Temp Problems WB 308

[Condy 0]

Hi, Obviously Summer , but my WB Caprice is running hotter than ever. Have replaced the thermostat and the Radiator looks very new and even replaced the sender unit (was not working originally). Gauge is reading near on the red after a 10 min drive. Could i have been sold the wrong sender ? How would i know? Or could it be the wrong radiator (Maybe it was put in just to sell the car).
Is therre any way you can check the sender is working correctly or have a way of checking the temp from an independant source. The termo fan is not kicking in but it does work when i wire it directly to the power?
As always any advice would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Rob

 

[EYY]

Hi, Obviously Summer , but my WB Caprice is running hotter than ever. Have replaced the thermostat and the Radiator looks very new and even replaced the sender unit (was not working originally). Gauge is reading near on the red after a 10 min drive. Could i have been sold the wrong sender ? How would i know? Or could it be the wrong radiator (Maybe it was put in just to sell the car).
Is therre any way you can check the sender is working correctly or have a way of checking the temp from an independant source. The termo fan is not kicking in but it does work when i wire it directly to the power?
As always any advice would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Rob

Is the clutch fan still fitted with shroud?

 

[Condy 0]

Is the clutch fan still fitted with shroud?

Yes it is ?

 

[vc commodore]

With the radiator and block....An old way I used to clean them out was drive the car until it got hot....From that, I'd drop the bottom radiator hose so all the shite would end up on the ground....Refill the radiator and start again until all the shite was gone.....

Used to solve overheating issues related to the radiator being clogged with all the shite....

The only downfall was, getting the hands out of the way quick enough when the bottom radiator hose came off the water pump...

You could even take the radiator out and have it cleaned out...Unlike modern car radiators, that car will have the type that can be cleaned out by a radiator joint and put back in the car...

 

[EYY]

Being a WB it should have a commodore cross flow style radiator with tanks on the side.

The first thing to do is verify the coolant temp - best to fit an aftermarket gauge if you don’t trust the factory gauge. Apparently VDO were the only company who could supply the correct sender for HQ-WB and there were different variants too depending on the gauge you had.

Then you’d feel for cool spots on your radiator - typically you’d find these near the lower outlet. Tubes can be blocked, as can the tanks. If more than a few tubes are blocked it’ll have a substantial impact on cooling system efficiency. You can even use an infrared temp gun to diagnose. Typically modern radiators are much easier to clean due to their design (not soldered).

Also make sure your clutch fan is in good condition.

 

[Smitty]

Hi, Obviously Summer , but my WB Caprice is running hotter than ever. Have replaced the thermostat and the Radiator looks very new and even replaced the sender unit (was not working originally). Gauge is reading near on the red after a 10 min drive. Could i have been sold the wrong sender ? How would i know? Or could it be the wrong radiator (Maybe it was put in just to sell the car).
Is therre any way you can check the sender is working correctly or have a way of checking the temp from an independant source. The termo fan is not kicking in but it does work when i wire it directly to the power?
As always any advice would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Rob

2 sender units with these guys (and Commodores) are available for V8s
one based on the last of the red motors (read HZ) and one for XT5 blue motors

check you got the right one...

 

[07GTS]

WB ute has one sender early style readings, and WB statesman have another, the statesman is same as the early commodore sender and runs off 10v regulated power, first make sure the sender wire has 10v on it with multimeter, ( DO NOT GROUND THE SENDER WIRE ) if it does then u know that is right, next get engine warmed up and put a multimeter on ohms and see what sender reads at operating temp, if it reads around the 25 ohms or close then its wrong sender, if it reads about the 97 ohms then its correct sender and u may have wiring issues or gauge issues as that should be correct reading

 

[Jeda]

Just out of curiosity, are you hearing the coolant boil or is it just the temp gauge in the red?
Also, I read that you have a thermo fan set up and not the original clutch fan.
How has the thermo fan been set up? Does it run a controller to activate it when required at a certain temp?
If so, maybe that's sh1t itself.

 

[Condy 0]

Just out of curiosity, are you hearing the coolant boil or is it just the temp gauge in the red?
Also, I read that you have a thermo fan set up and not the original clutch fan.
How has the thermo fan been set up? Does it run a controller to activate it when required at a certain temp?
If so, maybe that's sh1t itself.

No have not heard it boil , just the gauge that reads Red. I have the clutch fan , looks original , but also has a thermo fan at the front of the condensor which does not seem to come on , hence i wonder if its either not working , or coolant is not getting hot enough to turn it on? Any way of testing if the temp will turn it on?

 

[EYY]

No have not heard it boil , just the gauge that reads Red. I have the clutch fan , looks original , but also has a thermo fan at the front of the condensor which does not seem to come on , hence i wonder if its either not working , or coolant is not getting hot enough to turn it on? Any way of testing if the temp will turn it on?

Coolant won’t turn it on, only A/C will. Typically only when the compressor is engaged on those systems - the trigger for the A/C clutch is also the trigger for condenser fan relay.