2000 Vauxhall Frontera heater blows hot then when temp rises it blows cold

Car: Vauxhall Frontera
Year: 2000
Variant: 2.2 i Limited Petrol Manual
Categories: Running Rough, Starting & Power Loss
14/01/09

Hi I came across your site and i hope you can help.

I own a 2,2i Petrol 2000 Vauxhall Frontera. It has covered 68k full history. Never towed anything.

A few months ago the engine management light came on then went off. I eventually decided to put it into my local garage who diagnosed it as a Cam Shaft sensor. I had this sorted at a price of £285.00 OUCH. The Engine Management light went off so that was good.

Then a few days later i noticed my temp gauge was in the Red i panicked pulled over and called the garage. They advised me to put in coolant which i did but no joy so they asked me to bring it in and replaced the thermostat and flushed the radiator etc etc.

On the dual carriage way the temp gauge is fine but heavy traffic it creeps uo to 100 or even the red even when idling, the fans do kick in and gradually brings the temp back down. Now the problem i have noticed is when the temperature is okay the heater in the car is fine and blows hot but when the temp rises high the heater blows cold this is so annoyingespecially with the cold weather.

I paid the garage £195.00 for the thermostat and radiator flush and seem to be getting no where i feel as though i am being taken for a mug, thats nearly £500 pound and now they are saying it may be the head gasket. AAAAAAAAAAAAHH

Please Please can you help, i have noticed no leaks etc either. I have also been told that the Fronteras are known for running at high temop ???? Sorry for writing a story but i had to explain it all.

Main problems are Heater and High Temp gauge.
Thanks

Riz

Posted: Jan 14, 2009 (15 years ago)
hi there, it sound to me like an air lock in the cooling system. If the cooling system has been emptied the system needs to be bled correctly to completely remove all traces of air. worst case senario is head gasket and or cracked cylinder head. but i would first check the coolant system to see if the water is circulating in the correct manner. if not it could be a faulty water pump impeller. these can be mis-diagnosed as head gasket symptoms. make absolutly sure that all externals ( water pump, thermostat, radiator, heater matrix, pipes and hoses ) are all ok before a combustion leak test is carried out to see if head gasket is potentially blown. hope this helps!!!
Posted Jan 25, 2009 (15 years ago)

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