Re: Overheating problems [1.8L 8v]

[trnsfrma@ix.netcom.com (Shawn C. Meze)]

At 04:22 PM 6/17/97 -0400, you wrote:
>
>
>Immense thanks to Shawn and rdowling (sorry, but your name
>doesn't appear in the email header). Shawn, your diagnosis
>of a partially stuck thermostat sounds very logical to me.

Thank you Mr. Spock!   :-P

>I'm going to get a chemical flush done and the thermostat changed
>this weekend. Topping off the coolant level didn't help - 
>temps were back at around the 240F mark today before I slowed
>down to 55-60mph and kept the temps below 230F.


Man! you love to live on the edge! Thats still way too high. You need 
to do something really soon to give some longevity to the motor. 
Otherwise your gonna have major problems down the road (no pun 
intended) with bearing wear and basically everything inside the engine. 
Remember, too much heat is the enemy! 


>Some questions :
>
>1. I don't think I could do a chemical flush in the parking
>   lot of my apt. building :). Now, what exactly is done in a 
>   chemical flush ? IS it just the radiator that's flushed out
>   or the engine coolant passages too ?

Well, in a nutshell, this is something you probably can do in the 
parking lot, but probably not recomended by the enviromentalists or the 
manager. (So take it to another parking lot! J/K) Its been a long time 
since ive done a bottle coolant flush. (back then, it was ok to drain 
the radiator down the gutter, not its a bad thing.) Go to the parts 
store and look at a few radiator flush bottles, read-read-read. 
Prestone carries this stuff. There are other brands too, just read the 
directions and wether or not its hazardous to the enviroment if your 
conscience of this. If not, use anything you want and follow the 
directions. Its pretty much self explanatory.  
 


>   I don't trust my mechanic enough to do this correctly. I
>   had the radiator flushed and coolant replaced in  April.
>   I suspect he simply drained the coolant and poured the new one in.
>   Btw, the coolant smells burnt now - I checked.


I dont trusty ANY mechanic to do any work on my car right.
I dont think you can burn coolant, but when its bad (I know it does get 
bad in time) it does smell burnt. It just dont smell right. Its time to 
change the coolant anyways. Perfect, a flush and coolant change! 
2 birds! 


>2. Would it be alright to drive the car at these temps (keeping
>   it below 230F if possible) until Saturday ? Do I run the
>   risk of a radiator hose burst ?


How about keeping it below 210F? You run the rish of blowing a head 
gasket, cracking a valve/head/block. Blowing a hose? definately! You 
could even blow the heater core. (It could happen.) You can probably 
drive it safely, but you really need to keep the temps lower if at all 
possible. Check the coolant level and fill it often. 
(Dont burn yourself. I dont want to get a message saying you got 3rd 
degree burns because I didnt tell you to not remove the radiator cap 
when the car is hot. I dont think I need to tell you that, right? Good, 
because im not gonna.) 


>3. I need a recommendation for a good VW garage/mechanic in the DC
>   area. Someone who's near a metro station or would complete small
>   jobs while I wait (with an appointment of course) would be ideal
>   since I can't get a ride easily. I'm in MD, close to DC, but
>   would drive anywhere in the area to get to a good mechanic.


You can do this repair yourself! Trust me!! Really, its so easy, you 
CAN do this. (ALL OF YOU!) Its just a matter of removing 2 nuts and a 
few hose clamps. There is an o-ring for the thermostat housing that you 
can install. Its not hard, simply follow the directions in the bently 
or whatever manual you have. (If you dont have a manual and you wanna 
save some cash, id be happy to write out the instructions for you.) 
This is the basics of car mechanics, a good place to get aquainted with 
your Scirocco! 
Go buy yourself a 180F thermostat, a galon of coolant, and a bottle of 
coolant flush and your ready to fix the car. It will take you 20 
minutes to change the thermostat, and depending on the directions on 
the flush kit, an hour to flush the coolant system. 
As always, HTH!! 


Shawn
86' Jetta GLi
82' Scirocco GTi
The Fastest, Quickest, Cleanest and
best looking Scirocco in all of San Diego!
http://www2.netcom.com/~trnsfrma/vws.htm
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