[phoenix7]

I am badly stuck in a situation. Sadly I am not technically very well equipped and looking for help from fellow bhpians. My Superb TSI was having a problem of overheating when driving the car with AC on(or idling with AC), in bumper to bumper traffic . The AC compressor would then Trip and go off . I told this to the service advisor at A.S.S and he got it checked. He came back to me saying that the issue is with the compressor valve not releasing the gas when the car is on idle! He advised me to get the Compressor and related parts all replaced :o
And gave me a rough estimate of about a lakh. I however was not convinced with this as The compressor was working fine when being driven on free roads/ when in speed.
I then decided to visit some private garage and take an opinion, after operating on the car for 2-3 days,they got back saying that there was issue with the condensers fans and their resistance. I donot have enough knowledge about it and need help from you guys. Could this be the problem? The car is still with them what should I do now?

[lancer_maniac]

Guys seeing the symptoms i think it is Clutch cylinder only.That might be the reason for the Clutch pedal travelling to floor with little or no resistance.
But then what i cant understand is i had changed the clutch plates,pressure plates and flywheel around 1500 kms before.That time the clutch was fully gone.Does the cylinder change included in the clutch work(in my case it was not) or will only the cylinder go kaput, in my case? Hoping only changing the clutch cylinder will work for me.Still waiting for an expert opinion.

Originally Posted by phoenix7

I am badly stuck in a situation. Sadly I am not technically very well equipped and looking for help from fellow bhpians. My Superb TSI was having a problem of overheating when driving the car with AC on(or idling with AC), in bumper to bumper traffic . The AC compressor would then Trip and go off . I told this to the service advisor at A.S.S and he got it checked. He came back to me saying that the issue is with the compressor valve not releasing the gas when the car is on idle! He advised me to get the Compressor and related parts all replaced :o
And gave me a rough estimate of about a lakh. I however was not convinced with this as The compressor was working fine when being driven on free roads/ when in speed.
I then decided to visit some private garage and take an opinion, after operating on the car for 2-3 days,they got back saying that there was issue with the condensers fans and their resistance. I do not have enough knowledge about it and need help from you guys. Could this be the problem? The car is still with them what should I do now?

I had a similar situation.That time service center told it was the problem with the valve and the compressor has to be replaced.When i asked for valve repair they said cruze compressor cant be repaired and i need to go for a new compressor which will come to nearly 30k.I then took it to a local Ac service and they repaired the valve in just a day.The bill was only 4k.its been 6 months and it working perfectly.Saved a lot of money.If its only valve issue it can be repaired by any local Ac service.Though they had told me all valves cant be repaired. But then you don't lose anything by giving it a try.if it works you can save a lot of money specially in your case as skoda compressors will be very expensive.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by phoenix7

I am badly stuck in a situation. Sadly I am not technically very well equipped and looking for help from fellow bhpians. My Superb TSI was having a problem of overheating when driving the car with AC on(or idling with AC), in bumper to bumper traffic . The AC compressor would then Trip and go off . I told this to the service advisor at A.S.S and he got it checked. He came back to me saying that the issue is with the compressor valve not releasing the gas when the car is on idle! He advised me to get the Compressor and related parts all replaced :o
And gave me a rough estimate of about a lakh. I however was not convinced with this as The compressor was working fine when being driven on free roads/ when in speed.
I then decided to visit some private garage and take an opinion, after operating on the car for 2-3 days,they got back saying that there was issue with the condensers fans and their resistance. I donot have enough knowledge about it and need help from you guys. Could this be the problem? The car is still with them what should I do now?

The symptoms are of inadequate cooling of the gas, as the AC works fine when extra air is forced while driving. Whether it is due to fan or radiator that is to be checked.

How old is the car. If it is still in warranty period then insist on getting a warranty replacement for what ever they claim to be needed. A friend had to replace his Yeti's compressor after a year and half of service.

Get the front heat exchanger (AC Radiator) checked for clogging due to leaves and mud. If it is get it cleaned using a pressure hose.

If the car is more than 3 years old and/or has run more than 30,000 km and heats up in B2B traffic, then your radiator may be clogged and that impacts AC as the airflow is obstructed. Find a radiator repair/overhaul shop, there at least one in each major motor repair market and get it checked. In most cases if it can be, then they will dismantle the radiator, clean the pipes and the fins and do a pressure check for any leak.

[phoenix7]

Originally Posted by Aroy

The symptoms are of inadequate cooling of the gas,

Originally Posted by lancer_maniac

I had a similar situation.That time service center told it was the problem with the valve and the compressor has to be replaced.

Thank you both! The issue got sorted! Yes it was the fans not working beacause of the resistance issue. Thank god I didnt go ahead with what the skoda A.S.s said otherwise I would have replaced the compressor and still the problem wouldnt have got sorted out!

