₦airaland Forum

Unfortunately, I dont have an answer to that question, since am not a car dealer/ I dont sell cars. But i believe it should get you a nice tok Golf 3.

Ikenna.

Since you are woman, I will tell you what you need to know & not what "they" want you to know.

Toyota is also a reliable car. Cost of maintenance is low as well. Parts could be cheap, depending on the model. The fuel economy is good. It dosent consume much, when everything is still working at factory settings & specs.It wont be a stressful car to maintain, as long as you religiously service it as when due. Toyota automatic transmission doesnt fail as Honda's does. Though, that dosent mean is not prone to failure. Why? Because every automatic gear box/transmission hates heat. If you drive it frequently on hold up/traffic jams (go slow), it will kill it sooner than you expect, whether Honda or Toyota. But frequent change of auto transmission fluid/ATF with factory recommended viscosity will reduce the effect of heat on the automatic gearbox & could prolong it a little before it eventually dies. Most auto gearbox dont exceed 200,000km. They die before even the mileage get to 150,000km, depending on how lucky one is.

On the other hand, VW is a German product, thus, the German Machine! Golf is a very durable car & rugged as well. It pulls fine, better than Toyota counterpact. Its road handling is much much better than a Toyota Corola. It uses Bosch parts, which happens to be the most durable vehicle spare parts in the world,(if its original though). it has good fuel economy too. It has more driving pleasure than the Toyotas. But competent Golf auto mechanics might not be as numerous/many as Toyotas. The parts are affordable. But European cars cant tolerate the degree of abuse our mehanics meted on Vehicles on Nigerian road. Euro cars or German cars are designed to work at factory spec. Once the factory specs are tampered with (which our mechanics & rewires are very good at), the car will never be the same. A Corola can be abused, but will still manage to run, but will eventually die someday. But a Euro car, once the factory setting is tampered with, the car will become a nightmare to the owner. Thats why Euro cars owners like me diagnose & fix our cars by ourselves, not by any damn rewire or mechanic. I cant remember the last time a rewire touch my car, not even the bonnet.

So, the choice is yours. If you are sure of getting a good, honest & competent mechanic & rewire for Golf, then go for it. If ou decide to go for Toyota instead, it wont be a bad idea too. But you will soon get fed up/lose interest in the car, no matter how reliable it is. Dont get confused, decide what you want out of a car, go for one you settle with it.

Ikenna

whoever must have told you about VW Golf overheating must be a slowpoke. Any car engine can overheat, if the cooling system is abused or faulty. There is nothing generally wrong with Golf cooling system.

However, since you know nothing of cars, you can try Toyota, since it has a resale value, incase you would want to resale it. Am not a fan of either Toyota or VW, but I would choose Golf to Toyota Corolla, if I was to choose. Why? Because Golf performs better. Is more of a ride than Corolla. Toyotas lack soul. You can only understand if you are a car enthusiast.

Ikenna.

That sounds like a faulty wiper relay. Swape it with another & see what happens.

Ikenna.

Drian your cooling system completely, to flush out the water. Pour in coolant only. Dont add any water. Depending on your radiator & engine size, it may cost you 1k or 2k coolant to fill your radiator. A litre/bottle of TOTAL coolant is N350. It used to be N250. Buy like 5 bootles & see if that will fill the radiator.

Toping your radiator with water every two days means that there could be a leakage some where or that your dead cylinder head was the cause. Coolants are meant to be flushed out once in a every two years. By then, it shouldnt go down in the radiator. Its almost the same thing with engine oil. You only change engine oil till another replacement without adding or toping oil before the next change. If the oil is always going below level, then, either there is an oil leakage somewhere or that the cylinders are burning oil which will show on the exhaust tail (blue smoke color).

Ikenna.

since the Cylinder head has died, it now confirms & proves to you that thermostat wasnt the cause of overheating, since you have long removed your thermostat, yet the engine overheated & killed your cylinder head.

