Good morning, my name is Alvaro. I recently bought an RS Turbo. The car is fantastic, and I really like it. I have read several discussions about overheating problems, but they are quite old, and I don't know if a definitive solution has been found in the meantime. I have a new aluminum manual radiator fan switch, a new standard thermostat set at 88 degrees, a standard fan 103 switch (maybe), and I have cleaned the entire system with a specific product and then added new Motul coolant.

Even in the winter, I have seen the water gauge needle come very close to the red when I encounter traffic and stop. If I start driving at 40-60 mph, the temperature drops slightly, but it never reaches halfway. I never use the manual fan switch, only when it is really close to the red and the temperature drops slightly. But I would like the car to behave normally. I have read that it is a common problem because the bumper is very closed, and there is no air flow. But has a solution been found in all these years? Is the water gauge calibrated too high? The word "normal" is very long, but when the car is hot, it always stays above the "N".

Thank you.

 

What set up do you have upfront?
Standard rad/intercooler or something aftermarket?

If aftermarket, its really not a guaranteed cause unless its been fitted in a realllllllly stupid way. Its not *that* difficult to allow air to flow, and certainly when cruising at 40-60, you should be in the middle, if not lower. There are a multitude of other potential causes (worst case - head gasket, equally could be something as simple as a blockage somewhere).
Does it actually boil over, or is it just constantly getting worryingly high?

Things to check off the top of my head:
- Swap the gauge temp sender out and ensure the correct one is fitted (the colour band dictates what you need - again this will be covered/found with a few google searches if you're unsure)
- Any blockages inc Rad? Run a hose pipe and pressure through the system, see what comes out etc
- Do you get *hot* heat out your heaters when driving? Just confirms the matrix is at least clear (wouldn't neccesarily cause overheating, but worth a check anyway)
- Any aftermarket header tanks/swirl pots etc? Badly plumbed in could cause issues
- Condition of water pump (people will say this is a bit drastic, but its a CVH - it take 20minutes to remove and check a water pump turbine)

The CVH isn't really special in troubleshooting running hot issues. Just have to be methodical

 

Hi Haz and thank you for your help

Yes the rad is aftermarket.

The water not boiling,the level is always very near the "max" so it's ok, and it dosn't loose water, coolant tubes that go to rad is hot, rad is hot.

I didn't understand about water sensor color, but I found this for s2 rs turbo https://www.mapco.es/articulo-de-la-tienda/32848/
About Any aftermarket header tanks, I dont'know

 

Hi, I went to mechanic that sayd head gasket is ok with some test that he did. He think is internal original gauge or gauge sensor.

 

Should be a brown sensor

 

The problem was fixed definitely, was the water temperature sensor of gauge! Now the temperature is always in the middle of the gauge.

 

Good to hear
I remember putting xr3i temp sensor on an rs turbo block, gauge was always reading high temp,.After I got right 1 it was sorted,

Kev

 

Oh interesting, maybe the previous was exactly that one