Thread: TDI300 overheating and air lock woes - any advice?

Originally Posted by ade

or just keep things maintained properly, check your fluids etc and regulary check gauges

Well, the only standard gauge you can check is the temperature. If you lose fluid, you will be measuring air. So you can monitor the gauge all you like and it won't show you have lost coolant. By the time it shows overheating, it is too late.

Coolant level warning is cheap insurance, especially if someone else (like Mrs Spud ) drives your car and wouldn't look at the gauges from one week to the next!

Yes all correct. For my situation I purchased the vehicle with a near spanking new long engine from a previous overheating event owner. He had genuine receipts for so much dough he had spent on it. He then cooked it again and replaced the head yet another time.
I checked everything when I was purchasing but possibly should have cottoned on that something was not right for a repeat event beyond him telling me that a hose split. I should had noted that in all the work he had done, a (now obvious) omission was that the radiator was never pulled and tanks taken off to inspect. I reckon that's what caused this whole ugly event....it was 80-90% blocked when I got it checked....but too late as the damage (gas build up in jacket water) was done.

At no time did the temp gauge really move....only after a splurging event..

So I definitely endorse getting the monitoring side of things enhanced but preventative is also so important. As many others have posted...if you don't know the status of your radiator core and coolant history..pull it out and have it inspected/cleaned/replaced (in addition to anything else cooling related).

One positive out of all this is that I now have more awareness of TDI300 cooling than I ever would have otherwise.