1999 Beetle Overheating

I don't know if this has anything to do with it but .. NO HEAT !!

Possibly has everything to do with it. Sounds like the cooling system needs to be bleed, it has trapped air in it.

Yep it could be the cooling system is not full enough.....OR The water pump impeller, if internal, is slipping and coolant is not flowing fast enough. (plastic impellers suck!) If your vehicle is less than 10 years old, under 100K miles then it may still have a warranty. You did not mention which engine you had!

Checks are.... Radiator has to get hot at all four corners Heater Hoses have to get hot....both of them.

Now are you telling us that the light is blinking or the temperature gauge is going all the way to HOT?

I had a car once where the radiator fan wasn't coming on, causing the car to overheat. The problem turned out to be one of the relays in the electrical system. Granted, that was a different model of car (it wasn't even a VW), but that could be something you should check.

Eric

One day it just had that hot smell .. sort of like hot coolant but the hot light did not come on .. There was water in the beach ball looking "THING." The place where you fill the radiator.

The following morning when I turned on the car, the blue temp light didn't come on, it went directly to red. I turned it off and filled it with water. It took at least a gallon or two. Didn't over heat after driving it for a week, until the car was running for about 15 minutes while my son was doing something with my stereo and amplifier ... After 15 minutes, maybe more it boiled over ...

I took it to my NON VW mechanic and he tried changing out the heat sensor .. that didn't help turn the fan on .. Fan only comes on when the a/c is running. This is my first WATER COOLED bug .. pretty sure I am just going to sell it ..

you are joking ...right ??

problem is the mechanic! Take it to someone that knows VWs!

I/we would need more information for moe specific answers! I might guess that your coolant system has a leak. ;-)

1. Which engine? 1.8t 2.0l TDI other

"'whatever'" wrote snip

No... Not even smiling.

Any Orlando area recommendations for VW mechanic? Diane

Are you actually in Orlando, or nearby? I might have a name in the Tampa area.

check the thermoswitch for the fan, common VW failure but an easy fix

nate

Diane - Jan Andersson lives in Orlando. If he can't fix it, nobody can.

MASTER MECHANIC "Jan Andersson" is commonly on the aircooled VW newsgroup! He should be your mechanic! ;-)

You two have fun with email addresses! lol

JMHO

I thought Jan only did air-cooled. He had fixed something on my bus before. I haven't done anything in a week - got pneumonia .. Diane

OH YEAH .. He is a VW genius. He worked on my bus before and is just MINUTES from my office ..

Diane

Yeah I guess you are right since this is Jan's reply...........

Hehehehe

I'll stay away from the watercooled VW's thank you very much....

Jan

Sorry that he does not want to touch the water cooled VWs. :-(

Hello Diane!

I'd love to have a look at it, but won't be near Orlando for awhile... probably mid to late winter. But if you come north, follow the east coast until you hit Hampton Beach (NH) then turn left and go inland for about an hour... : )

OK, kidding aside... I just figured out my new computer wasn't downloading all the posts. Hopefully, I've backtracked and not missed anything... well, unless posted it is fixed... that would be great.

Sounds to me that you are describing that you are overheating only when the radiator fan should be coming on. This would be a problem only when running and stuck in stopped or slow traffic, (or sitting idling when working on stereo system). And since you say the fan does run with A/C on, that would narrow it down to temp sensor, related relays/controls, wiring,... OK not that narrowed... but I would be finding the temp sensor (most likely in the radiator but not sure at this point) and unplugging it and jumpering it to see if the fan then runs. If so, bad sensor. This assuming (dangerous word) that you do not have overheat problem at all when driving. So it's full of coolant, not air bound, thermostat is opening, and the water pump is pumping. When driving, the air comes through the radiator and keeps it cool so the fan doesn't have to come on.

You did say you tried changing heat sensor. Are you sure it was the right heat sensor? I'm sure it has more than one.

In2hoppn (old school but watercooled)

I bet he'd know someone locally who will and can do them however. THat's what I did when I needed some help and only knew an air-cooled expert. He sent me to the right guy immediately!

OK, so about an hour would put her at my house. Where are you, anyway? (Jaffrey...)