Overheating Citreon Xsara (2000) - Help please

bravo

Hi Guys,
Know very little about cars. My Xsara's temp guage red light came on today after a short drive, had the car services two months ago.
No hot air coming from air vents - even with hot on full.
I'm guessing oil or coolant, or maybe something worse. Any ideas - help appreciated.

peasant

Sounds like a faulty thermostat. It doesn't open anymore and so the cooling doesn't work (neither does the heating)

Cheap enough to fix ...but get it done quickly and don't drive any more, or at least not far and not long

crosstownk

I'd be inclined to suspect the thermostat too. However, it could be possible that the head gasket is gone.

Either way - as peasant said, don't drive it you will only cause further damage. If your anyway handy with cars (or have a mate that is) then remove the thermostat completely and see if that makes a difference - the engine should run too cold. You can also test the removed thermostat in a pot of boiling water.

Have you checked the coolant level? If so is correct?

BrianD3

Hot engine and cold heater usually means either
-low or no coolant in the system
-failed water pump
-blockage somewhere
-faulty temp gauge giving a wrong reading

I wouldn't suspect the thermostat at this time as I think on most cars the heater matrix is part of the cooling circuit even if the thermostat is stuck closed. So in the case of a stuck closed thermostat you'll get a roasting heater and overheating engine.

Par72

You gotta love the Citreon Xsara's!

I had the same problem a couple of months ago.

Has your radiator still got water in it? If not, then your car is overheating because the head gasket is going.
Don't drive the car if you can help it! If the head is not warped by excess heat, it is usually a case of having the head re-skimmed etc.

Anyway, I thought I had a hole in the radiator, but it turned out that the missing water was being burned off with the petrol because the gasket was gone.

My mechanic got the head skimmed and bob was my uncle.
That was until a week later when the thermostat gave up! It had the exact same symptoms as you are describing. He replaced it and all was hunky dory until last Friday.

I got in to the car that morning and straight away, it was alarm bells and illuminated red lights telling me to stop because I was over heating.

So, at the moment, I have to disconnect the battery each time the car is parked up for any length of time as this is the only thing that stops the fan. Otherwise, I'd be looking at flat batteries..

Thing is, the temperature gauge is still working, so I'm thinking that it is only a problem with the relay switch to the fan. I read on another forum that the AC can interrupt the fan relay, and it was a simple case of switching the AC, on and then off a couple of times. This doesn't work for me, so I'm taking it home to my mechanic tomorrow.

bravo

Thanks for the replies guys.
I was almost crying reading the possibilities of my head gasket going - but after a trip to the motor factors, the smile was beginning to reappear.
Hope I'm not going dpown the road of Par72, but I think I'm sorted for the moment.
The motor factor guy reckoned if there was not heat coming from the vents, it was most likely the coolant was at minimum or below it, so I checked the levels and yeah they were right down. Took a full litre to top up anf haven't noticed anything leaking or any red light since. Temp according to the guage is around 90 - normal I think.
So i'll give it a good run later and checdk the levels again in the morning. Thnaks again guys

crosstownk

Glad to hear that it's solved.........

However, keep an eye on the coolant level for the next while. What would bother me is where the coolant went to in the first place. If the level stays up over the next few hundred miles then you've nothing to worry about, but if it drops again then you obviously have a leak - or something more sinister.

Turbulent Bill

Par72 wrote:

You gotta love the Citreon Xsara's!

I had the same problem a couple of months ago.

Has your radiator still got water in it? If not, then your car is overheating because the head gasket is going.
Don't drive the car if you can help it! If the head is not warped by excess heat, it is usually a case of having the head re-skimmed etc.

Anyway, I thought I had a hole in the radiator, but it turned out that the missing water was being burned off with the petrol because the gasket was gone.

My mechanic got the head skimmed and bob was my uncle.
That was until a week later when the thermostat gave up! It had the exact same symptoms as you are describing. He replaced it and all was hunky dory until last Friday.

I got in to the car that morning and straight away, it was alarm bells and illuminated red lights telling me to stop because I was over heating.

So, at the moment, I have to disconnect the battery each time the car is parked up for any length of time as this is the only thing that stops the fan. Otherwise, I'd be looking at flat batteries..

Thing is, the temperature gauge is still working, so I'm thinking that it is only a problem with the relay switch to the fan. I read on another forum that the AC can interrupt the fan relay, and it was a simple case of switching the AC, on and then off a couple of times. This doesn't work for me, so I'm taking it home to my mechanic tomorrow.

I'm having problems too with a Xsara :rolleyes:, though not quite as serious as yours. The car is driving fine, with normal engine temperature and coolant levels, but the heater temperature is stuck on cold. It doesn't have AC, just the normal ventilation controls. The heater fan seems to be working fine, but the temperature dial feels a bit loose, almost like it's detached from the unit behind it.

If someone can suggest a cure for this that doesn't involve taking the dashboard off I'd be a happy man!

crosstownk

Turbulent Bill wrote:

I'm having problems too with a Xsara :rolleyes:, though not quite as serious as yours. The car is driving fine, with normal engine temperature and coolant levels, but the heater temperature is stuck on cold. It doesn't have AC, just the normal ventilation controls. The heater fan seems to be working fine, but the temperature dial feels a bit loose, almost like it's detached from the unit behind it.

If someone can suggest a cure for this that doesn't involve taking the dashboard off I'd be a happy man!

I'd say the cable that connects the control to the heater flap is broken or has come adrift. You may have to dismantle the dash.......