[CANPUSH]

Four years ago I also experienced overheating of engine on my previous Car FIAT Palio 1.9D

I was travelling from Goa to Pune and just as I left Sawantwadi I could notice drop in engine power. When checked temperature needle was racing towards red. When I stopped to check, the water was overflowing from radiator cap. Not realising the problem, I stopped at nearby roadside hotel and waited for engine to cool down. I refilled the radiator and started only to find the problem again. I drove back to Sawantwadi and stopped at first available mechanic. he suspected two things - 1. thermostat malfunction OR 2. Burnt Engine Gasket. he was not able to disconnect thermostat as he was not used to Diesel engines and Palio.

Searching for right mechanic I located someone who was having authorised tempo service station. I found him to be reliable fellow. He suspected burnt Engine Gasket. Gasket was not available in Sawantwadi but he checked with dealer in Belgaum where it was available. my friend suggested towing it to Kolhapur but with power steering that works only with engine on and you have to climb Amboli ghat, this was ruled out. Other option was to put the car in a truck and get it to Kolhapur. I did not find this solution viable too. I then left with no option but to leave car there. Which I did.

later the mechanic called me 3-4 days later that he has replaced gasket that was damaged but the real prbblem was water pump failure. The bearings of the pump were jammed and it was not working at all.

This I learnt as rarest of rare failure on modern cars. next problem - Fuel pump was not available with any dealer in Pune or Mumbai as no one thought one needs to replace it. I called up FIAT and explained the problem. The guys were surprised but immediately arranged delivery of new pump to me. The pump was then shipped to Sawantwadi through courier and our mechanic replaced it. Actually, he had to buy special tools for the operation. He was honest fellow.

The whole episode costed me 10k including one night stay at sawantwadi, bus tickets for return to Pune for family and again bus tickets to go to Sawantwadi fetch the repaired car.

That was surely an experience to learn.

[Alfa Romeo]

Originally Posted by GTO

Attachment 1041879

This guide is intended for the regular joe (99% of motorists out there) who faces an overheating engine on the road. While it's best to immediately visit a service station in this situation, the following diagnostics & remedies should come handy if you are far away from help.

No matter how modern or reliable your car, overheating isn't an uncommon occurrence. Excessive heat can completely destroy your engine, hence it's important to take the right decisions when the temperature needle swings into the red.

Team-BHP lists below the most probable causes of engine overheating. The points are listed in order of occurrence (most frequent first). Do note that troubleshooting an overheating engine is far simpler in cars that are equipped with a temperature gauge. Some modern cars only have an “overheating” warning sign that makes it difficult to gauge the effectiveness of remedial action.

GTO thanks a ton for the useful post. Wish i had read this around the same time it was posted
Owning an accent viva in itself is a costly affair (for me at least) and moreover when it overheats it means your wallet is at stake!
I was travelling to pune on the expressway when i felt that the engine was loosing power . I had my a/c on and could not get my car climbing , when i took a look at the gauge and it was already in RED.
I immediately took to the side, and the first big mistake is i did not keep the "ignition on" as you had suggested. Now i was alone in the highway with no one around. Walked a few meters and found some spring water which i used to cool down my engine . Now the next mistake was my engine was not ON at that time. By the way my engine never turned up after i switched off. Maybe i tried to put in water bit sooner. But my car had decided to give up and not start. Finally i had to tow to pune HASS. The estimate was 80K It seems they had to overhaul the engine . My mechanic in mumbai suggested to get it here and get the work done from outside. i got the work done ( engine head ) and now the car is back to 70% of what it was. I spent around 25K for the engine head overhauling. It seems the engine work can turn up soon as some smoke comes out from the space given to check oil level. I was angry and frustrated with myself as i thought a timely service would have avoided all this.
My car has done 1.2 lac kms and my guy is suggesting to just sell it off. Today it got stalled again at the airport and had to do a push start. I still like the power the car has got and find it very sad to even think of selling it. Btw the same car has saved me and my bro from one big accident in the goa highway.

The guy says that i can get the engine work also done in another 25-30k but there wont be much guarantee to it . Maybe another 40K kms it will run.

I am in a state of fix and would appreciate any suggestions. Also parallely evaluating a duster to buy ( second hand if i get). Do i really need to sell and just move on ? and any good second car (diesel) ?

[sandeepmohan]

Though we keep complaining why many new cars being sold today don't come with a temperature read out, after reading this thread, I don't see any use in a temperature read out. So many cases described right here are cars that had a temperature readout, the owner never noticed the rising temperature and in some cases, the damage was serious.

It will be interesting to know how modern cars with just a chime and warning lamp work. Do they go off when its too late or is there sufficient buffer given before a steaming bonnet.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by d_himan

A year back, when my friend's car overheated,

1. The car was accelerating a bit jerkily.

2. He also had to rev higher to go fast.

Both of us didn't notice anything until some passer-bys pointed out to steam rising from the bonnet! The temperature was at H.

A mechanic nearby diagnosed it as a stuck thermostat valve, removed it, put some distilled water.

