is it an air lock? Cavalier 1.7td (1993)

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Wed 24 Aug 2005 07:45
is it an air lock? Cavalier 1.7td (1993) - cavi
hi(AGAIN!) going down the motorway yesterday i noticed the the engine is not getting up to its normal operating temp as it used to(100 degrees before fan kicked in) i thought it might be air in the system but im not sure. also i have found out that the passsenger and drivers footwells are realy hot that also never happened before and neither did the fact that the ignition key get hot after a long run the heater fan isnt on so i cant imagine what could be wrong. any info on this is ,as always, much apprecated
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Wed 24 Aug 2005 09:44
is it an air lock? - madf
Car?

madf


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Fri 26 Aug 2005 09:46
is it an air lock? - cavi
sorry just thought that because ive been coming on here for a while with ailments concerning the same car i thought that eveyone would know it better than me! its a cavalier 1.7 td(isuzu engine)on an L plate, any normal person would have scrapped it by now if they had the trouble im having but im not giving up on it just yet!

{car details added to subject header. DD}
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Fri 26 Aug 2005 10:53
is it an air lock? - Number_Cruncher
Unlike some cars, your engine should self bleed automatically - this relies on the small bore pipe running into the top of the coolant reservoir being free, i.e., unblocked.

So, if after a run, the level is still fine, then you shouldn't have any air locks.

The usual way that this process is helped along on Vauxhalls is to remove, temporarily, the coolant temperature sensor for the dash "instrument", and make sure that coolant runs freely. However, on your Isuzu engine, I think this is unecessary.

Number_Cruncher
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Fri 26 Aug 2005 11:21
is it an air lock? - Collos25
Have you checked the water level,is the stat stuck,or the fan not coming on .Its just a process of going through all the possibles.At worst a head gasget.If the stat is stuck closed it will get to hot if open it will run to cool,if the fan stat fails open it will get to hot if it fails closed it will closed it will run to cold,if the head gasget has gone you will normally see white sludge under your oil filler cap a loss of water and over heating.To get rid of an air lock run the engine without the radiator cap till it reaches operating temp and the stat opens any air should bubble out also have the heater on full when you do this.
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Fri 26 Aug 2005 12:51
is it an air lock? Cavalier 1.7td (1993) - Victorbox
Not sure about an air lock, wouldn't this cause the engine to run hot rather than cool? Running cool usually means the thermostat is stuck open. Do you mean the footwell carpets are hot to the touch? I don't think any of the cooling pipes run anywhere but to the back of the heater matrix which sits just above transmission tunnel i.e. straight through the bulkhead to the matrix.
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