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[rollacorolla]

Hi all,
Made the mistake of going in to London yesterday and leaving with the mid-afternoon Friday mad rush  . There was heavy rain all day and on the A4/M4 from central London until after Slough the traffic was hellish. My 3.0 V6 didn't like the stop/start traffic and was running hot - about 95 degrees - then all of a sudden the temp gauge shot up into the red. I put the heating on full and this brought it down to about 100 and once we got going she cooled down to just under 90 which is normal. Back home I checked the coolant and it's fine. Can someone help with a troubleshooting checklist and what exactly I need to check to isolate the problem? How do I check to see if the radiator is blocked? How do I check the thermostat? How do I check the fans are ok? Coolant was flushed about 6 months ago.
Cheers.

[DD-Indeed]

Was the Aircon on ? If it on, it tend to affect the cooling system with extra, unneeded heat.

[Nick W]

The reported symptoms would have me examining the water pump for a loose or damaged impeller.

Radiators don't suddenly block, and the thermostat is more likely to jam open in use.

As for the fans, check the fuse, and if OK power them up directly.

[Shackeng]

It also depends how well the cooling system was maintained before you got it, as just a coolant flush, unless using a really strong flush additive, may well not have shifted well attached gunge.

[Lazydocker]

I've had this on both my V6 Omegas. New Rad cured it after I'd checked everything else!!

[jb]

99% likely to just need a new rad, they have a tendency to silt up over 10 yrs old.....

[rollacorolla]

Thanks for all the feedback. I drove to Reading yesterday and she behaved fine. The fans kicked in at just over 90 and all three are working. Maybe it was the continual stop/start traffic in London on Friday that she didn't like?
The aircon needs a regas and I don't use it anyway.
How do I check if the water pump is ok? I'm not even sure where to find it 
Also where can I find radiators at a reasonable price?

[Lazydocker]

Thanks for all the feedback. I drove to Reading yesterday and she behaved fine. The fans kicked in at just over 90 and all three are working. Maybe it was the continual stop/start traffic in London on Friday that she didn't like?
The aircon needs a regas and I don't use it anyway.
How do I check if the water pump is ok? I'm not even sure where to find it 
Also where can I find radiators at a reasonable price?

Mine was exactly the same (although my air con worked).

www.carcooling.co.uk

[TheBoy]

When it shot up, did you hear the high speed fans running?

[Bojan]

Just one thing -> temp gauges do know to show higher temperature than it really is.
I had several omegas, on which the gauge often shows higher temp than it really is - not all the time, just from time to time it 'goes up', sometimes showing several degrees higher, sometimes kincking into the red -> I give it knock or two, and it goes down.

Did you hear your fans kicking in?

[rollacorolla]

I can hear the fans kicking in when it gets above 90. Thing is that now she generally seems to be running hotter since the London trip - sits at around 95 in town traffic which is hotter than she used to run. Maybe it is a radiator problem?

[Bojan]

More likely a pump (impeller) problem.

[EMD]

99% likely to just need a new rad, they have a tendency to silt up over 10 yrs old.....

+1

I've had this on both my V6 Omegas. New Rad cured it after I'd checked everything else!!

+2

[rollacorolla]

Lat night on the way back home the gauge was just under 100, then on came the a warning light on the dash - the orange one that looks like an engine. I think this is the emissions warning? It was solid not flashing. Anyway it was only on for a few seconds then the engine died. Luckily I was on a B road and pulled over into a driveway. I waited for 10 minutes thinking it was an overheating problem then it started again and I was able to get home. I will run the paperclip test today and see if I can get the car up to Serek tomorrow. Hopefully she will make the 90 mile trip 

[rollacorolla]

Did the paperclip test:
91 O2 Sensor 2 Circuit Voltage High
21 Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) Voltage High

Not sure what to do about this. Doesn't look like it's even related to the overheating problem.