Cold Hose

[marty16610]

Hi people.Only bought my Galaxy 2 weeks ago,i have never owned a diesel before but have spent my working life as a mechanic/fitter but i can't work this out.Vehicle is a TDi Zetec 1999,50k on clock,Full dealer service history and runs sweet as a nut BUT whenever i use it no matter how far i drive the bottom rad hose is always cold.It doesn't overheat (temp gauge sits between O and R on the gauge,heater always blows HOT all the time,starts first spin every morning etc.If the water pump has gone the heater wouldn't blow hot? if the stat was stuck shut it would overheat? Maybe its me being a plonker and not being used to the runnings of these VW lumps but this is bugging the hell out of me.Im doing the timing belt and tensioner at the weekend so any pointers in the right direction will be much appreciated.CHEERS :huh:

[Justice]

I would suspect the thermostat has jamed open.

[marty16610]

Hi m8, I thought of that but she only takes 5-10 Min's to warm up.I have read elsewhere on this forum from someone who reckons their bottom hose is always cold because these engines are very "thermal efficient" unquote.I haven't ruled out the stat yet though.

[Guest vr6galaxy]

The stats a cheap place to start then move onto the water pump if that doesnt help!

[marty16610]

Will change it at the weekend and let u know what i find.Many thanks all :huh:

[marty16610]

While doing the timing belt i thought i would spin the water pump pulley to see if there is any sound of water swooshing,couldnt hear any so I'm assuming the blades have fell off so going to get a new pump and stat next week. What antifreeze do i need, usually use bluecol in my previous cars but not sure with galaxy's as everything seems critical (oil, antifreeze etc) Got blue/green in there at moment.

[marty16610]

Finances dictate i cant do pump and stat for a week,will i do any harm using car for short journeys (school run shopping etc) I think its been like it for a while anyway. CHEERS ALL

[Guest vr6galaxy]

Finances dictate i cant do pump and stat for a week,will i do any harm using car for short journeys (school run shopping etc) I think its been like it for a while anyway. CHEERS ALL

cant see why not? as you say it's been like it for a while so as long as you keep an eye on the temp gauge you should be ok?

I ran my VW T5 a while back with a dead water pump at 120mph down the motor way with the coolant warning light flashing and warning bell ringing :huh: luckily it was a T5 and not a T4 which has the pump driven by the timeing belt and has been known to sieze and take out the engine with it! the T5 pump is an electric one! :(

just keep an eye on it and replace it as soo as funds allow you too! also remember to replace the anti freeze not just add to it! as the old suff wont protect the new water pump from corrosion!

[marty16610]

thanks for that m8 wont be doing more than 40 anyway. Was going to change coolant as not sure how long its been in there.Cheers to all :huh: ;) :(

[marty16610]

had a good long look at this and come to decision that stat is stuck closed.Both front and rear heaters blow hot all the time,if temp gauge rises i turn on heater and it goes down so water is being pumped round engine and to heaters which are acting in place of radiator to cool water.Ive got a new stat for the weekend so i will post findings. Cheers guys :rolleyes:

[Justice]

I had the same prob with mine but it did damage to a hose as well cost me

[marty16610]

Cheers m8 glad u sorted it in the end. The simple jobs are usually the ones that give u the most grief. Had a mk5 escort b4 gal and decided to strip and clean carb one weekend ended up shearing fuel union off and had to cycle 5 miles to nearest scrappy on sons bike to find another one did luckily but a**e was sore for a week after. Fun aint it!

[Guest Enzo]

What antifreeze do i need, usually use bluecol in my previous cars but not sure with galaxy's as everything seems critical (oil, antifreeze etc) Got blue/green in there at moment.

All the Sharan have the Pink/Red VW G12 type coolant, so would guess the Galaxy would be the same.

[seatkid]

If its the original coolant on a older model (pre 2000) its VW G11 coolant which is blue/green. This is no longer available but you can use VW G12 plus (the plus bit is important!) which is pink. Its not recommended to mix other coolants as certain combinations dont mix with G11 - it turns to gell and blocks up everthing.... :o

[Guest vr6galaxy]

also if you have replaced any metalic parts that come into contact with the anti freeze/coolant, replace it totally as the old anti freeze will not protect the new parts from corrosion :o

[marty16610]

Changed stat but only got to end of the road lost all gears see "No Gears" just posted it in desperation.Cheers

[seatkid]

:angry: Oh dear! Sorry to hear that....don't despair.....s**t happens occasionally!

(It happens to me a lot... :D )

[marty16610]

SEATKID--Feels like i am swimming in s**t at the moment.Never mind i have had the car 3 weeks after all.Previous owner was a female (EX) friend of mine who never did anything to it except drive it.NOT a dig at women in general only one in particular. :angry: :D

[marty16610]

Thought i would mention,while i had the stat out i put my finger in the hole and felt the water pump impeller it is still attached and spinning with the pulley so at least i know thats ok . :(

[marty16610]

Finally got car back on the road (see "no gears") and guess what! the bottom hose and rad are still cold. water pump ok, new stat fitted, heaters hot all the time, temp gauge goes up to "m" of norm and then i bottle it and turn heater on full and gauge comes down. I'm thinking if rad is blocked surely bottom hose would get a little bit warm?. Stat i fitted is 87 any one know roughly how high gauge will go before stat opens ? ANY further suggestions gratefully recieved, Cheers :angry:

[Masked Marauder]

My bammer had been running (static) for an hour when I hooked up VAG-Com and the temperature was 80.6 degrees. The guage needle was in the centre. Perhaps it needs to get a bit hotter?

[MatTdi]

Marty,

My Alhambra is pretty much the same, the temp gague goes to 90 and stays there, the oil temp in mine will rise slightly depending on how hard its is pushed...

 

When my water pump went the temp gauge would only rise when the engine was pushed hard and then return to normal very quickly after slowing down.

 

The cold hose I think is how it is normally, as mine is always cold or luke warm, the efficiency of the engine is just that good it just doent get hot. Even now my aircon is poked and the fans are not spinning it still dosent get warm.....

 

Are you sure you do not have an airlock?

 

 

Regards

 

M@

[marty16610]

MM-- when gauge reads on the "m" of norm while driving that is roughly 3/4 of the way over, surely that is hot enough for the stat to open?

 

 

Mat'Tdi-- My temp gauge goes higher when driven faster than 30/40 but i know the water pump is OK. Does your rad get hot or warm at all?. If its an airlock I'm bu**ered if i can shift it, I've spent ages squeezing the hoses and yes i did fill it slowly and run it with exp cap off. :angry:

[Masked Marauder]

OK hooked mine up the VAG-COM again and logged the data. The temperature rises at a reasonable pace until it gets to about 79 degrees, when the booster heater cut out. The stat was not open and it was clear that the engine needed more fuel burning to get it hot. So the revs were increased from 840 at idle to 2500rpm and then the temperature gradually increased to 88 degrees, where it dropped slightly and then rose again.

 

I presume this was as the thermostat opened, the bottom hose was still cold until this point. After that the temperature remained steady at 88.4 degrees @ 1500rpm, as any drop to idle was matched with a temperature drop. The bottom hose was still quite cool. It ran like this for five minutes, temperature between 88.2 and 88.8 degrees.

 

I then upped the revs as the temperature was going nowhere, just staying between the above figures. It started to creep up and at 94.5 degrees the fans cut in on the radiator and remained on until the engine was allowed to idle at 840rpm again. The temperature then dropped quickly to 90degrees when the fan went off, then dropped slowly to 88.2 then down to 85 degrees and was continuing to drop when I stopped logging the data.

 

So there you have it, don't know if it will help you decide what is wrong but it proves at theis time of year at least, at idle there is not enough waste heat to fully warm up the engine!.

[marty16610]

MM-- Many thanks for going through all that. I agree with you about the idle statement, it takes forever for my temp gauge to move with it just ticking over. Ive a feeling my gauge might not be giving an accurate reading,have to look into that possibility. Cheers m8.