Menu toggle

Overheating while idling??

dirtydirtyharry

dirtydirtyharry

New member
Hi guys, Having recently bought my 944 I have become wary of the fact that the temp gauge is fairly high. It gets very close to the red on some journeys. After a long drive today I pulled up on my driveway and I noticed that the temp gauge suddenly started to rise continuously (from the 3r white line to the base of the red segment) within about 60 seconds of pulling onto the drive.

Any ideas why the car should overheat mor whilst idling than motorway driving? Could it be the lack of air flow??

Any advice greatfully received!

Cheers
 
Hi

You don't say which model of 944 you have, but I'm going to assume it's a 2.5 Lux- although in this case I don't think it matters.

You're are most correct in that air-flow will be keeping your engine cool while you are making progress. There's no way that your temp should be anywhere near the red on the temp guage and you are running the risk of head gasket damage if you get stuck in traffic and it overheats proper. Most guages in my experience sit between the half way mark and the lower of the white lines, i.e about at the 40%.

My advice would be to go out to your car pronto and check these things as, assuming your guage isn't faulty, it sounds like you've got a leak.

1. Check that your front carpets aren't wet. If they are, your heater matrix may be leaking.

2. Check you have coolant in the expansion tank. If you haven't, (and I suspect you won't if you are overheating) fill it up and come back to us with the figure for the amount of water you put in. While there, check that there's no oil in the water...[:eek:]

3. Check at the bottom of the radiator, passenger side for a small blue plastic drain plug. They crack, and leak but typically only when running due to the pressure.

4. Check for splits in hoses and so on, but again only likely to show when the engine is running.

 
Have the water pump checked out on your car, on my 2.5 the pump seized which then melted the timing belt which ended up bending the valves and cracking the head[:mad:]

Other thing to check for is that your fan is working but this only helps when the car is stationary it should'nt be overheating whilst moving.
 
Is the coolant level correct?
Does the cooling fan operate correctly?
Is the radiators airflow obstructed?
Is the radiator allowing water to flow through it correctly?

 
A daft one caught me out.
Make sure the fan is blowing the correct way, on my first lux the connections were reversed causing issues at idle and low speed.
 
Does the heater work?

Does it work intermittently?

If it doesnt or works intermittently then a little plastic clip on the control arm may be broken (do a search)

If thats ok then you could have an airlock.

If not then consider the fans.

If they are ok it could be the thermostat.

If the heater works then when you overheat turn it on full as it acts as a radiator and will help lose heat. Its quite surprising how much it can help. My Mk 1 Golf project started to overheat a week last Sunday and you know how hot it was [&:] In traffic I had to sit there with the heater on full blast [&o]
 
Many thanks for the tips guys.

I am getting a service done tommorrow and will ask them to investigate this asap. Im not very confident around the engine bay so should probably leave it to the experts!

Fingers and toes crossed!
 
I had exactly the same problem with mine a couple of weeks ago. It overheated really fast while idling and spewed half the coolant out the cap of the expansion tank. I topped it back up and let it build up a little pressure then i removed the cap from the expansion tank and put the heaters on full blast as i suspected an airlock.
Its been fine eversince.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Posts made and opinions expressed are those of the individual forum members

Use of the Forum is subject to the Terms and Conditions

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed on this site are not necessarily those of the Club, who shall have no liability in respect of them or the accuracy of the content. The Club assumes no responsibility for any effects arising from errors or omissions.

Porsche Club Great Britain gives no warranties, guarantees or assurances and makes no representations or recommendations regarding any goods or services advertised on this site. It is the responsibility of visitors to satisfy themselves that goods and/or services supplied by any advertiser are bona fide and in no instance can the Porsche Club Great Britain be held responsible.

When responding to advertisements please ensure that you satisfy yourself of any applicable call charges on numbers not prefixed by usual "landline" STD Codes. Information can be obtained from the operator or the white pages. Before giving out ANY information regarding cars, or any other items for sale, please satisfy yourself that any potential purchaser is bona fide.

Directors of the Board of Porsche Club GB, Club Office Staff, Register Secretaries and Regional Organisers are often requested by Club members to provide information on matters connected with their cars and other matters referred to in the Club Rules. Such information, advice and assistance provided by such persons is given in good faith and is based on the personal experience and knowledge of the individual concerned.

Neither Porsche Club GB, nor any of the aforementioned, shall be under any liability in respect of any such information, advice or assistance given to members. Members are advised to consult qualified specialists for information, advice and assistance on matters connected with their cars at all times.

Porsche
Lockton
Pirelli
Officially approved
Oracle Finance
WEX Esso
Collecting Cars
Archant Dialogue
Back
Top