Help with my new car - Vauxhall Astra 1.6 8v Club 2004

Aidan Hickman · 17 Jan 2019 at 19:25

I bought this car about a month ago for a decent price and it has a few issues, one of these issues being it doesn't heat up, i have tried replacing the thermostat and CTS but the temp now only goes as high as the first 2 lines, in the cold area, when the car is static i've seen it go as high as the 90 mark however as soon as i get to driving it goes straight back down.

I don't suppose anyone has any ideas on how to fix this. I wouldn't normally buy a broken car however its really clean with only 72000 miles on the clock so i didn't want to let a steal like that pass.

Really appreciate any help.
Thank You.

GeX · 17 Jan 2019 at 19:27

Sure the new thermostat is good? Doesn't sound it.

Aidan Hickman · 17 Jan 2019 at 19:35

Yes, dropped it in a bowl of boiling water before putting it in to make sure and it opened as it should.
Appreciate the input though.

acemastr · 17 Jan 2019 at 19:36

Everything points to thermostat

rodenal · 17 Jan 2019 at 19:39

Do you get consistent heat through the vents?

Also how much real world variance in temperature are we talking? I take it you aren't just seeing a proper temperature readings instead of the adjusted gauges most cars use, any other signs that it isn't running correctly?

For the relative low cost you could change the coolant sensor, but given the temps rise when stationary and assuming the car doesn't seem to be running rich constantly it would pretty much be the start of random part swapping.

Aidan Hickman · 17 Jan 2019 at 19:46

im just going off the default gauge cluster and the heating and air con work like a dream after fitting the new thermostat so its likely that needed doing anyway.

Aidan Hickman · 17 Jan 2019 at 20:58

rodenal said:
Do you get consistent heat through the vents?

Also how much real world variance in temperature are we talking? I take it you aren't just seeing a proper temperature readings instead of the adjusted gauges most cars use, any other signs that it isn't running correctly?

For the relative low cost you could change the coolant sensor, but given the temps rise when stationary and assuming the car doesn't seem to be running rich constantly it would pretty much be the start of random part swapping.

Changed the temp sensor today but its just making it sit slightly higher in the cold definately not operating temp. It was rather cold outside today with a high temp of 5c however i don't think this should be affecting the car so much.

Phil W · 17 Jan 2019 at 21:21

The 1.6 8v requires the cambelt to be removed to change the thermostat, have you done this then?

When we owned the same car/engine ours went and a commonly chosen option was to fit a Renault 5 thermostat in the coolant hose, have a Google and you will see this is the cheaper/favourable option. We ended up having a new belt etc fitted but a friend tried it on his car and it worked really well.

Aidan Hickman · 17 Jan 2019 at 21:23

Phil W said:
The 1.6 8v requires the cambelt to be removed to change the thermostat, have you done this then?

When we owned the same car/engine ours went and a commonly chosen option was to fit a Renault 5 thermostat in the coolant hoae, have a Google and you will see this is the cheaper/favourable option.

Yes i put the renault 5 one in the hose its just had a new belt not worth taking off yet

flame696 · 17 Jan 2019 at 21:24

Have you flushed the coolant by any chance? I think there are some air bubbles trapped in the radiator

Aidan Hickman · 17 Jan 2019 at 21:27

flame696 said:
Have you flushed the coolant by any chance? I think there are some air bubbles trapped in the radiator

No, i was thinking that will have a go at it tommorrow before work if i can get my hands on some coolant anyways.

Phil W · 17 Jan 2019 at 21:38

Aidan Hickman said:
Yes i put the renault 5 one in the hose its just had a new belt not worth taking off yet

If you want to fix it properly that's what you will have to do?

Aidan Hickman · 17 Jan 2019 at 21:39

Phil W said:
If you want to fix it properly that's what you will have to do?

I am aware of this however it still shouldn't be running so cold.
I appreciate the help though.

Swifty55 · 18 Jan 2019 at 12:52

Aidan Hickman said:
I am aware of this however it still shouldn't be running so cold.
I appreciate the help though.

Replace the original thermostat, until that is done then you can not really state otherwise.

Aidan Hickman · 18 Jan 2019 at 13:12

Swifty55 said:
Replace the original thermostat, until that is done then you can not really state otherwise.

I can not afford the silly money quoted to replace the original thermostat on my car, and I do not feel comfortable messing with timing.

Scania · 18 Jan 2019 at 13:29

Aidan Hickman said:
Yes i put the renault 5 one in the hose its just had a new belt not worth taking off yet

So you’ve fitted a different stat, an understandable bodge given the need to remove the timing belt...

Aidan Hickman said:
I can not afford the silly money quoted to replace the original thermostat on my car, and I do not feel comfortable messing with timing.

But the original thermostat is still in situ?

Unless I’m missing something this most likely is why it’s not warming up, the original stats failed, no?

Armageus · 18 Jan 2019 at 13:54

Scania said:
But the original thermostat is still in situ?

Unless I’m missing something this most likely is why it’s not warming up, the original stats failed, no?

Presumably it's failed open, in which case it shouldn't be an issue, hence the 2nd Thermostat being a viable fix for these engines (having had a quick google of it).

I have no idea however whether it's possible for a thermostat to fail partially open though, which presumably would not work as expected with this fix.

Might be worth getting an OBD reader and actually checking the coolant temperature that way - it should avoid any "gauge damping" (i.e. it being smack on 90C to make it look nice).

Swifty55 · 18 Jan 2019 at 16:42

Aidan Hickman said:
I can not afford the silly money quoted to replace the original thermostat on my car, and I do not feel comfortable messing with timing.

How much have you been quoted?

Aidan Hickman · 18 Jan 2019 at 16:52

Armageus said:
Presumably it's failed open, in which case it shouldn't be an issue, hence the 2nd Thermostat being a viable fix for these engines (having had a quick google of it).

I have no idea however whether it's possible for a thermostat to fail partially open though, which presumably would not work as expected with this fix.

Might be worth getting an OBD reader and actually checking the coolant temperature that way - it should avoid any "gauge damping" (i.e. it being smack on 90C to make it look nice).

I’ll try this tomorrow, thank you

Aidan Hickman · 18 Jan 2019 at 16:53

Swifty55 said:
How much have you been quoted?

Took it to a garage close to me and was quoted around £200