Hi I'm a newbie when it comes to fixing my car. I have basic knowledge and that's it and I'm having trouble with my 2005 xtype. My engine overheated twice on me when I was driving on the motorway. I pulled over and let it cool down and it was fine. I've replaced the coolant bottle but that's where my knowledge runs out. I've had the car on and parked in the garden for about 20 minutes now and the radiator hasn't turned on except for when I turn on the a/c. It turns off when I turn off the a/c. Any help would be great pleas.

 

It sounds like your thermostat is going bad and sticking closed.

 

Envious86, we all have to start somewhere. So, this is a fairly easy job to do if you have basic mechanical ability. Lets first start with seeing if we can spot where your problem lies. What I want you to do is to go out to the car and get in the driver's seat. Next, depress the TRIP button on the end of the turn signal stalk and hold it down. With the TRIP button still depressed, start the car. Keeping the TRIP button depressed, watch the message center to say "Engineering TEST" or something to this effect. When you see the message, release the TRIP button. You now have the instrument cluster in "TEST MODE".

What you are going to do now is depress the TRIP button repeatedly until you see the message center say "XXXX C" (will be about 25 presses of the TRIP button, the message center will say "FG XXXX" just before the desired point). The XXXX will be a number that will change with the coolant temperature. For example, 0950 is really meaning 95.0C. What you are waiting to see is if the reading will get up to around 97-99C. If so, then we know your thermostat is doing what it should. If it is staying down around say 70ish C, then we know the thermostat is bad. If the temp come up to around 98C, then odds are you are looking at a bad water pump.

You leave the test mode by simply turning the car off.

Now, either way, you will end up draining the coolant from your car. If you are facing your car, under the left headlight, you will find the corner of the radiator tucked up behind the plastic cover under the bumper. In that hole you should see a white plastic piece with a large PLUS sign on it that you can stick a screw driver into. This is your radiator drain plug. After removing the overflow bottle cap (ensuring the engine is cold) and having a catch pan (or two), turn this plug counter-clockwise till coolant start coming out. Let it run until no more comes out. This will probably take about 20 minutes to get all the coolant out.

Now the question comes as to whether the temp reading was up at 98C or something much cooler. If it was something much cooler, then your thermostat most likely is your problem. You will need to remove the plastic tray under the radiator. From there, in the center of the car behind the radiator, you will see a large rubber hose running up with a black plastic "football" shaped item in the center of the radiator. That "football" is your thermostat. You can undo the hose clamp on the bottom and then undo the three 8mm (maybe 10mm) bolts holding the thermostat to the housing. At this point, the thermostat should pretty much fall out of the car. Reverse the process to install the new thermostat.

If the temp was up at 98C, then odds are you are looking at a bad water pump. Open the hood/bonnet of your car and remove the battery (done to give you room to work). If you look just to the left of the battery, you should see 3 pulleys all connected by a belt. You will see one pulley with 3 bolts on the front of it. Using your tools, break these bolts loose (do not remove). Next, you will see a small pulley in the middle, you should be able to put your hand on this pulley and then move it away from the belt. This will allow you to remove the belt. Let the small pulley back down to rest against its stop. At this point, remove the 3 bolts holding the pulley in place. You will now have access to remove the water pump. There will be like 10 bolts holding the water pump in place. Remove all 10 and then with a little bit of force, the water pump will pop right off. Make sure to clean the surface where the water pump touches the engine block using a green scratch pad. You want to remove all the old gasket, but not scratch the metal, creating grooves deep enough to cause a future problem.

As for installing the new water pump, you may notice that the new water pump has a different impeller on it than the one that you pulled off. This is normal. Do not fret. As long as the water pump that you bought is for your car, it will work just fine. Next, using a product called "Form-a-gasket" (made by Permatex) or other similar gasket making product, apply a little bit to the paper gasket that came with the water pump. You want to apply a little bit to both sides of the gasket. It is easiest to apply this product to the side that goes against the water pump and then lay the gasket on the water pump to then apply the product to the other side of the gasket. You need just enough to cover the paper surface. You don't want a lot of extra. From there, you can place the water pump back on the motor and install all the bolts. They don't need to be really tight, but you want to make sure that they are snug. From there, you can install the pulley and re-install the belt and battery.