You can only tell if Radiator needs replacement by the appearance of the radiator. If the vents on the radiator have not been clogged/blocked, & still passes air very well, then the radiator should be ok. If the holes that fluid passes on in the radiator have not clogged, the radiator should be ok. Some would open the radiator top while been washed to see the condition of the holes & for thorough washing & would weld it back. Some have pointed out that replacing a single cell radiator with double cell radiator help. There is no harm in replacing radiator, but that should be only if the radiator is dead. Am not there to see the condition of the radiator, to tell if it need to be replaced or not. But remember, Radiator dosent rust, no matter the age. If you are seeing rusty colour of fluid in the radiator when the engine is running, then is because you are using water, instead of coolant (mixture of antifreeze & water 50:50). If you are using water, then it would also be contributing to the overheating. Why? Because overtime, water will turn into sandish fluid around the engine wall & corrode the engine which will cause the engine overheat and blow up the top gasket. But coolant dosent rust, no matter how long its in the engine or the radiator. It is not the radiator that is rusting or causing that rusty color. It is the engine wall (engine block). Those rust you see in the radiator would also block holes in the radiator. When the holes are blocked/clogged, the radiator cooling fan wont be able to suck or push heat out of the hot fluid in the radiator. Even breeze coming in from the front grille wont be a able cool a clogged/block radiator. I buy & use TOTAL coolant. Theirs is already mixed (water & antifreeze). So no need of mixing it with water before using. You could see the blue color of fluid on the thermostat housing on one of the pics i sent to you. Thats how fluid in Radiator & engine wall should look like. Dont ever use water again, to prevent another replacement of cylinder head.

Goodluck!

Ikenna.

Hi Charles,

Have you received the pics i forwarded to your email?

Ikenna.

I visited Eagle Square, here in Abuja last Sunday, to feed my eyes, which i really did. But I didnt know why BMW didnt participate. Likewise VW. Even the new Peugeot product, 508, wasnt displayed. Anyway, the square was cool. Luckily for me, my Nokia N97 was handy. With its Camera, I took some pictures, very beautiful ones. Though, i forgot to visit & take pictures of Renault new products in their stand on my way out. I saw beautiful cars they displayed in their stand.

I couldnt upload the pics here. So I now copied a link where i earlier posted it (Aussiefrogs - Australian French Car forum). Enjoy!

http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93029&goto=newpost


Ikenna

If am to choose between Benz E class & BMW 5 series, i go run take BMW guy, with all alacrity!

Benz C & E class fine, but BMW 3 & 5 series make sense abeg! Even the interior of BMW beats Benz hands down biko!

Ikenna

I meant that the temperature at which the thermostat opens will be "written" on the thermostat. You will see a number written/engraved on the thermostat. Mine has 79 engraved or stamped on it. You will see the number on mine on one the pics i will send to you. The 79 on my car's thermostat means that my thermostat opens when the engine temperature or the coolant in the engine walls rises to 79 degree centrigrate. As soon as it opens, the water pump will draw the hot coolant in the engine to the radiator, while the cold coolant in the radiator will flow into the engine. Once the cold coolant enters the engine, the thermostat will close & the cold coolant will be cut off from the radiator & remain in the engine. The hot coolant that entered the radiator when thermostat opened will then be cooled by the radiator cooling fan or breeze coming via the front grill (from outside the front car), if the car is in motion. This cycle will repaet itself when the car becomes stationary for a long time, maybe in a traffic. Thermostat helps to maintain the engine operating temperature to be constant, with the control of the coolant flow from engine to radiator & vice-versa. Without thermostat, the engine will usually run cold or below engine operating temperature which will make the engine oil to be cold enough not to lubricate the engine properlly. That will cause severe wear & tear on the engine (piston, rings, crankshaft, cramshaft, conrod bearings, crankshaft bearings & engine main bearings will die sooner than you expect).

Ikenna.

First, find out if the thermostat is ok. Get the t-stat, put it in a pot, pour in water covering the t-stat & boil. As soon as the water temperature starts to rise, the t-stat will gradually open, even before the water starts boiling. You can find out the temperature at which the t-stat opens with thermometer (if you have) as the t-stat opens in the pot of hot water. The temperature at which the t-stat opens should be engraved on the t-stat, e.g. 79 C. If the t-stat dosent open, replace it. I heard it cost about 2k or so.

