Engine Overheating

[Michaelj15]

Hey Guys,

just looking for advice of if anyone has had a similar story...

In December on a monday my temp gauge just randomly flew up to red (max)... took it in to the dealer, got it back on wednesday and they said they fixed the problem. Started driving home, same problem... Took it back to the dealer on the same day - on thursday they called me in and told me i had modified the radiator and fan (which i hadn't). He pointed to a fan and said - this is not supposed to be there, so i crawled under the car and found the MMA barcode on the fan and pointed that out to the mechanic, it was supposed to be there!!! ... Long story short they replaced the electric thermostat and everything was fine.

Now 6ish months later the temp gauge is rising again not as rapidly but it got pretty close to red - i won't take it back to that same dealership again... so its in with a different one.

Anyone have any idea?

cheers,

[littleriver]

what radiator pressure cap has it got on it ? as after the cooling system campaign they would have changed it to a higher KPA/PSI ... (more then likely fingers crossed your motor was not one that was affect by this) ..

see how you go at this dealer - (option C) - take it in to a workshop to get a combustion leak test done (liquid preferably) ...

NB what's the building date of your vehicle (not compliance) ? and also the km's


...

[Michaelj15]

what radiator pressure cap has it got on it ? as after the cooling system campaign they would have changed it to a higher KPA/PSI ... (more then likely fingers crossed your motor was not one that was affect by this) ..

see how you go at this dealer - (option C) - take it in to a workshop to get a combustion leak test done (liquid preferably) ...

NB what's the building date of your vehicle (not compliance) ? and also the km's

...

Thanks for the reply - not sure re radiator pressure cap, ill have to check once ive got it back from the dealer.

I bought it in 2016 so i believe its a MY15 PC challenger and 38,000 ks

Unfortunately the dealer couldn't find any problems... and did two road tests and no issues. They told me if it happens again to video it, as apparently my pictures weren't good enough - but video is.

[greig]

Normally if you weren't towing or running it hard in high daytime temps, it would point to a sticking thermostat, especially if it's random.
Very unusual if they in fact did change the thermostat before ?

[old Jack]

You need to ascertain if the engine is actually getting hot or it is a random faulty gauge/sender unit.

Are you losing coolant out of the expansion tank?
Can you see or hear coolant bubbling in the expansion tank when you get a high temperature coolant reading?

OJ.

[Quinno]

OJ, I loose very small amounts of water out the overflow bottle all the time, even when temp gauge not hot. I thought it was just splash back from 4wd country. Should I be worried. I had service campaign completed and they tell me it passed, although I never received any paperwork of what they actually did or any before and after results. Should I be worried?

[littleriver]

Our"s passed the first test also .. it's a 3 step .. take it back for the next step .. (tell them it's loosing coolant also as well as over heating) ..

They will measure from stone cold at different rpm and temps fluide levels to determine out outcome .. may have to leave it over night ..

..

[littleriver]

Can you please also check build date on vehicle please .. ( not compliance)

..

[littleriver]

You need to ascertain if the engine is actually getting hot or it is a random faulty gauge/sender unit.

Are you losing coolant out of the expansion tank?
Can you see or hear coolant bubbling in the expansion tank when you get a high temperature coolant reading?

OJ.

Also in the morning dead cold (before start) .. open radiator cap .. should not be pressurized ..

.

[Michaelj15]

You need to ascertain if the engine is actually getting hot or it is a random faulty gauge/sender unit.

Are you losing coolant out of the expansion tank?
Can you see or hear coolant bubbling in the expansion tank when you get a high temperature coolant reading?

OJ.

Thanks for the advice OJ. From what i can see no loss of coolant - they pressure tested the cooling system and said no leaks... they test drove it twice and had no problems, really weird.

When it was 'overheating' i should have stopped and popped the bonnet, but when i kept driving i was able to not get the gauge too high (not to redline, closest was to the second line)...

If it happens again i will definitely film the whole thing and pop the bonnet and have a look.

[Michaelj15]

Normally if you weren't towing or running it hard in high daytime temps, it would point to a sticking thermostat, especially if it's random.
Very unusual if they in fact did change the thermostat before ?

Cheers for the reply greig, yeh i half wondered if they did a crappy install of the thermostat, but after reassess they said all fine... So ill have to wait and see.

[Michaelj15]

Also in the morning dead cold (before start) .. open radiator cap .. should not be pressurized ..

.

Yeh will do - i mentioned radiator cap to mechanic and he seemed to think that was the earlier models, but it never hurts to double check!

[Quinno]

Littleriver, mine is September 2010 build. Has anyone got the written procedure for the cooling system service campaign. They never told me about needing it 3 times, but they did have it over night.

[Kingbrown]

Littleriver, mine is September 2010 build. Has anyone got the written procedure for the cooling system service campaign. They never told me about needing it 3 times, but they did have it over night.

Procedure is detailed at Post #81 here:
(plenty of bedtime reading there!).

https://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=42128&highlight=Campaign&page=41

[PeterC51]

Littleriver, mine is September 2010 build. Has anyone got the written procedure for the cooling system service campaign. They never told me about needing it 3 times, but they did have it over night.

From an old post "Mine skipped the 1st step of replacing the radiator cap. 2nd step was to fill cooling system and run at 4000 RPM for 30 min, mine failed this test. Next step was to remove head and check for warp and cracks. This test was passed. Next step was to inspect the cylinders for pitting or evidence of water damage. Pitting was found and photo's sent to MMA."