Hi folks,
First time posting since the forum move but I've been on since 2013. I haven't been driving my van (1990 2.1 MV) that much since covid started and I guess all the sitting around hasn't been doing it any favours.
Today I went to pick up some furniture 60km away and noticed on the M4 in western Sydney that the temp gauge was much higher than usual, close to the 3/4 mark (but not to the point that the red light was flashing). I put the heating on full blast which brought the gauge back down to the usual range, but obviously driving around Sydney in summer with 50°C air blowing on my feet is not an ideal solution. The temperature gauge did climb while waiting at traffic lights because my dash fan is not working at the moment (I have a replacement but some PO has glued the two halves of the heater box together with silicone sealant).
The coolant looks a bit murky in the header tank and I think I have a slow leak in the system somewhere because the header tank does seem to need to be refilled occasionally but there is no obvious drip on the ground when I park. The cooling fan does turn on and off.
I had been thinking that the radiator was clogged up but looking at https://kombiclubaustralia.com/showthread.php?tid=275 I realised that there are a couple of other potential failure points: the thermostat and temperature gauge. The hot air from the heater felt like it was going to melt my shoes so I reckon the temperature gauge is probably correct but is there a way to test the thermostat in the van without opening it?
I'll check that there isn't something blocking airflow through the radiator and see how evenly hot the radiator is getting, to try see if it is clogged. If it is, the people who know more about this than me seem to prefer replacing the radiator over cleaning it out (makes sense to me) but the OEM 43mm radiators seem to be very thin on the ground at the moment and most suppliers only have the cooler climate ~30mm thickness radiators. It seems to me that a new 30mm radiator would be better than a clogged 43mm radiator but does anyone have any comments on that? Or leads on vendors with the thicker radiators/an equivalent from another vehicle?
Cheers, Neil
First time posting since the forum move but I've been on since 2013. I haven't been driving my van (1990 2.1 MV) that much since covid started and I guess all the sitting around hasn't been doing it any favours.
Today I went to pick up some furniture 60km away and noticed on the M4 in western Sydney that the temp gauge was much higher than usual, close to the 3/4 mark (but not to the point that the red light was flashing). I put the heating on full blast which brought the gauge back down to the usual range, but obviously driving around Sydney in summer with 50°C air blowing on my feet is not an ideal solution. The temperature gauge did climb while waiting at traffic lights because my dash fan is not working at the moment (I have a replacement but some PO has glued the two halves of the heater box together with silicone sealant).
The coolant looks a bit murky in the header tank and I think I have a slow leak in the system somewhere because the header tank does seem to need to be refilled occasionally but there is no obvious drip on the ground when I park. The cooling fan does turn on and off.
I had been thinking that the radiator was clogged up but looking at https://kombiclubaustralia.com/showthread.php?tid=275 I realised that there are a couple of other potential failure points: the thermostat and temperature gauge. The hot air from the heater felt like it was going to melt my shoes so I reckon the temperature gauge is probably correct but is there a way to test the thermostat in the van without opening it?
I'll check that there isn't something blocking airflow through the radiator and see how evenly hot the radiator is getting, to try see if it is clogged. If it is, the people who know more about this than me seem to prefer replacing the radiator over cleaning it out (makes sense to me) but the OEM 43mm radiators seem to be very thin on the ground at the moment and most suppliers only have the cooler climate ~30mm thickness radiators. It seems to me that a new 30mm radiator would be better than a clogged 43mm radiator but does anyone have any comments on that? Or leads on vendors with the thicker radiators/an equivalent from another vehicle?
Cheers, Neil
1990 2.1litre MV window van in Sydney. Wave if you see me