You said the engine was rebuilt. Did the overheating started after the engine rebuilt? If an inferior top gasket was used when coupling the Cylinder head, it could cause overheating. Thats why people use two top gaskets, once the follow-come top gasket has been removed. But lets hope the problem is not with the replaced top gasket, rather, with airlock in the system or a failed Viscous fan clutch or brush. Goodluck.

Send me your email address so that i can upload and send you pics of the test of my t-stat 2 weeks ago, to confirm if it was still working. I can upload them here (size not allowed). The pics will teach you how to test t-stat in a pot of water and how to install it.

Ikenna.

Also, dont waste your money replacing the top gasket since you have not eliminated air lock & Viscous fan. Only then, if the two mentioned are ok, you can think of the top gasket. Besides, if the Top gasket has failed, the symptom will be well pronounced, more than overheating. Water/coolant will be coming out/flowing from the exhaust tail. The engine sound will be terrible & would hardly rev.

Ikenna.

If I were you, I will put back the thermostat. Without t-stat, your engine will always be running on low temperature and will be hindering the proper lubrication of the entire engine. Be ready to rebuild or replace that engine soon if you prefer to use that engine without the t-stat. Mind you, without thermostat, if the temperature becomes too high, you are in for trouble. You need to know the function of t-stat for you to know what & how are killing your engine by yourself, not your mechanic. People should stop listening to all these stupid mechanics. What made you think that t-stat was causing your engine to overheat? Because mechanics or people told you so? Do you know the operating temperature of your engine? Do you kow the temp level on your car's instrument cluster that should be the normal temp guage? The problem with us is that we assume & believe that needle on the temp guage shouldnt rise or climb up at all. That it should remain at very low temp guage. Very very wrong! Normal temperature of 99% vehicles in the world is when the needle on the temperature guage points to the middle of the guage. Thats the normal engine operating temperature. If you doubt me, check your car owners manual.

simply put, you are killing your engine, running it without t-stat.

Ikenna.

I believe nearly all BMW have Viscous/mechanical fan coupling. The overheating could be caused by two things: air lock or failed Viscous fan.

Air lock:
when you have air lock in your car's cooling system, the engine will start suffering from what is called air pocket. Which is a severe overheating. If you do not bleed out air after refiling coolant/water in your car cooling system, the trapped air in the system will make the water/coolant to boil faster & overheat. It wont also allow fluid to flow through thermostat back to radiator when it opens. So, you will need to bleed the system. Nearly all Euro cars have bleed screw/valve for the cooling system. It s normally located on the upper radiator hose or any other hose that leads to the radiator. You just have to trace & find it. Google it if you cant find it. You can as well bleed the system without the bleed valve. Google the best way of bleeding BMW cooling system. You will have to do this yourself, forget about the mechanic. What you will gather online will guide you enough, better than the mechanic. If you have the car owner's manual, the cooling system bleeding process will be detailed/explained there. But normally with bleed valve, all you will do is to open the valve, pour in your coolant & keep pouring in via the radiator opening after removing the radiator cover, until coolant start flowing continously from the valve opening/hole (meaning the trapped air has been pushed out completely via the valve). Then why its flowing & you are still pouring coolant/water, gradually with one hand, screw back or close the valve.

Failed Viscous fan:
Most Euro RWD cars use Viscous fan for the cooling system & not electric fan. Its not the type of mechanical fan locked to the engine or water pump, like the ones on Peugeot 504s & 505s I4 XN1 engines, here in Nigeria. The type am talking about wheels freely when engine is started, but its start to drive (turn faster or turn with engine) when it senses the hot fluid/temp from the radiator & goes off again after it has sucked out heat from the radiator. It has a clucth that engagages & disengages when the water pump drives it. When the viscous fan fails, it can no longer sense the hot temperature of the radiator and wont clutch to start turning with the engine, thus, overheating occurs. You can find out by starting the car, allow it to idle some minutes until the engine gets to operating temperature (on your temperature guage on instrument cluster, the needle should be pointing at the middle of the guage, supposing you have not removed your thermostat). The heat from the radiator will trigger the fan to clutch in & start turning with the same speed with the engine & will go off after some seconds, a minute or two. If that dosent happen, you will need to repalce the viscous coupling (that thing the fan is attaching to facing the radiator). If you cant find a working one, convert it to electric fan. If I were you, I would do the electric fan conversion, which I did on my Peugeot 505 V6 myself. I had a failed Viscous fan & converted it to electric pull/suck fan last month. I connected it to radiator sensor & it works perfectly & better. In fact, the engine now retains some hp loose formerly when it was mechanical fan. The engine is now soundless when revved. The engine runs & sounds smoother now. Even the added hp makes the car to accelerate faster than before. I would advice you to do the same. I did the conversion myself. The fan only turns when the engine temperature wants to exceed operating temp. It turns off as soon as it sucks out heat from the radiator. It dosent run when the car is in motion, to save the fan's motor lifespan. It only runs when in traffic or engine idles for more than 15 mins.

Good luck!

Ikenna.

Siena, dat one na small. When i first got my car, I gave a rewire my car to remove the starter & replace the starter solenoid that was acting up (which only fail to clank once in a while, but not often). I left the car with him & went back to office (work). Only for me to come back to pick the car later in the day & found wires in the engine bay scattered. A car i started & drove to his workshop was no longer starting, no matter how long you clank the engine. The engine would clanked, but there would no start. I was baffled. I asked why the Hell. He kept stammering, couldnt give a straigth reply. I checked the electrical components right there & found out that the car's MAF, Amplifier module & Ignition coil had spoilt, out of wrong connection. I felt like crying. How on Earth does repairing starter got to do with tampering with the wires of MAF, Coil & Amp module, I asked? He replied, "Oga I jos wan check weda dem dey ok. I come feel say dem no connect dem well. So i come reconnect dem, oga. I no no why the car no gree start again". To cut the story short, the car slept there for 4 days before I could personally reversed all the wrong connections he made & replaced all the electrical components that spoilt out of the wrong connections, before the car could start. After recovering from that incident, i banished rewires from my car. Not even to peep.

So, from repairing starter, i found myself regreting ever fixing the starter. That's the same situation my bros here found himself. So, rewires or electricians here (or whatever they call themselves) are nothing but silent killers (at least majority of them). If you are not careful, they will kill you before your time, because of sorrow they will create for you. Why its painfull is because you will be blaming yourself why you ever give them your car to fix for you, something you could have been managing without been fixed. That what kills.

Ikenna.

Sorry bros. i was there before, where you are now. These goddamn rewires in Nigeria, that out there to wreck/destroy people's happiness by rendering their vehicles immobile. The last thing i will do again is to open my car's bonnet for a rewire here in Nigeria, for whatever reason. Even if is just to peep, thats not gonna happen again. Bunch of clowns!

Anyway, the problem is i dont know what you mean by DSI fuse. Whats the function of the fuse? I do the electrics of my car myself now, with the help of the car's wiring diagram I downloaded online. But i have never come accross any fuse called DSI.

Ikenna.

Pls, for the over ITKs, Peugeot products produced in Nigeria are made in Nigeria. No doubt about that. But they are French technology, not Nigerians. They were/are designed for Nigerian road use( Nigerian spec). They might differ in specifications, shapes,etc. from ones produced in France & other Euro countries, but they still remain French cars. The Peugeot plant here in Nigeria is more of a branch of Peugeot France. Consider Peugeot France as the Headquaters. The same thing is applicable to Toyota, Honda & other Japanese vehicles that have their plants in North America & various countries of Europe. They are all branches of the companies in Asia. The branches might partner with the host government, just like Peugeot partnered with Nigerian Government, hence PAN. But they still remain & owned by their companies, in their countries of origin. Globalcom has started operation in Ghana. Does that then mean that Globalcom in Ghana is not owned by Adenuga or a branch of Glo Nigeria? Likewise MTN that originated from South Africa. Maybe, you want to tell me now that MTN is a Nigerian company, owned by Nigerians.

To reply to what the thread is all about, below is the info of my car:

Country of production: France.
Brand, product & model: Peugeot, 505 V6 5-speed Manual, 1987 model.
Origin of the Brand: France.


Ikenna.

You got what you paid for. Why are you complaining and blaming us - the Igbos? You knew about Michelin and Dunlop, yet you went and bought CHAMPIRO GT RADIAL? The problem is not because it was Chinese production, but because the company dont build quality standard tyres, when compared with Michelin, Dunlop and other well known good branded tyres. Where a tyre is produced/manufactured is not the issue. Even if Michelin or Dunlop tyres are produced in China, they still maintain their standard in production.

You went for cheap article and got what you bargained for. Stop pushing blames. I made that mistake once when i replaced my 4 tyres in the past. But now, i know better. MAXXIS tyre is good, though. Spend heavily on tyre to protect your life & the car. I would rather buy a Dunlop produced in China than buy CHAMPIRO GT RADIAL produced in GERMANY.

Ikenna

My favorite AWD family sized sedan is 2010 Ford Taurus, 3.5L V6, 365 bhp. The car makes sense!

Ikenna.

Unless you are ready to do the harness transplant yourself, do not venture. Such conversion is better done with/from a donor car, so that all the auto tran harness, from the trans to the ecu, will be transfered to the car been converted. I dont see any of these rewires here competent to do such conversion here. Its not about cost, but competency. They will end up rendering the car immobile. He better stick with his manual till he buys another car or he loses the one he has without having another.

Ikenna.

Its easier to convert auto to manual, than from manual to auto. if your friend prefer auto to manual, he should simply sell the car & look for auto tranny vehicle of his choice.


Every auto trans has ECU (electronic control unit: what Nigerians call "brain box" that controls it (except Peugeot 605 V6 auto trans that has no electronics or electric control). So there has to be some electric modifications for the auto tranny to work in a formerly manual tranny car.


Ikenna.

Mine are:

(1). '86-89 Peugeot 505 V6, 5-speed manual, 170 bhp, 2.8 litre,PRV,RWD,etc.
(2). '95-98 Peugeot 605 V6, 5-speed manual, 170 bhp, 3.0 litre, PRV,FWD, etc.
(3). 2000 Peugeot 607 V6 (Paladine), 6-speed manual, 208 bhp, 3.0 litre, 296 N.m, FWD,etc.


Ikenna.

Please, tell your friend to run for his dear life. That man he took his car to is not a mechanic. Rather, a car killer!

The problem is simply an ignition problem. What i would do is to check the two leads of the spark plugs that are faulty. If they checked out (ok), I would check the source (distributor or ignition coil). If the car is Distributorless (has no distributor), then it will have coil packs( mini ignition coils for/on each of the spark plugs). Identify the 6 coils & swap the two coils of the non working spark plugs with any of the two working spark plugs coils. If you notice a difference, replace the coil parks, if you can get a complet park (6 of them, since the 6 come as a park) or you try & see if you can get used two in good condition. If the engine has Distributor, you should pull out the distributor cap, check the condition of the inside. If its dirty, clean & sandpaper the six pins inside. If you notice a crack, replace. Or you can swap the Distributor cap with another & test if there will be any difference. Likewise the rotor in the distributor. You should find an auto parts seller that can agree for you to test the components before paying, so that if you didnt get it resolve after swapping those parts, he will take back his parts without paying for them. Thats how i diagnose & fix my car without spending much or spending at all.

The problem with your friends Maxima should be any of what i mentioned above. Its better to start diagnosis without spending a dime until you have eliminated all the likely causes of the symptom(s). But, it wouldnt hurt if you get it scanned. But i just told you what i would do if it was to be me.

Ikenna.

Kunle, even a Toyota Camry will be difficult for those clowns to fix at Osun. Our mechanics & rewires diagnose & fix vehicles here with guess work, which they end up shortening the vehicles lifespan. correct me if am wrong. Why do you think imported cars cost more than Nigerian used, even a fairly brand new Nigerian used? Because those clowns have not touch them yet. We all know that the moment you open your cars bonnect for them, the days of your car will be numbered. They enjoy bypassing sensors or electrical components that will eventualy disrupt the factory setting of the engine & finally kills it.

There is no how a vehicle will just break down all of a sudden. It gradually gives or shows signs before it eventually give up, if not taken care of. A driver should be observant enough to look out for signs of failing sensors, components or any part of the power train of his/her vehicle. Being a car owner is not only about driving the car, but understanding your car. You have to be an enxperienced driver before you hit a high way with your car, travelling. Is only an experienced driver, car owner, can be able to detect a sign showing gradual failure of something in his car. So, if you ignore it & travel with it like that, dont complain if it strand you. Vehicles are not manufactured to break down suddelny, if properly look after (PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANC!).

Japanese cars need attention, but German cars need more attention. If you are the type that dont bother to open your car bonnet, then German cars are not for you. The less you depend on the guages on the instrument cluster, the better. They are electrics, prone to malfunctioning or failure, unlike mechanicals. That is why the manual guages are still produced in the engine bay, no matter how modern the technology has gone far. Once in a while, one should open the hood & manually guage engine oil, check coolant level, brake hydraulic, comditions of sensors wiring connectors/plugs,etc. Gauges on the instrument cluster can be misleading at times.

Japanese cars are good. German cars are good as well. It depends on what one wants in a car. If you want a car just for the mobility sake, you should go for Japanese. They are reliable & serve that purpose for you well. But if one wants more than just mobility sake in a car, then Euro cars are your best options. But it will need your special attention, caring , diagnosing & fixing the car yourself if you want to spend less in keeping it on the road.

Ikenna.

I dont think the German cars break down because of Mechanics or because they are not relaible. The cause of their break downs are the owners themselves. Why? Lack of PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE by the owners. How many of the German car owners bother to get & make use of the owners manual to keep their car in good condition, by following instructions in the manual to the later? Rather, they prefer to wait till when they break down, they will now run to those their mechanics that will help out in destroying the cars completely. Most people only visit their mechanics when they want to change engine oils & filters. The next time they will go there will be when their cars must have broken down or stranded them. If you know that your car parts are very expensive, why not prevent them from breaking down? Mind you, most German cars use Bosch products for all their cars, especially Benz. And Bosch is one the most durable auto parts on Earth. Yes, they might be expensive, but they last almost forever. So, if they are so durable, why would they be breaking down often in your car? Preventative maintenance, like i noted above.

German cars, due to their good performances, need to be taken good care of. Once you abuse them, they will tell on your pocket. If you care for a German car like you pamper your girlfriend or wife, it will last & serve you beyond your expectation. Instead, the owners of such cars prefer mechanics to own their cars for them. They reason & think for them on how to use their cars, what to repair, what to modify, what to ignore,etc. Even though you have a better tool than the mechanic, which is access to internet for information, you prefer to be at those mechanics mercies, whom will eventually send those cars to their early graves. If your mechanic advice you to remove the thermostat in car's cooling system, why not ask questions in the first place, the function of thermostat, by checking online, what thermostat does to a car's engine,etc. What you gathered should be able to tell you if removing t-stat will endanger your engine more or will save it from destruction. But we choose to listen to those mechanics that dont know Science, forgotten that car is Science; everything in car or about car is Science. You can only diagnose a problem with your car only if you know the function of components, especially the electrical ones, in your car. Most of these mechanics here dont even know the names of components in cars they claim to have PHD in diagnosing & fixing. I took my car to a mechanic when i firstly got the car, which had serious electrical issues then. I open the bonnet for him & started the car for him to hear & tell me what the problem was & what it would take him to fix. He pointed at something & said, "Oga, na dis your Injector dey cause am". I looked at what he was pointing at & it was the throttle body he was pointing at, calling Injector. I was puzzled! I pointed at the 6 Injectors & said to him, "if what you said is Injector, what are these am pointing at?" He replied, "Oga, those things na nozzles" I quickly slamed my bonnet & drove off, without looking back. What a clown!

All am trying to point out here is that we the owners of cars are the cause of our cars frequent failures. When you neglet to use your owners manual, you should be ready to bear the cost & blame when the car fails. If the manual instructs "replace timing belt every after 60,000 km", we choose to ignore that and keep driving the car until the belt weakens & breaks, which will eventualy damage other things in the engine along side, & might even destroy the entire engine. Then, you will start to complain that German cars valve cost like Hell, their cylinder heads cost more than the car itself,etc. Something you would have prevented with 1k or 2k, you end up spending 40 or 50k to put life back into the car. How many of us replace brake pads when they are due for changing, according to the manuals? We only replace them when the Asbestors on them have worn & the metal part of the pad start carving into or destroying the brake disc, by making friction sound. Then, you will start to complain that German cars brake disc cost more than a Japanese car.