[Ikonification]

Hi Gurus,

<please move the topic if this is not the correct thread>

My family was coming over to Pune from Mumbai to visit me during the long weekend - 13th to 15th Aug'16. Needless to say being a long weekend, the ghat section was choc a bloc with bumper to bumper to traffic.

Few minutes into the heavy traffic on the ghat section, dad's i20 (Magna / Petrol / Nov 2012 model) started spewing some burnt smell. After stopping by the side to inspect and on opening the hood, dad was greeted by some heavy smoke coming from underneath the hood. Caught hold of a local mechanic, who upon inspecting certified that there is nothing wrong with the car and it would start on it's own once it cools down. The issue repeated once again after the initial halt, though once the ghat section was crossed and the traffic dispersed, the car was back to running into the usual smooth mode.

Few pointers / help needed here -
1. The mechanic mentioned about some clutch plate / cylinder locking up which results in this issue. Advice given by him, should such a situation re-occur, is to start the car directly from the 1st gear as it would release the locked up clutch cylinder. Another advice given by him was to drive the car in 1st gear itself (dad was attempting moving into second gear pretty soon after the throttling the 1st gear). So - what exactly could be the issue here around the clutch area causing the car to heat up so dramatically?

2. Even though the car was heating up, the temperature gauge on the dashboard didn't shoot up. So if the engine wasn't heating up, what was causing the smoke to bellow up from underneath the hood?

3. Interesting to note - there were around 30 odd cars on the ghat section facing the same issue (right from Hyundai to Honda City to Skoda) - however 50% of these were Hyundai. Is it because Hyundai cars are traditionally under-powered and results into too much load under such circumstances?

4. How to navigate such heating issue should it re-occur?

Thanks in advance,
Cheers,
Nikhil

[dhanushs]

The smoke you saw is not from the engine. It's from the slipping clutch. It's normal for cars to burn clutch in stop and go traffic up an incline, but avoidable with some sensible driving. There is nothing wrong with the car.

Next time you encounter such a situation, take the foot of the clutch as soon as possible. Try to use the clutch as little as possible. One way of achieving this is by keeping some distance from the vehicle in the front. Do not tailgate. Also, try to reduce gear changes. Save the clutch.

[MAS]

As given by dhanushs, the peoblem reported is not due to over heating,

The driver/your dad driving the car has used half-clutch to climb the ghats in stop-go traffic resulting in over-heating/burning of the clutch plate. This incident would have caused some damage to the clutch.

Please ask driver/your dad to drive more carefully. If he fears that the car would roll back in stop-go traffic on the ghats, please ask him to use the hand-brake. Once the traffic moves forward, he can accelerate slightly with slow release of clutch and when the car moves forward, he can release the hand brake. This technique will save any anxious moments as well as the clutch.

[Rahul Bhalgat]

In such situations, do not start moving unless you have a gap of 1 car length (or slightly less) ahead of you. This way, you will need less number of clutch operations to cover the same distance.

[IshaanIan]

Simply stick to the lowest possible gears by practicing how to modulate the throttle and don't rely too much on slipping the clutch. Clutch in fully when shifting gears and use the dead pedal or space nearby to rest your left foot instead of riding the clutch. This is very common especially amongst petrol cars since there is usually very poor low-end torque although first gear ratio is usually really short to overcome this.

[vibbs]

I believe this can also happen if you try to hold your car's position on an incline using your clutch (half clutching basically) instead of brakes.

It is very common among people to simply maintain car position on an incline during stop and go traffic by half clutching instead of letting the clutch go and applying brakes/hand brakes. If this goes on for long duration it will lead to the clutch overheating.

[Aroy]

The best method of avoiding half clutch is to slot into 1st gear and inch slowly, keeping one or two car length distance in front. Once the distance decreases to half a car length, go into neutral and use hand break if the stoppage time is long. The situation is similar to what we face in heavy B2B traffic on flyovers - the traffic inches a few meters and then stops for a few minutes, so instead of half clutch o stop I use 1st gear and neutral to keep up with creeping traffic.

[vpbs_bak]

When I went out in our Ford Figo (2011 model, Petrol) recently, we noticed the engine 'overheat' indication coming on. When I stopped, my son noticed a slight smoke in the front hood too. I took the car to Lathangi Ford who said the coolant is bone dry. They're suggesting the following replacements. I'd like to know

i. if all of these are needed and if the suggested price is right.
ii. Also , my usage is very less (only 13,000 kms so far) - is this expected to happen ?

water pump change(2500)
drive belt(1800)
coolant(1200)
thermostat housing(800)
Labour(2500).

