My 05 Sports Heating has stopped working will only blow cold ! Then, today the temp gauge suddenly went straight up to hot and the warning beep and light flashing and no power from the engine Then after a while temp gauge went straight back to normal and power as normal and it now keeps doing it, Any ideas ???? cheers TT

Sorry to hear about your problems. Try not to drive too far until this is fixed as overheating can badly damage the engine. No heating implies no coolant in the heater matrix caused by a leak or an airlock OR there is coolant in it but it's not circulating. Check the coolant level and if it is OK check strength of antifreeze just in case it is freezing (unlikely - but we did just have our first really cold night). Check the radiator for blockage by feeling it top and bottom and check the core for cold spots but be very careful - engine off and fan disconnected. If water is circulating through radiator it should be hot everywhere but hotter at the top. Check the drivebelt that drives the waterpump has sufficient tension. On some cars (not sure about RRS) the waterpump has a plastic impellor that detaches from the metal driveshaft so everything looks OK but in fact the pump isn't doing any pumping. Severe corrosion of the impellor due to old ineffective antifreeze is another possibility. Thermostats can fail to open and cause overheating by not allowing coolant to circulate but usually there would still be heat from the heater. A nasty possibility is a head gasket failure causing an airlock and a garage can test for this by using a 'sniffer' to detect combustion gases in the cooling system. Be warned tho' my friend (who lives in France) was convinced his BMW 520 had this problem causing intermittent overheating like yours but after an expensive head gasket change it turned out to be a blocked radiator core (just like I suggested when he first 'phoned me ). Interested to know what happens so please keep the thread updated. Hopefully someone will be along soon who has had the same issue and know exactly what to do. 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE

Thanks thats a lot to take in Ill look into it and I will let you know the outcome thanks again TT

Yes please keep us updated. It's not uncommon to find a leak in the rad.

If it's a head gasket then you'd usually be able to spot signs of oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil. Take the oil filler cap off the engine and have a look at the underside. If there is white, milky residue then there is coolant in the oil and this suggests a blown head gasket. I doubt it's that though.

If you find the coolant is all topped up and there are no signs of a leak, you could check to see if hot water is reaching the heater matrix by feeling the coolant hoses that feed it. I've not looked for them on the RRS but I'm guessing they'll be on the passenger side of the bulkhead. Feel both the in and the out hose. If the in hose is hot and the out hose is cold then there is a problem in the heater matrix...could be an air lock or could be that it's blocked...or maybe even the flap that controls the hot air isn't working?

These checks should help diagnose where the problem is at...then the next step is figuring out exactly what has caused it.

Good luck!

Kav

Just an update Having checked the rad properly Its Leaking quite badly!! So I have changed it and everything is back to normal, so Far!!!!??? Thanks for all your help.......TT

Great stuff! Thanks for the update glad its all sorted

Good news. Just out of interest - which antifreeze did you re-fill with? 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE