C250 D slightly overheating and good independents in west london

[agoyale]

Hi all

I have recently bought a 1994 c250d (non-turbo) auto with 125k miles on the clock. The engine sems to be overheating, and the temp guage will go up to 3/4 way max. And that's only when the car is driven hard. On mild driving the car does not overheat at all. I had an AA guy look at it and he checked the viscous fan coupling which seems to be fine, the water pump he says is OK as there is plenty of heat coming in through the heater vents in the interior. The bottom and top hoses are both hot, suggesting the thermostat is fine. Finally he says the rad needs attention as the bottom on the rad is hot and the top is cold. Also, the electric fans do not come on when the AC is turned on (hopefully the AC is actually swithed on. I do have the 'EC' switched off which means the AC should be switched on'. Therefore it seems the rad and electric fans are on their way out.

Few questions:
1. Has anyone had a similar experience?
2. What are my options to get this sorted cheaply? i.e. where to get a new rad on the cheap.
3. Can anyone suggest a good independent who know what they are talking about, but won't cost me an arm and a leg.

Any comments/suggestions would be much appreciated.

Many thanks!

 

[spock500]

You could try flushing the coolant system out then re-filling making sure no air is trapped, mine sits at 80c until driven hard then moves up around the 90 level.

Try it with the a/c off as the viscous fan alone should be enough to keep it cool.

 

[agoyale]

Dave, many thanks for your reply. Will try this before anything else.