Any Vauxhall Mechanic.?? Problem With My vauxhall Astra...please help

[tlogic]

i have 2006 model vauxhall Astra 1.6, today whilst picking up my misses from work my car started to smoke underneath the bonnet, pulled over lifted up the bonnet and noticed that the kulant tank was bubbling like crazy its was like a boiling kettle with the water dripping underneath my car. I topped up the kulant as it was on the low side but within 20 mins of driving again the same thing happened again kulant, nearly empty with the remaining water bubbling.
the yellow service light is now on and after performing the pedal test it came up with the following fault codes :sad::sad:
P1482 fan control circuit open 2 engine cooling B-004
P1482 fan control circuit voltage 2 too big engine cooling B-004
P1482 fan control circuit voltage 2 too small engine cooling B-004
P1483 fan control circuit open 3 engine cooling B-004

What do they mean, and how much am I looking at getting it fixed?

Thanks

 

[phawk754]

just had a quick look and it looking like it might be damaged wiring to the fan or a fuse gone or a relay gone that works the fan

only thing i would be worried about now is ,now it got that hot have you damage the head gasket

so check and make sure the fan is working ok ,that where i would start

 

[tlogic]

Thanks for the reply phawk, Just checked the Fan its not working even after leaving the car on for 5 mins the fan not turning. Checked the fuse and they look ok :sad I Hope Kwik fit haven't ****ed something up after having an oil change done from them on saturday.

 

[Joe1989]

It wouldnt surpise me one bit! Why people still take there cars to these fitters is byond me.

Its defiently overheated - hence the bubbling coolent.

However, I wouldnt drive it again until its been checked - if the HG is damaged it will need replaced, however they still need to find out the cause of the overheating - likey one of the suggestions above.

I know a good garage if you live near or around glasgow/ek?

The fan will come only come on after around 15-20 mins of running - Do these have a tempature gauge on them? I'd run it until its in the middle in there then look at the fan.

 

[tlogic]

It wouldnt surpise me one bit! Why people still take there cars to these fitters is byond me.

Its defiently overheated - hence the bubbling coolent.

However, I wouldnt drive it again until its been checked - if the HG is damaged it will need replaced, however they still need to find out the cause of the overheating - likey one of the suggestions above.

I know a good garage if you live near or around glasgow/ek?

The fan will come only come on after around 15-20 mins of running - Do these have a tempature gauge on them? I'd run it until its in the middle in there then look at the fan.

Thanks for the advice mate, unfortunately I'm in East London . Looks Like I'll have to ring the AA to come pick the car up in the morning and take it to a main dealer somewhere to get it fixed. The car still drives but after awhile it starts smoking again.

 

[Ja5]

First thing to do now is wait to the engine is cool, then remove the coolant cap then see how much water you can get in, put it just over the max mark then start the car you may find it will suck the water in and need to top up again, Stick the cap back on and stick the heater inside the car to hot and low speed. Then keep the revs up to 2-3000 just help the water get round quicker, Keep checking the pipes are all warm and non are cold and check the heater is blowing hot inside the car to, if it doesnt get hot then you will have a air lock. If you feel its not getting hot or your worried then dont try it.

If you have aircon then stick this one wil turn on the rad fan to help cool.

What sort of smoke is it or is it steam your seeing ??? could be a simple fan switch fail or water leak making air lock or worse head gasket

Jason

 

[tlogic]

thanks mate will give this a go tomorrow, It's like clear steam not dark smoke or anything. Do you think it's safe to drive it 3 miles to a a garage or shall I ring the AA.

 

[Ja5]

well try what i said and see how you get on but if you have a air lock then it could over heat again and if it hasnt already done the head gasket it could!!
Forgot to say check there isnt a water leak from anywhere too, you may find this could be the main problem??

Nothing to lose ringing the AA anyway they may find the problem and sort it without taking it anywhere.

Let us know how you get on

Jason

 

[carlos]

to save having your car running and possibly causing more damage to check the fan, disconnect the leads to the thermostat and short them together, the fan should come on straight away, if it dont then your fans goosed !

i wonder where the waters coming from ?? if its underneath your water pump could be goosed, sounds like it if its losing water that quick.

maybe the fan not working has also in turn damaged the water pump with the excesive heat.