Total 10,000

TIA

[BLACKBLADE]

I would like to share my experience with the engine overheating issue, that I faced in my 2014 Ford Figo TDCi about a year back, how the root cause was diagnosed and resolved.

What were the tell-a-tale signs?

1) First and foremost the Engine Overheat lamp used to get lighted up, if the car is driven for a distance of say, more than 20 Km or so, with the A/C on. Less than that, the warning lamp would not come on. If I keep the A/C off, the car would go even up to 70 Kilo meters, without the warning lamp coming on.

2) The coolant level in the reservoir got reduced below the marked level. Even after multiple top ups with water and coolant, the issue still persisted.

What are the suspects associated with engine over heating, that I had in mind?

1)Leak in radiator hoses
2)Leak in the radiator
3)Radiator fan not working
4)Coolant pump not working
5)Leak in coolant reservoir
6)Faulty radiator pressure cap
7)Failed thermostat.

What was that I did not have in mind?


1)Failed cylinder head gasket or inlet manifold gasket

Schematic of an engine cooling system



(Source: http://www.carparts.com)

What was the diagnosis by the After Sales & Service center?

Visit no.1

There was no leak, at least visibly, that I can notice in my Figo. So off I went to the Authorized Service (M/S Lakshmi Ford, Tanjore) center for Diagnosis. A pressure test was conducted to rule out leaks in the system. It was found that the radiator cooling fan motor was kaput. Due to which the fan was not getting switched on, when it should have. Got it replaced under warranty and I thought that the issue was settled for good.

Visit no. 2

Within a few days the engine overheating lamp flashed again. This time when I took the car to the Service Station, they asked for a day or two’s time for them to go through the system fully and find out the root cause. While I was concerned with the issue, I had no other go but to trust the Service Center guys. Especially the Technical knowledge of the Service Manager was reassuring. After two days when I went, I found out that the hoses were replaced, Thermostat tested and was found to be working fine, coolant pump was replaced with a spare one available with them, Radiator pressure cap replaced, Reservoir cap replaced and fresh coolant filled. While I was happy with the work done, I was upset that they were not able to pin point the root cause. Halfheartedly I took my car, with a final word to the Service Manager, that if the issue re-appears, he should personally get involved to get it resolved.

Visit no.3

A couple of weeks past, on a long drive to my In-laws place, while returning back, the dreaded warning lamp came back on again. Went straight to meet the Service Manager who with a grim face told that, the only thing that was left to be checked is the Cylinder head gasket .

Schematic of the location of an engine head gasket



(Source: http://www.carparts.com)

Hesitantly I agreed for allowing them to open the Cylinder head for a car that was roughly a year and half old, and had covered about 30000 Kms. The only reassuring thing was that the car was still under warranty. After a couple of days’ time the engine was dismantled. The Service Manager was kind enough to entertain my request of witnessing the repair work, when I was at their place. He also explained me how the head gasket failure was a rare issue the causes cannot be pin pointed exactly. Also it is not possible to assess any damage to the cylinder head, or the cylinders themselves, without opening the head. After three days’ time, when the head gasket (A typical head gasket is usually made of soft sheet metal that is stamped with ridges that surround all leak points. source: http://www.carparts.com) was replaced and the engine was put together and remounted on the car, it was time for road testing. The Ford Mechanics went for a long drive with my Figo for about a 100 Kms, during which the problem never recurred. The next day after a full service of the car, I took delivery.

Did the Overheating issue recur?

Nope. It did not. For good.

How is the car 12, 000 Kms after the head gasket replacement?

It can’t get better than this. My car is performing as good as ever. No issues of engine overheating. The Service Center and the Service Manager had done a good job.

Nevertheless the experience was a night mare. Yet the lessons learned and experience gained were priceless. Just wanted to share this on Team-BHP, if at all it could be of any help to the regular joe out there.

Happy and safe motoring!

Live to Drive !

[techcoze]

From many posts here, it looks like drivers checked car's temp gauge after sensing something abnormal like smoke, etc, which means engine was already overheating for last many KM.
If driver is vigilant enough on temp gauge, then no issue. But on highway it's would be normal if driver runs car for 10 or more KM before noticing rise on temp gauge, drivers don't watch gauges every 10 seconds.

I think following tool will give one peace of mind while driving, along with many useful OBD related features, it has one very important feature of audio warning on coolant overheat. You can set coolant temp threshold, and when it goes beyond it, driver is alarmed with audio signal. If your car don't have temp gauge, then get one in this device

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/AUTO...608.0.0.6vrr4x

[techcoze]

Originally Posted by BLACKBLADE

1)Failed cylinder head gasket or inlet manifold gasket

Didn't you ever notice white exhaust smoke? In case of coolant leak inside engine white smoke will come from exhause (and black smoke in case of oil leak inside engine block)