1.7td pressurizing

[McFall1984]

Bought a M reg cavalier there friday night

temp hand kept rising an dropping, ( rising to almost red mark )
there was full heat in the car during the short drive before overheating, temp hand was almost in the red, then dropped to 1st mark on temp hand, then kept rising an dropping, ( speed was round 50 )
as car got to warm we dropped the heat to cold, temp hand raised again so we put the heat on but no heat, stayed cold


drove about 4 mile an it died, opened the bonnet an woah steam everywere


let it cool down an a mate towed me home

next day i removed the rad an washed it out, noticed the cap was making a squeel noise as if it wasnt holding the pressure

so got a rad an cap, still the same
water pump seemed to be returning water back to the coolant tank,

any idea's? there was heat - hot up until we dropped it to cold air, once we tried to get heat nothing changed

there is 335k on the clock, supposedly got an engine a few weeks back, no proof of this though

when i removed rad an intercooler, a few ml of oil came out from the bottom intercooler pipe, is that normal?

anyway, any idea's? no water leaks from anywere, cars just pressurizing all the time

changed cap for 1 from a mates vectra but you can hear it letting out pressure every 10 seconds or so

[Cavalier342]

Massive airlock? Possibly in the heater matrix, if you turn the heater on and it dumps all the hot air out and goes cold, it sounds like there's air in the matrix.

[McFall1984]

Massive airlock? Possibly in the heater matrix, if you turn the heater on and it dumps all the hot air out and goes cold, it sounds like there's air in the matrix.

what way can that be unblocked? car is still pressurizing though?

took the car to my welder yesterday to get ready for mot
about 7 mile out from me

filled to coolant bottle an blasted out the road before it over heated again an died ( battery is done ) but got there just, as i pulled into his lane, steam started to arise from under the bonnet

[Cavalier342]

Have you ran it with the cap off from cold?

Might be a dodgy sensor as well.. Wouldn't be surprised, if the gauge was jumping up and down.

[McFall1984]

Aye an the water started to rise so put the cap back on

[btcctroy]

Have you checked the thermostat is opening, change it to rule that out then look at possible Head gasket problem, i suggest getting it block tested.
Cavalier don't really suffer with air locks, I've never had one anyway

[btcctroy]

Massive airlock? Possibly in the heater matrix, if you turn the heater on and it dumps all the hot air out and goes cold, it sounds like there's air in the matrix.

Where do u get your info from

[Cavalier342]

Cavaliers do get airlocks, as when there is one, when I put my foot down I can hear bubbling, i.e. air rushing through the system. Had it on all of mine. Always happens after a coolant change/radiator change, any jobs where it needs to be drained.....

[Cavalier342]

Massive airlock? Possibly in the heater matrix, if you turn the heater on and it dumps all the hot air out and goes cold, it sounds like there's air in the matrix.

Where do u get your info from

Experience Troy.

[btcctroy]

Your obviously doing something wrong pal

[Cavalier342]

If you say so

[btcctroy]

But your telling someone to check for airlocks. What about the thermostat? No mention of this, your obviously well clued up

[McFall1984]

thermostat and water pump will be changed and we'll run the car again with cap on or cap off?

if the problem persists, we'll remove the head, get it skimmed an refit with new gasket

[btcctroy]

thermostat and water pump will be changed and we'll run the car again with cap on or cap off?

if the problem persists, we'll remove the head, get it skimmed an refit with new gasket

Get it block tested before you assume it's the head gasket

[btcctroy]

Also if you've had the radiator off and the system is totally drained fill the radiator via the top hose until no more coolant can be added then reconnect top hose and fill header tank.
Leave cap of until the thermostat opens and radiator gets hot, then fit cap.
If there is no heat from heaters feel the flow and return on the heater matrix pipes if hot one side then it's blocked with shit.

[paul_34]

Heads have a habit of cracking on these if they cook so keep that in mind. Be prepared for a shock if you get a thermostat from Vauxhall. £55 I think they were when I asked. £10 from motor factors but get the best you can or will end up changing it every 12 months. Might be worth inspecting the pump in case the impeller slackens off when hot. Don't forget if it's low on coolant and with airlocks if the temp sender isn't surrounded by water it'll show cold on the dash Never had an airlock on any of my Vauxhalls over the last 25 years. Fill it up slow

[McFall1984]

i dont mind paying, aslong as the engine get sorted and im fit to sit in traffic without the car boiling itself

either way 1st im going to change thermostat an waterpump, fill the rad 1st, then connect the top hose, an fill the coolant to above low level and run with the cap off until the coolant levels out and take for a short drive

[planetc]

I've said it dozens of times, Cavaliers do not suffer air locks unless something else is wrong. Pressure is not a good sign on the td, and usually means that it has a head or gasket failure. Block test recommended as Troy suggested.

[Cavalier342]

I don't mean to argue but it's quite easy to get airlocks when re-filling coolant, even if you fill it slowly, it still has to navigate through hoses, radiator, matrix hoses, so I always run it with the cap off until the fan kicks in, as recommended, to get rid of air pockets. Every now and then I get one, but only after coolant change. Unless there is a leak, I agree, there shouldn't be any air locks.

[btcctroy]

I don't mean to argue but it's quite easy to get airlocks when re-filling coolant, even if you fill it slowly, it still has to navigate through hoses, radiator, matrix hoses, so I always run it with the cap off until the fan kicks in, as recommended, to get rid of air pockets. Every now and then I get one, but only after coolant change. Unless there is a leak, I agree, there shouldn't be any air locks.

Pal they don't suffer with them. There a straight loop system with a high level stat. with no valves only a thermostat. The heater matrix has no valves to restrict water movement.
As the matrix is at the lowest point it tends to collect debris ie rust,stop leak etc

[ed2]

I was told that with a diesel (any make) to tick it over with the cooler cap off to look for a steady supply of bubbles rising in the cooler tank as a sign of head gasket leak/blow

I also read that with vauahall petrol cars if cooler caps leaks with age it will cause air in the system and various problems due to just the cap leakng. Not sure if this can happen with diesels?