It's been a year now and the thermostat has not been replaced.

Is it OK to not replace the thermostat if driving is done only in hot climes? The Fuel Efficiency and the time taken to reach the engine operating temperature are also similar to the way they were earlier and he's quite happy

Without a thermostat, your engine will get excessive cooling in mild weather. In hot weather it does not matter as your car will be cooled sufficiently.

I assume that your thermostat is removed. In case it is still there and jammed, you will have insufficient cooling - that will damage the engine.

As the thermostat is not an expensive part, I suggest that you get it replaced.

[Alfa Romeo]

Hey fellow bhpians any tips/comments/suggestions for my previous post. Awaiting :-)

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Alfa Romeo

...my guy is suggesting to just sell it off.
I am in a state of fix and would appreciate any suggestions. Also parallely evaluating a duster to buy ( second hand if i get). Do i really need to sell and just move on ? and any good second car (diesel) ?

The Accent's 3-cylinder diesel engine parts are known to be super-expensive, the engine is not easy to rebuild, and lots of people have reported premature engine failure (although I have personally owned one and not had issues). Since your car is running, but not too well, after work done on the cylinder head, it is not worth investing further on it, and I would recommend selling it as it is and getting another new (or pre-owned) car. Reliability and peace of mind are worth more than the extra costs involved.

[Alfa Romeo]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

The Accent's 3-cylinder diesel engine parts are known to be super-expensive, the engine is not easy to rebuild, and lots of people have reported premature engine failure (although I have personally owned one and not had issues). Since your car is running, but not too well, after work done on the cylinder head, it is not worth investing further on it, and I would recommend selling it as it is and getting another new (or pre-owned) car. Reliability and peace of mind are worth more than the extra costs involved.

Thanks a lot SS. The car was perfect till i managed to overheat the engine and stall the car :-P btw my car is petrol accent viva. As you said it may not be wise to investigate further. Your last line is bang on. Will keep you updated. Thanks again

[sagarpadaki]

I suggest the manufacturers should include an additional notification if the temp gauge goes above halfway mark . Like a blinking red light on the instrument cluster just beside the temp gauge. Most of the time the rising temp gauge will go unnoticed mainly because its slow in its rate of climb and its not something we are wired to check.And by the time we notice it something would have gone wrong! But when a red light starts blinking as soon as the temp gauge goes above a certain point , it can catch the attention of the driver who can take action fast before the head gasket is bust.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Alfa Romeo

...btw my car is petrol accent viva.

Oops - wrong assumption on my part. My thoughts remain unchanged though. That's the 1.6L engine, isn't it? Parts are difficult to procure, and are expensive. However, 80k INR for a full rebuild of this engine sounds a little too much.

[Alfa Romeo]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Oops - wrong assumption on my part. My thoughts remain unchanged though. That's the 1.6L engine, isn't it? Parts are difficult to procure, and are expensive. However, 80k INR for a full rebuild of this engine sounds a little too much.

Yes right, parts are usually 1.5 times costlier at least than the usual accent. The HASS has always been costly, maybe due to the make of the car.

[AVT]

Last year my cruze had an overheating issue. But was kind of weird at first.
The temperature gauge was reading out a bit on the higher side and then came back to normal. This continued for a fare bit of time until the AC stopped working and the needly started creeping towards the "H".
I took to a nearby chevy A.S.S ( I was returning from Delhi ) where they told me the couplers for both the radiator fans have melted!! They didn't have the new couplers with them at that moment as well. They just snapped them back on and the fans started

My car is running on the same set up since then and there has not been any overheating issue till date.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by AVT

Last year my cruze had an overheating issue. But was kind of weird at first.
The temperature gauge was reading out a bit on the higher side and then came back to normal. This continued for a fare bit of time until the AC stopped working and the needly started creeping towards the "H".
I took to a nearby chevy A.S.S ( I was returning from Delhi ) where they told me the couplers for both the radiator fans have melted!! They didn't have the new couplers with them at that moment as well. They just snapped them back on and the fans started

My car is running on the same set up since then and there has not been any overheating issue till date.

Weird behavious, could be that
. The couplers were loose to begin with and the friction just spoilt them
. A loose coupler with a twig sticking in the radiator could have a loose fan sticking and slipping in the coupler.

[AVT]

Yup even I thought they were loose, but the mechanic said its a common problem in cruze.
Moreover he showed me 3 other cars, all had the same melted couplers and they were running fine !!!

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by AVT

Yup even I thought they were loose, but the mechanic said its a common problem in cruze.
Moreover he showed me 3 other cars, all had the same melted couplers and they were running fine !!!

Be careful with this. I had my fiestas coupler falter about 30k kms back.After some fng work, It never gave me a problem, and Ford also didn't replace it in 3 services despite me telling them to. It gave it's final cough a few weeks back, and the result was a blown gasket.
My advice is to get it changed as soon as you can.

[AVT]

I will have to replace the whole wiring I guess.
Does my warranty covers this ? Because when I asked chevy people they bluntly refused !