Overheating tendency

[Dalhousie1]

Our 04 C.I. Fiat Ducato 2.8 is tending to overheat on runs over about 40 miles. Can't be the water pump so think radiator might need flushing or possibly a new radiator needed? No leaks from rad that I can detect. Anyone else had a similar problem? Finally, only other "cause" could be guage on dash - are these reliable? I could do a secondary check with an infra-red thermometer (if only I could remember where I last had it!).

 

[Spriddler]

Faulty thermostat not opening fully or at all?

 

[ChrisL]

It's 18 years old now, why not treat it to a cooling system overhaul? Give it a good flush to clean out the heater rad, then fit a new radiator, thermostat, fanbelt, water pump and hoses. Overheating engines can equal cracked heads. Another thing to look at is, is it loosing water, any bubbling in the header tank? Those can be symptoms of a blown head gasket or a cracked head, which will cause Overheating.

 

[Dunworkin]

I have had a similar problem in the past with my 05 Laika. where the temperature gauge all of a sudden creeps up. This makes you think it is boiling over, but the water pipes are not overly hot and the radiator fan has not cut in. This turned out to be a faulty sensor in the engine.
I have had the same problem on the way down to benidorm. It looked like it was boiling over but the pipes were not excessively hot. I left it for an hour to cool down. Water levels all ok.
Started it up and the temperature gauge went straight up.
I continued on to benidorm ignoring the temperature gauge, when i arrived you could just here the fan cutting in and out.
Another sensor required!

 

[Masman]

As above.I had similar problems. It turned out to be sensor.Cheep to repair

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Landy Andy]

When it says it’s hot have you popped the bonnet and checked?

When the gauge is in the red, and reading correctly, you will know it when opening the bonnet

 

[PleasantCoast]

I'm having this issue at the moment too (temp gauge in the red, engine not actually overheating).

 

[jockaneezer]

Try putting your heater on as hot as it will go and put the fan on full blast, if the temp goes down, it's likely your radiator is clogged ?

 

[danielf]

I had similar on my 1998 1.9. And my later 2.8 JTD was going the same way. . On a hill it would get hot, but only once engine is really warm.

Look at the radiator closely and see if the little fins are all rotting away.

It doesn’t leak but the cooling is affected. My theory was the radiators are so huge that it only becomes an issue when hot.

Daniel.

 

[Odd-no-more]

I used to have a diesel Bongo, they have a tendency to crack cylinder heads, so keeping an eye on the temperature is important. One thing I found out is how bad temperature gauges are on modern vehicles, they are so damped that they only tell you about overheating when it's too late. I modified the gauge on my Bongo and fitted an extra gauge with an alarm. One thing I noticed was how much the temperature goes up and down in normal driving.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Dalhousie1]

Hi Guys, many thanks for all you helpful comments. I'm cautious by nature and prefer to proceed by a process of systematic elimination - so plenty of things to investigate!