overheating issues

Well cars back from the garage.....two new head gaskets, new distributor....a whole rake of other bits sorted ....and ....... new set of locks all round For the first time in ages i can get in through the drivers door!

Hopefully get to take it out on a weekend jaunt next week, get re-aquainted after nearly 2 months

Cheers again chaps for helping find the trouble....folks were right first time Cheers to Mr Sage for sorting it out...yet again

Just thought I'd tag onto the end of this thread to save starting a new one.

I've got a problem with the temp going up and up and up on my GTA turbo when idling for a long time, such as sat in traffic. I know the rad fan isn't coming on, so I fitted a new rad fan switch (the fan is working if I bridge the two wires from the switch) but the fan still isn't coming on, so my next thought is to try a new thermostat in case that's sticking or something. My reason being, if I leave it running so the temp climbs way past the 90 mark towards the red, the rear engine hoses get red hot and the front hoses at the rad get hot, but not as hot as the rear hoses, although they don't stay cold. So maybe a thermostat not working properly? The front doesn't seem to be getting hot enough to trigger the fan switch. Is the thermostat a stealer only part or can I get one from the local Halfrauds? Cheers.

Take the stat out and see if it still does it .

Justin....its always a good idea to check the thermostat when overheating occures as if a wax stat fails, it will fail in the closed state, or will only open partially both of which will cause overheating in varying degrees. The other thing that may be happening is that the rad is partially blocked stopping the hot coolant getting to the rad switch.
It is very important that you get the right design of stat....I would not mess around and would get it from Renault but if you want to go else where ...make sure you take the old one with you to compare, just getting the right temp is not good enough for these Alps.
If you have not already read it, in the Members Forum there is a post called "GTA Coolant Thermostat" which you might find interesting.
Dont delay with this fault .....continuous overheating can cause the head gaskets to fail

John

Cheers chaps, getting a stat is definitely my next port of call.

I had identical problem.
Turned out to be the coolant temp sensor screwed into the Thermostat housing being dicky. Fitted new one and it's fine. Local motor factor stocks them.

Sensors in the thermostat housing have no bearing on the fan cutting in .They will give a false reading on either dash or ECU if faulty but the rad fans are controlled by the rad sensor alone .
It should trip the fans at just above the 90 on the gauge if both are working correctly .In any case the fan should cut in after a short blast and left to idle for a while .

I agree Lee.
But the reason I highlighted this is because my problem was the dicky sender causing the temp gauge to indicate a false reading (110 or more) before the rad fans kicked in. Gave the impression that I had an overheating issue when it fact it was nothing of the sort.
I believe these cars take a long time for the temp to reach 90, even when sitting there at idle; 15 litres of coolant and two 5ft coolant pipes may have something to do with this

Yes ,normally they need a blast to get them up to temp but should then trip the fans on and off .
You should see the gauge rise to just before the 90 then drop as the thermostat opens after which it should get just above the 90 then fans kick in .

Yes, that's exactly how mine used to operate Lee, but I no longer see that first drop in temp when the stat opens which leads me to believe it's dicky. Still not had the time to get to a Renault stealer to order a new one yet.

I've been meaning to get a new thermostat myself for some time.

I've had a look at the parts catalogue and it's showing a '60' number for the GTA thermostat. (often causes problems with the dealers...)

Is this the right part that I should be asking for?:

60 00 007 566

And there's some really wacky numbers for the gasket. 79... or 96...?

Thanks for any help

I've ordered a new thermostat from my local stealer, Renault Liverpool. £32.28 I didn't have a part number to hand, just told him it was for a Renault Alpine GTA turbo. He asked for a chassis number, which I didn't have to hand either but told him it was for a D501 and he said he only had one listed for a D501 and it was rated at 80 degrees, so hopefully it's the right one. Yet to see if it turns up yet though and doesn't go on the dreaded back order.

Great stuff. Thanks.

Let us know how you get on. Interestingly, I had a look on Simon Auto's site and they have the thermostat on for €22.02 and the seal for €3.57 - and they're both in stock!

I think BIGMVS mentioned having one of these from Simon Auto.
Was it correct?

Thanks again

[BIG_MVS]

I think BIGMVS mentioned having one of these from Simon Auto.
Was it correct?

Yes it is. It was for the A610 though so not sure if they are different and I am yet to fit it as well

.......only had one listed for a D501 and it was rated at 80 degrees, so hopefully it's the right one.

I would worry about that Justin, as the GTA, D500/D501/D502 use the same thremostat which is rated at 88 degrees. Get them to check it out before buying it.
If I could not get any sense out of the Renault dealer I would be inclined to get one from Simon Autos as they are GTA Alpine specific.....it looks as if they are cheaper also
BTW, for those that are interested, the 610 stats are slightly different in design (smaller disc below the wax capsule) and are rated at 86` with jiggle valve.....the GTA ones don`t have that, but I drill a 2.5mm hole in the stats valve to reduce airlocks when filling