mk1 golf 1.3

Noticed today as I had it running a few things. There was no coolant returning to the expansion tank. 

Both rad hoses are hot, fan kicked in, but yeah, nothing returning to the expansion tank.,. Then temp gauge  shot over and was flishy flashying at me. 

Dodgy water pump one assumes? 

all the small block 1.1 and 1.3 Golfs I've had and come across never had expansion tanks? The early series ones pre 1979 might have had?

All my small block golfs have had expansion tanks funnily enough. 

My 74, my 76 and now 81. 



Regardless of setup there isn't any coolant returning back to the the tank on my setup… or if it was expansion tankless nothing would be retuning to the rad.. signifying zero flow right?

Also matrix pipes get hot etc. 

Just no returning coolant to the tank.. tank coolant remains cold, rest of the engine is.. well.. rather warm.

I think I'll do the pump and cambelt etc, do the stat whilst I'm at it regardless as I'm unsure when it was last done.  

But if anyone can think of anything else that may cause it please do shout up. 

Also the pipe from the rad to the tank isn't blocked as if you squeeze the rad pipes coolant squirts into the tank. 

Roach said

All my small block golfs have had expansion tanks funnily enough. 

My 74, my 76 and now 81. 

Unless its an import or been updated with a later MK2 or later Polo engine pretty sure the '81 wouldn't have had a expansion tank when new. Do you have a pic?

It's an import. 

But the point being is there is no flow regardless of the setup. 

Does that point to the water pump. I'm pretty sure it does just wanted an expert opinion. 

I'll get a pic anyway hold tight. 

Roach said

It's an import. 

But the point being is there is so flow regardless of the setup. 

Does that point to the water pump. I'm pretty sure it does just wanted an expert opinion. 

dunno does it actually over heat and boil up? The flow from the small pipe to the expansion tank when revved is one of things to check on the big block engines but no idea if thats the same on small blocks or if its just a vent for bleeding or something?

Pretty sure it's there to serve that purpose. 

But yeah I'm not fully up on them. It doesn't boil over as no hot coolant is getting back to the expansion tank. Engine and pipes are hot, coolant in tank stays cold. 

Also just to note, the pipe out of the bottom of the expansion tank is also cold. All other pipes hot.

I think the sensible thing to do is 

Water pump and cam belt, stat, flush the system, refill and see what happens. All things that should be done anyway when you acquire an older vehicle I suppose. 

From your previous posts, I would suspect that your sender is bad, or that your sender wires is chafed and possibly touching a live wire.

Unplug your sender, if the Gauge goes to max deflection then you have a nicked wire or a bad gauge. in the how-to I have a DIY on repairing your gauge if it doesn't deflect at all, but since you are getting the flashing light I suspect the gauge internals are bad or corroded, but try the test first.  My DIY's are based on my 90 Cabbies.


For the water flow, you have a newer style of radiator that requires one.

shield all electrics with plastic baggies, and or spray the connectors with wd-40 well.

So the water pump by-pass should push a modicum of water through it at start then the flow expands as the t-stat opens up.

If this was a new to me Car,  First thing on the list is to remove the t-stat, and replace the cover.  Then using a Garden hose Flush and Back flush the cooling system 3-4 times to get clear water through.

Heater full hot on the selector.
Remove the upper hose on the radiator.
attach it on the radiator and using a garden hose full on flush the water let it run till it clears, then reverse the hose to the head and fill it from the radiator side till clear, do this about 4-to-5 times.

Remove the t-stat cover and drain.

Remove both hoses off the heater matrix.  using a clamp pliers, clamp the lower hose for a bit.

Add about 1 cup of vinegar to the opened hose and let sit for about 1 hour.  While it is sitting.

Take your NEW (YES NEW) t-stat and drill a 1/8 inch hole in the lip. new o-ring



This prevent the Air bubble from hades if you fill it wrong.

Coat the screws on the t-stat housing with copper grease or wrap the threads with teflon tape.

Tighten them to 87 in/lbs.

Now open the crimp pliers on your matrix hoses and run the Garden hose in one and out the other till clear. reverse the flow in the other and out the first.  repeat about 4 times then allow it to drain as you are reconnecting the hoses.

If you have the plastic barbed fitting on the one Matrix hose, replace it with a pex splice brass fitting from your hardware store. Reconnect the hoses for the matrix.

Now you have a cleaned system, and you can remove your old water pump and replace it with new (get housing and all)  As it is suspect I would just replace it with a new t-stat drilled as mentioned above.

When refilling the system, fill the block first till it dribbles out of the upper hose. Then fill the radiator via the upper hose till it dribbles out and reconnect the hoses.

You might want to peruse the ETKA and get a upper radiator card installed as it assist greatly in cooling your car and the Radiators effectivness in cooling you may want to test your radiator fan switch and verify that it opens and closes, if it is flaky, replace it with new but test the new one for operation. (do this prior to refilling your radiator LOL )  Lastly I have a how to trim your radiator fan housing to allow easier removal and installation in the how-to's as well see the link in my signature.

Cheers.

 

Thank B. Yes gonna do all that this weekend hopefully. 

When I turn the key the temp gauge goes to max and light flashes… this doesn't this whether it's plugged in or unplugged. Then when the car starts gauge settles down to around halfway. Turn the car off and back on again, gauge goes to max. 

Some of the earlier Golfs had a gauge test circuit..
IT was a way to verify that all your dash lights ang gauges came on to say they were still working.  

Have you cleaned and or replaced your engine to frame and frame to battery ground?  You could do my quick test to validate that your main grounds are good.

Electrics when wonky likes to find it's own path to ground, and I have seen speedometer/clutch cables as well as other things as the main ground point which usually fries things a tad.  

I have seen pic's of melted clusters when starting the car as well as ECU's on the Digifants Smoke Testing as the ECU is being used for start ground.  The age of the wires on these are getting to critical mass as engine oil's cause the insulation to become brittle and break wires when bent, or chafing.  

https://www.volkswagenownersclub.com/threads/brianos-quick-grounds-test.134637/