Overheating in Traffic was: I hate N.J. (or at least their highways!)

[T Berk <tberk@mindspring.com>]

JLuk77@aol.com wrote:
> 
> Sorry i just have to rant, i spent about an hour last night in traffic...
> and i almost always start overheating.  ...i have put 3 or 4 radiator fan
> swictches in it so far at least one of them low temp, and they have all died
> within 3-4 months, i think i might need a new fan motor, does this seem to
> make any sense to those of you who are better with electical theory than I?
> TIA
> Josh Lukasik
> 88 16v 2.0

Our cars should not overheat at all. They often do though and this is
the hard bite.

Things to check; 
Air bubble stuck in block due to not backfilling coolant mix during
refill. use the upper radiator hose to fill the block. 
Small leak in system, prob only when up to full temp, that won't allow a
full 15psi coolant pressure. This will allow the boiling point of the
mix to lower closer to 100c. Not good. Higher pressure = higher boiling
point.
Water pump worn and coolant not flowing well, under speed there is
additional cooling going on.
Fan windings/Ext wires _could_ be raising the resistance high enough to
burn out the weak link; the thermo switch. (You can rewire it directly
to the battery neg - switch - fan - battery pos if you like) But, if the
fan is running most all the time to keep the motor cool then the switch
may just being wearing out due to a too high duty cycle, ya think?

Questions for ya, esp as we go into the Winter in the N Hemisphere
Coolant flush & renewal?
Thermostat was replaced then too, right? With a good OEM brand?
Coolant is rather fresh & is 70/30 to 50/50 mix w/ distilled water,
right? (Phosphate free if you redo it)
Your car ever go into the shop? One with equipment to sniff the exhaust
and properly set the fuel to air mix? What about your timing? Might be
off.

Thems my thinks, Fellas did I get it all?
TBerk

--
Email problems to: scirocco-l-probs@scirocco.org  To unsubscibe send
"unsubscribe scirocco-l" in the message to majordomo@scirocco.org