 

[neorage]

As has been said overheating is caused by many factors....

Fan failure - See if fan kicks in after about 10/15 mins
Head Gasket Failure - simple check take of oil cap see if it looks like coffee in the cap
Air Lock - you will need to to bleed the system
Thermostat Failure - you can find this out from checking if the top pipe from the thermo housing gets hot or not
Water Leak - look for leaks
Water Pump Failure - Easiest method is take the return pipe off the expansion tank (will be the highest hose on the tank) and see if water is pumped back into the tank.

where in east london you at may be able to pop over at the weekend??

 

[tlogic]

Thanks for all your helpful advice guys , In the end I got the RAC out, in his report he said the coolant is circulating round the system fine, but when he carried a head gasket test with a block tester it failed. The cooling fan is also not switching on. I drove it 3 miles down to the dealer with the RAC behind me. I'm dreading the cost in getting it fixed which i'll find out tomorrow when the garage can have a look at it. I'd welcome any recommendation for a mechanic in the east london area if anyone knows any and any rough cost in fixing this fault.

 

[tlogic]

As has been said overheating is caused by many factors....

Fan failure - See if fan kicks in after about 10/15 mins
Head Gasket Failure - simple check take of oil cap see if it looks like coffee in the cap
Air Lock - you will need to to bleed the system
Thermostat Failure - you can find this out from checking if the top pipe from the thermo housing gets hot or not
Water Leak - look for leaks
Water Pump Failure - Easiest method is take the return pipe off the expansion tank (will be the highest hose on the tank) and see if water is pumped back into the tank.

where in east london you at may be able to pop over at the weekend??

I'm in plaistow mate I live off of Barking Road. you far?

 

[tlogic]

Update:

My local vauxhall dealer checked my car and concluded that my water pump is leaking, they wanted £250.00 to replace this :Angryfire, they also suggested I need a new clutch as supposedly mine is juddering £1105 :grayno: in addition they also wanted an extra £226.00 only to investigate the various faults that was showing up on the ECU, funny this because on my vauxhall I can perform a pedal test which comes up with only two faults which relates to the fan. Told them to stick it and took my car down to a garage my old man recommended. The mechanic there ruled out a leaking water pump after checking it but suggested that there maybe an electrical fault with my radiator fan which is causing my car to overheat, hopefully i'll find out tomorrow.

Question is would a tech 2 pick up faults that the pedal test won't pick up?

And if it's an electrical fault what could be the problem apart from a blown fuse?


For Some strange reason my coolant is now holding water but the fan is not kicking in.

 

[fes_786]

tech2 or vauxhall mdi is the dealer tool

so yes it will pick up alot more than a simple pedal test

these astra dont have a temp gauge (crazy i know!)
more than likely radiator fan is gone or wiring for it.

plus these have a common fault were near the battery u have 2 small water pipes that start leaking = over heat
vauxhall normally recommend the pipes be check at major service

 

[tlogic]

tech2 or vauxhall mdi is the dealer tool

so yes it will pick up alot more than a simple pedal test

these astra dont have a temp gauge (crazy i know!)
more than likely radiator fan is gone or wiring for it.

plus these have a common fault were near the battery u have 2 small water pipes that start leaking = over heat
vauxhall normally recommend the pipes be check at major service

Thanks for the reply Fes.

Got my car back today Fixed roud: The problem with the car was something to do with the Multi function Control unit which was causing the car to overheat. £180 for the fix. He also recommended I should change the water pump and fit a new cam belt for £240 in a few months time. No errors showing either on the ECU. I know it's crazy why there is no temp gauge on the Astra it only comes on when the car overheats.


Thanks for all your help guys.

Pleased and relieved.

 

[MH]

Not sure if yours has the multifunction display but try the following.

Hold down the settings button until it beeps, then going through it with the BC button

v = speed in km/h
t = coolant temp
U30 = system voltage
PH-EHU = I think this is the rain/light sensor output
100 100 100 (or other figures) = level of display dimming,

 

[tlogic]

I did have these options with my original head unit but I have since changed the original , my new unit dosen't give me an option to do this anymore.

 

[miffew]

the judder in the clutch is a common thing in a mk5 astra mate . just ct mine bk for vauxhall after loseing all the water , the kulant tank screw lid was fckd lol