My Cars Thermometer?

[jonah hart]

My thermometer in the car keeps going full pelt, and the car keeps telling me to stop, there's plenty water in and oil. Does anyone know why it's doing this?

[RATTER15]

The car is overheating and the engine is about to seize. possibly a blown head gasket or a dodgy temperature guage, you need to get it checked asap or you may be needing a new engine very soon.

[SlackAlice]

Fan or Fan belt failure. Is the coolant fan rotating?
What make/model car?

[Baldric]

///thermometer in the car keeps going full pelt///

Not sure I understand that bit?

[RATTER15]

Is there any yellow gunky stuff on the dip stick or on the oil filler cap?

[RATTER15]

///thermometer in the car keeps going full pelt/// Poor terminology I think!

I think he means it is going to the highest point! HOT!!

[Baldric]

Perhaps she does!

[RATTER15]

he/she, just an S between the two! sorry Jonah :-)

[grasscarp]

See a mechanic. Your car is begging you to stop for a reason.

[Old_Geezer]

Never ignore an indicator. If it is the indicator that is wrong you can be thankful it wasn't worse and cuss it for the trouble it caused later. Limp it to a garage if possible, call them out otherwise, now. Or get your recovery service to look at it if away from home.

[jonah hart]

Yes i mean it's goes to the top of the gage, there's no gunk near the oil cap, it's a Peugeot 206, I'm not sure what you mean by fan rotating, I turned the heater of and it went down a little.

[1ozzy]

When the thermometer goes "full pelt" is there any steam coming from under the bonnet?
Does the car "smell hot"?
What ever the answer, "get it checked" by someone who knows.

[jonah hart]

I will go get it checked, just worried it'll blow up on me on the way to the garage! thanks guys :)

[Hopkirk]

Are you in a breakdown service?

If so pull into the side of the road away from home, and call them out.
They will quickly diagnose the fault.

[TWR]

Pugs are the worst car to leave low on water, did you do this? there may be an Air Lock in the cooling system, I hope for your sake this is the problem otherwise you are talking of a big head Gasket bill, Head Gasket, Gaskets, Head Skim ( If your Lucky) If the engine has been running hot the Head could have warped. get the cooling system Pressure tested, this will tell you the cause.

[Prudie]

I'm 'just a girl' but it's important to tell the mechanics if the radiator/car is actually hot, you can usually hear the water bubbling. I also thought that when your car was over hot then putting the heater on helped to reduce the temperature not the other way round.

[grasscarp]

Prudie I was thinking same as you about using heater to take heat off engine. Hope Jonah lets us know what happened.

[Iggle Piggle]

Sounds like it might be an air lock in the system. The bit where the sensor is gets mega hot with steam but the water level looks good. Best bet is to let the engine cool completely, drain the coolant out and re-fill nice and slowly, making sure any air is burped out !
Other option is the radiator is blocked by a build up of gunky cr4p.
Answer to this is to remove radiator and flush backwards with a garden hose.

[tonyav]

Agree with Iggle Piggle, but also check that your thermostat is working correctly ie not stuck in the closed position.

[kat1]

Mine did it 2 weeks ago,red light flashing STOP called out the breakdown guy and it was my radiator leaking and had to have a new one.

[Iggle Piggle]

to get to the garage, turn the heater on fully 'hot' and the blower on 'max' and wind the windows down. This will be uncomfortable but will give the engine the best chance of a cooling system if the radiator is blocked. Only drive as far as you absolutely have to and stop !