miikeeyuk

had exact problem with mine, also had no return flow to the header tank. Problem was found to be blocked one way bleed valve which is in the small return to header hose, this gets blocked and causes those symptoms. also check thermostat is opening fully.

fortunately, mine only got slightly warmer then normal twice before i took it off the road and booked it into the garage, but yes i agree, if its constantly overheated then the head would likely warp

I had EXACTLY the same problem with my Gal a couple of weeks ago and with advice from this forum i booked it into a garage for a likely head gasket job. fortunately the garage where I took it, did a thorough investigation and discovered that not only was the thermostat not opening fully but they also found that a 'one way' bleed valve which is in the coolant 'return to header tank' hose was blocked causing pressure to build up in the tank and causing the water to not circulate. They've now replaced the valve and so far all is well. So it seems these engines automatically bleed the air from the coolant themselves as long as these valves arent blocked. I did a lot of research on here whilst trying to identify my problem, im just wondering how many people have assumed a head gasket and the garage they've taken them to for repair weren't so honest? The garage gave me the hose with the valve inside showing it blocked, so i may take a picture and post it on here, so that people don't get misguided about bleeding the coolant system. Hope this helps anyone else....

thanks very much , ill give it a try later.

Hi, does anybody know how to correctly bleed the coolant system on a MK2 Gal? Mines a 2002 TDi model and ive recently fitted new motor brushes to the aux water pump, but need to bleed the system as the heating in the cabin is intermittent hot and cold and there sounds to be air in the aux pump when its running with the engine off...

well the good news is that I managed to remove the aux water pump and replace the bushes by modifying a new set of alternator bushes from my local auto electrical garage for a quid. Put it all back to together and now the pump spins up nicely and sounds healthy again. Ive got heat back into the cabin, much hotter then before and also the rear compartment heater is throwing our hot air which it never did, so this seems to have done the trick. I'm still concerned the impella from the main water pump must be broken so ive got the car booked in for a new cam belt and water pump on Tuesday. I am right in saying the aux water pump main function is to circulate the water after ignition turned off to avoid hot spot damage to the block and not to be the main coolant pump?

I forgot to ask, where is the heater flap located to test if it works?

Hi Mirez, thanks for the quick reply I certainly appreciate it. Ive owned the car for just over 7 months now and it didnt come with any service history other then old MOTs etc, so i dont know when or if the pumps been changed. The cars got 138k miles on the clock and this is the first problem Ive had with it. I did notice that the rear compartment heater only blows cold air which from memory its done since I had it, but I never thought that as a major problem. I was reading the FAQ's on how to remove the run on pump and replace the brushes which sounds fairly painless, but would the water pump be as easy or is there an easy way to test the pump is circulating water without removing it?

Hi all, I have a problem with my 2002 TDi Galaxy which started today. Drove to work this morning and realised half way that although the engine temperature gauge was sat normal at 90 degrees there was no heat blowing into the cabin. I noticed over the last week a humming noise coming from under the bonnet when i turned the ignition off, which lasted for a few seconds and that seemed to be getting louder as the days went by. But today i noticed there was no humming and no heat inside the cabin. Ive browsed the FAQ's on this site and I notice that others have experienced similar problems which has been caused in a few instances by the run on pump electric motor under the windscreen wipers failing. Does this sound probable given the lack humming after the ignition is turned off? also noticed that the engine temperature reached its normal position (90 degree) much quicker this morning. Would certainly appreciate some feedback if anybody's experienced a similiar problem Cheers

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