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Car engine temperature

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in General Chat
Hi all, not sure which forum this fits in so heres as good as any i guess!

Anybody know approx what temperature the engine of a citroen zx should run at? The dial shows between 60-120 and mine runs at around 100, which compared to my mates cars seems quite hot.

Asking cos iv had a few probs with it overheating on motorways etc (not just in hot weather either, last time it went it was snowing!) and want to know if theres anything i do to stop it happening again. I keep a close eye on the water and oil etc and the fan works fine

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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Get the cooling system checked by a mechanic. If it's not in the red zone it should be OK though. If it's overheating on long trips then maybe there's a problem with gunk in the radiator blocking the flow of coolant around the engine.

    Is it using much oil?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    No the oil usage is fine, just needs topping up every now and again.

    Its not running in the red but its not far off it, so theres not a lot of room for any increase which might be a prob with the summer coming up...
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    new thermostat is about a tenner.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Get the cooling system bled properly. Bleeding a ZX sucks - I found the easiest way was to run the engine at 2500rpm and keep pumping the heater matrix hoses and the lower radiator host. Keep the radiator full during this! ;)
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Click to see more wrote:
    Get the cooling system bled properly. Bleeding a ZX sucks - I found the easiest way was to run the engine at 2500rpm and keep pumping the heater matrix hoses and the lower radiator host. Keep the radiator full during this! ;)
    where the fuck do you get your information from?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Had to bleed a 1.4 last month. Why?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Click to see more wrote:
    Had to bleed a 1.4 last month. Why?

    ive worked on plenty of those and never needed to bleed the cooling system.

    citroens=head gasket,simple

    french cars are notorious for it,no amount of bleeding will escape the facts!

    trust me.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Stunning diagnosis by you there. Citroen/Pug engines are generally strong if looked after. Any car that has a poorly-maintained cooling system will be more likely to suffer head gasket failure. Some Pug lumps run to huge mileages without seeing a HGF.

    Cheapest and easiest resolution is to bleed the coolant. Air seems to accumulate in the heater matrix and stay there. If after bleeding the overheating problems persist, then it's time to consider changing the coolant and thermostat, pressure-flush the radiator and block, etc, etc.

    A compression test should give a fair idea of the condition of the head gasket, along with piston rings and valve seats/stem seals.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Click to see more wrote:
    Stunning diagnosis by you there. Citroen/Pug engines are generally strong if looked after. Any car that has a poorly-maintained cooling system will be more likely to suffer head gasket failure. Some Pug lumps run to huge mileages without seeing a HGF.

    Cheapest and easiest resolution is to bleed the coolant. Air seems to accumulate in the heater matrix and stay there. If after bleeding the overheating problems persist, then it's time to consider changing the coolant and thermostat, pressure-flush the radiator and block, etc, etc.

    A compression test should give a fair idea of the condition of the head gasket, along with piston rings and valve seats/stem seals.
    i work on them every day,do you?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Nope. I still dispute your ability to diagnose a HGF based solely on the wandering of the temperature gauge. There isn't enough information by the original poster to make such a claim, and as most people on here tend to be skint students and youngsters, so immediately jumping to the worst possible conclusion is in the best interests of nobody.
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