Suzuki Grande Vitara 2.0l petrol Overheating

[Wh1t3y]

I have a 2l petrol suzuki grande vitara and it started overheating only when driving 4 or 5 days ago.
I changed the thermostat today as it was taking a long time to warm up but when you drive it 3 miles the temp shoots up to the red and the water is bubling out of the water top up bottle.
Could it be the water pump and if so how do I check .
No sign of gunk in the oil or oil in the water ?.
I am going to pressutre test the cylinders tomorrow but dont understand why the water is escaping from the top up bottle.
Martin

[Wh1t3y]

Originally Posted by Wh1t3y

I have a 2l petrol suzuki grande vitara and it started overheating only when driving 4 or 5 days ago.
I changed the thermostat today as it was taking a long time to warm up but when you drive it 3 miles the temp shoots up to the red and the water is bubling out of the water top up bottle.
Could it be the water pump and if so how do I check .
No sign of gunk in the oil or oil in the water ?.
I am going to pressutre test the cylinders tomorrow but dont understand why the water is escaping from the top up bottle.
Martin

It has just dawned on me that I may have a air blockage or maybe a failed viscus even though the fan is turning its only when you drive the car the heat shoots up ( ok when its on tick over ) ?.

[murcod]

Martin, whatever you do don't drive it around with it sitting in the red. Water bubbling out the overflow isn't a good sign and you'll do permanent damage letting it get that hot.

Have you tried feeling the top and then the bottom of tha radiator (being careful!) to see if it's hot all over? If the thermostat isn't opening or you've got a blockage then you should find the top will be red hot and the bottom substantially cooler.

BTW the only time I've seen water bubbling into the overflow was due to a blown head gasket- hopefully that hasn't happened?

Are all your drive belts there as well? ie. the one for the water pump and is it tight?

[Wh1t3y]

David
Yhanks for your info before but I would like to ask you another question .
I have just pressure tested all the cylinders and all were around 13.5 bar except one that was 12.5 bar , ran the car with the heater on to see if there was an air blockage and then took it for a spin as the tempreture had stayed normal.
The car temp rose again when accelerating and when idle drip of water were coming from the exhaust.
I take it that the head gasket has gone if I can see water dripping from the exhaust ?.
Martin

[murcod]

Possibly not the head gasket with water out the exhaust - unless it does it once it is well and truly wamred up? A bit hard to check if it overheats so quickly.

Try checking the spark plugs closely and seeing what they look like. If coolant is getting into one cylinder then that cylinder will be a lot cleaner and the spark plug may even have a green tinge to it (if your coolant is green.)

[Wh1t3y]

All spark plugs were dry light grey / white looking and car was running for 25 minuites and still water dripped from the exhaust.
Only overheats when you drive it under pressure ( up hills or accelerate ) , drives for about 15 miuites and then it creeps from half way to the red.
Could the block have a crack in it maybe ?.

[Wh1t3y]

Is there any sealants I might be able to try adding to the water or any tests I have not tried ?.

[skelly9134]

I have has a very similar problem with my 2.0 td, I checked everything and in the end called the RAC out, straight away he found 2 problems. One was a blockage in the rad as only the top of the rad was getting hot but the main problem was the rad cap, it had all scaled up and the small release valve in the cap had stuck closed, a little scrap with a knife and it was fixed. If you try this make sure your rad is completley full of water aswell, the expansion bottle is not really an issue though. The mistake a made was i did not full the rad fully which stopped the pump pumping the water round. If you are getting heat in the car is not going to be a pump problem and it does not sound like its the head or the block. The RAC guy told me this was very common on vitaras