overheating on vauxhall cavalier 1.8 1995?

ive just bought a cavalier 1800icc but its overheating the fan kicks when its on the red but dose not cool it down enough what could be the problem

JOHN james docherty
August 2013

its the thermo switch on radiater .make sure to get same colour.change all 3 thet has to do with cooling systam.i had same and its ok now..

dotty
November 2010

flush the system through with a hose pipe if the problem presists then yes it would be the water pump as this was the case with mine it was working but not well enough

rob
January 2010

I am having the same problem. Have replaced the thermostat and the radiator but still happening. Small amount of oil near to what i suppose is head gasket with gasket material splayed out from join. Would head gasket failure provoke similar symptoms? (is head gasket where you put the oil in? Beginner!)

Mark
September 2009

I had the same problem on my cavalier. the only way I could stop it overheating was to put all windows down and turn heat on full blast in car to get it out of the engine. Kept car from overheating but wasn't much fun when stuck in traffic on hot days with moaning kids in the car.

sam
August 2009

It could be a circulation problem - that is, a blocked radiator maybe...feel the front of the thing and see if it is getting hot top and bottom, and that the top and bottom hoses are hot too. Water pump failure on these is unlikely, and so long as coolant isn't being shot out of the expansion bottle, head gasket failure seems also unlikely.

John
August 2009