Corsa-B.uk - Vauxhall, Opel and Holden Corsa B Owners Club

i had my car since passed in oct 08 and it passed its M.O.T last week and now its starting to play up. i dont even do a mile or 2 and it goes half way on the heater thingy and can smell it and feel car getting hot. and when stopped its tiny bit smoke escaping. its got water and oil and people saying either thermosat? or the head gasket gone or blockked. somebody said corsa's prown to over heat easy. so if its the gasket does that mean no more corsa? its 98 merit corsa done about 121k miles i thinks

Have a look for where this smoke/steam is escaping from. That could be your problem.

corsas don't ussualy overheat Ive heard more people complain that the engines don't heat up quick enough.

I would suggest thermostat stuck closed to check for this I would open the bonnet locate the water hoses that go to the radiator start your engine and feel them along there full length the one to the top of the radiator should beggin to get warm and if you squeeze it the water level in the tank should move a little. if it doesnt warm up and you can't squeeze the pipe then your thermostat is most probably stuck closed.

the other thing is that the radiator could be blocked this can happen the water has been filled with tap water and no anti freeze, it gets block either by rusty deposits or it freezes itself.

I wouldnt think it would be the head gasket but check your water for bits of oil in it and check your oil for white sludge these are the ussual indicators of head gasket failure although most engines have a little white sludge under the oil cap. do your heaters work if your engine is hot but your not getting any heat through the blowers thhis is another sign of head gasket failure. if your heaters do work then I suggest driving with them on full heat untill you get it fixed this will help to keep your engine cool.

how hot have you let your engine get it should be fine up to just over 100 degrees if your engine has over heated this could cause head gasket failure.

my corsa was over heatin in a matter of seconds . at first i thought it was the thermostat but wen i took it to work to do all the checks in my garage i block tested it which is a test to see if the head gasket has gone. if u got the 1.4 engine its not worth doin coz ita s F_U_C_K_E_R i did mine and every bolt and nut is hidin behind something but as i have found out that everythingi do tomy ca is a K**T.

found out it was the censor but still over heats so got put heater on to lower it. all cool now tho