Hello, I thought I'd just post some information about my recent temperature gauge and overheating issues as it might help someone. This information is nothing new but it combines a few different things so here goes.
Firstly The model I have is a 2002 Seat Leon 1.8T.
* When I first got the car the temperature gauge only when up to around 70 and fluctuated but mostly didn't move at all. After reading some good advice from this forum I changed the water temp sensor. This was a cheap item, I think around £5 so there was nothing to lose. This is a simple job and only takes a couple of minutes. okay, no luck still no movement on the gauge.
* Next I changed the thermostat. Now I read quite a bit about how to remove this item without having to take anything else off etc....but or me there way no way. Everything was just too tight, the alternator was in the way, the air con pipes were in the way, even if I managed to get to the two 10mm bolts there was no way I would be able to line everything back up square when putting it back together. So the I found the easiest thing to do would be to just remove the alternator so that I had lots of access to the thermostat. The alternator is really easy to remove so it was a no brainier really. The whole job took around 30 minutes. This included filing back the spacers in the bolt holes so I could get the alternator back on more easily.
*Sorted, gauge working, temp sitting at 90. Lovely.
*Fast forward a month.
*Whats this I see, a nice column of steam billowing from the water expansion tank.
The car would sit and tick over and still sit at 90 but the minute I drove and the system was under pressure, steam! But the gauge still always at 90 degrees.
*Okay, lets start with the cheap things as I really didn't want to consider that it could be the head gasket or the water pump as I didn't really feel like a very large bill!
I popped off to ebay and purchased a new expansion tank cap.
No luck, the water still boiled. Still sitting at 90 degrees.
I tried burping the system and squeezing for airlocks etc....
Nope, still boiling.
* Drained the water from the system and flush the radiator through with a hose. Maybe there was a blockage somewhere?
Nope, Still boiling.
* Remove the thermostat and put my finger in to check for a broken water pump. It all felt okay and the water looked to be circulating back into the expansion tank.
* The next cheap thing to try was the expansion tank itself, maybe it had a hairline crack and was losing pressure and for good measure another cap but this time from europarts rather than ebay.
Tank £12, the cap around £6
* Ta da!!!!!! problem solved, not more boiling water. So I suspect the tank wasn't holding pressure.
* Wait, Gauge now only going to 70 and dropping to nothing again.
*The humanity!!!!!
* Changed the water temp sensor again back to the original one. It looks like the boiling over water must have killed it, or it was just a coincidence.
Fixed!!!
For now.........
Thank you to everyone who had contributed to this forum as your advice was invaluable.
Cheers
Firstly The model I have is a 2002 Seat Leon 1.8T.
* When I first got the car the temperature gauge only when up to around 70 and fluctuated but mostly didn't move at all. After reading some good advice from this forum I changed the water temp sensor. This was a cheap item, I think around £5 so there was nothing to lose. This is a simple job and only takes a couple of minutes. okay, no luck still no movement on the gauge.
* Next I changed the thermostat. Now I read quite a bit about how to remove this item without having to take anything else off etc....but or me there way no way. Everything was just too tight, the alternator was in the way, the air con pipes were in the way, even if I managed to get to the two 10mm bolts there was no way I would be able to line everything back up square when putting it back together. So the I found the easiest thing to do would be to just remove the alternator so that I had lots of access to the thermostat. The alternator is really easy to remove so it was a no brainier really. The whole job took around 30 minutes. This included filing back the spacers in the bolt holes so I could get the alternator back on more easily.
*Sorted, gauge working, temp sitting at 90. Lovely.
*Fast forward a month.
*Whats this I see, a nice column of steam billowing from the water expansion tank.
The car would sit and tick over and still sit at 90 but the minute I drove and the system was under pressure, steam! But the gauge still always at 90 degrees.
*Okay, lets start with the cheap things as I really didn't want to consider that it could be the head gasket or the water pump as I didn't really feel like a very large bill!
I popped off to ebay and purchased a new expansion tank cap.
No luck, the water still boiled. Still sitting at 90 degrees.
I tried burping the system and squeezing for airlocks etc....
Nope, still boiling.
* Drained the water from the system and flush the radiator through with a hose. Maybe there was a blockage somewhere?
Nope, Still boiling.
* Remove the thermostat and put my finger in to check for a broken water pump. It all felt okay and the water looked to be circulating back into the expansion tank.
* The next cheap thing to try was the expansion tank itself, maybe it had a hairline crack and was losing pressure and for good measure another cap but this time from europarts rather than ebay.
Tank £12, the cap around £6
* Ta da!!!!!! problem solved, not more boiling water. So I suspect the tank wasn't holding pressure.
* Wait, Gauge now only going to 70 and dropping to nothing again.
*The humanity!!!!!
* Changed the water temp sensor again back to the original one. It looks like the boiling over water must have killed it, or it was just a coincidence.
Fixed!!!
For now.........
Thank you to everyone who had contributed to this forum as your advice was invaluable.
Cheers