Now, for refilling the coolant system. Before all else, make sure that the drain valve/plug is closed. You will now need to add coolant. You have 2 options, but in your case, I am going to say to stick with one. Look for some coolant that is "50/50 mix". This is already watered down to the proper concentration. All you have to do is pour it into the overflow bottle. Pour in enough coolant to get the coolant level up to the "HIGH" mark. Wait a few minutes and then add some more to get it back to the "HIGH" mark. Now, start the engine. Let it come up to temperature. You are going to see it gurgle some and the water level rise and fall. This is normal. Some people may recommend pinching off the hoses going to the dash heater, but this is not required. What this is doing is helping to push more coolant through the engine, to help push out the air bubbles. Up to you.

Whether or not you pinch off the heater hose, rev the engine a little bit to help raise the coolant flow through the engine. After a few revs and the engine is up at temp (ie, temp gauge in the middle of the band), stop the engine and rest the overflow bottle cap on top of the bottle (do not tighten down). After letting the engine cool, fill the overflow bottle up to the "HIGH" mark and install the overflow bottle cap. Check the overflow bottle level after your next drive and letting the engine cool and add any coolant that might be needed.

All done.

As for tools you will need:

-socket set covering 8-12mm
-greenie (medium or fine scouring pad like you would use on your dishes)
-Permatex Form-a-gasket
-catch pan (about 12 quart/liter minimum in size)
-large phillips screw driver
-Torx bit set, specifically after the T-27 bit for the bolts on the underside tray
-2 gallons/8 liters of coolant that is 50/50 mix

Now, there will be recommendations/questions raised as to what type of coolant that you need when refilling the system. The fail safe is to simply look at the color of coolant in the overflow bottle and match that (may be red, green, or orange). The color of coolant dictates the type of coolant it is. There are some coolants out there that are "general use" and can me added to any color coolant out there. The bottle will specifically say that it can be added to any color coolant. As for which one is better, there are arguments supporting each one and making the others sound like horrible products. The one you use is your choice. They all cost about the same.

If you are worried about mixing different colors, then you can simply flush the coolant system by adding in enough distilled water (not tap water, not purified water, these both contain potentially harmful products to your coolant system) to fill the system (like you would have for the coolant). You can then run the engine to mix the water with any remaining coolant and then you can drain the system at this point. Now you can add whatever color coolant you want.

If you have more questions, let me know. I will help step you through this whole project. The X-Type is one of the easiest cars you will find for replacing the water pump.

On a side note, the above is based on having the 2.5L/3.0L motors. If you have the 2.1L motor, things may be slightly different.

 

Thank you for taking the time to explain the process in depth. I will be tackling this tomorrow on my day off. My engine size is the 2.1 petrol version so there may be some differences to the process but I will give it a shot tomorrow. I will post an update when I'm either finished or stuck. Thanks again.

 

OK so with 15-20 attempts and putting my car into test mode I cannot for the life of me do it. I have put my key in the ignition at 0 held thebtrip button on the stalk whilst turning the car on and nothing happens. Maybe my car doesn't have this feature? My car is a 2005 xtype petrol 2.1.

 

Thermo: I have not had occasion to use any of the advice you have so gererously given to all of us on so many topics, but I want to express my thanks ( and I am certain that in this I speak for many others). Your information is authoritative, clearly expressed and to the point. Thank you for your kindness and your constant civility.

 

ENvious86, just to ask 2 silly questions.
1) are you continuing to hold the TRIP button for a few seconds after the key is rotated to RUN? If you release it as soon as the motor starts, you have not completed the sequence to put the instrument cluster into diagnostic mode.

2) when you are normally driving the car, can you change between the functions of the trip computer (ie, between MPG, trip, and miles left)? If no, then you have a bad turn signal stalk. If yes, then see #1.