Arm yourself with your car owners manual, make use of it & you will spend less in keeping the German car on the road till thy kingdom come. Check online for information about symptom(s) your car is having & stop relying on those clowns. They are the ones giving you the high blood pressure, not the German cars.

Ikenna.

Oh! I forgot to emtion that I plan to convert the radiator Viscous mechanical fan to electric fan next week, to reduce the load on the engine & it improves the MPG too. I will connect the electric fan +wire to radiator temp sensor, to work with thermostat, so that the fan wont be running continously.

Sorry poster for the digression.

Ikenna

@Siena,

After installing the oxygen sensor, the car, my BABY Peugeot 505 V6 5speed manual, performance has greatly improved. Likewise, the mpg has improved also. It now shoots out like rocket. The way the speedometer rises under little acceleration is quite impressive. It rises as fast as tachometer/rpm does. So much engine torque that under little press on the throttle pedal, the speedometer rises quickly. Honestly, a V6 engined car with manual transmission is like HAVEN! Couple with the special V6 suspension, shock absorber/strut, cross bar & sway bars, that improves the car road handling at high speed. So much fun to derive that you wouldnt want to step out of the car or reach your destination. Siena, I love that car!

Ikenna.

The way I see it, its a matter of mindset: Bandwagon propaganda (everyone does it). Ask 99 owners of Japanese autos in Nigeria why they chose them, they will reply "everyone owns it!" Couple with advice from our mechanics: "buy japanese, they are more reliable, consume less fuel, cheaper to maintain & strong kakaraka!" Even if they are the most boring cars on earth

Am not a German autos fan, rather a French car fan. But I will choose or prefer German autos to Asians, not because they are not reliable as Nigerians claim then to be, but because I love performance cars, which most, if not all, Japanses vehicles lack. I dont own a Benz, but after driving one someday in the past, i respect Benz since then. The only person that can understand me is if you are a car enthusiast.

What i look out for in a car is not just the mobility sake (point A to point B). European autos are better when it comes to driving pleasure, good road handling & comfort.

I will rather spend a fortune to keep a German/European car on the road than spend less to own a boring car that will be so boring to travel with on high speed.

Ikenna.

@Ikay,

Really, weather dosent affect vehicle fuel consumption, as long as the motor thermostat & cooling fan are ok. No matter how cold the weather is, the coolant will never freeze (mixture of antifreeze & water: 50/50). Coolant warms or boils faster than ordinary water. So as soon as you start a car, the coolant will within few mins warm up to engine opreating temperature unlike water. The t-stat ensures that engine remains at operating temperature, whether in cold or hot weather. Without t-stat, coolant will be flowing continously from radiator to engine, & from engine back to radiator & wont allow the coolant to warm to operating temp before flowing back to radiator.

Mind you, without t-stat, if the car stays long (hours) in traffic/hold up, the coolant will become very hot, boiling and wont be able to cool again, since the coolant dosent stay long in radiator for the fan to cool it before flowing back to the engine. As its entering the engine, the explosion going on in the cylinders will increase the hotness of the coolant. No room for cooling. Before you know it "BANG". Your Cylinder head is gone. If you are lucky, it will blow up only the radiator hose for the build up hot steam to escape. If you are very unfortunate, your head gasket will be gone. In most cases, when the head gasket burns, it might flow in water in the cylinders & the water/coolant will wash down/pass the cylinders & enters crankcase/sump. BANG! The whole engine is gone!

Ikenna.

Ikayman,

Carburetor sprays fuel according to the position of the Throttle pedal. But Injectors spray fuel according to signals it receives from sensors. Once its not getting a signal from any of the sensors or getting a wrong signal, the normal spray of fuel by injectors will be disrupted.

Ikenna.

What an Irony! The most unreliable vehicles now in Nigeria are vehicles with Fuel Injected engines. Let somebody prove me wrong please. Am even going far. Go through this forum (auto section) & see for yourself. From Electrics to mechanical failures. Not that they are really unreliable per se. But here, their unreliability is caused by poor management, both on the hands of "clowns" called mechanics & rewires & the car owners themselves.

Most Fuel carburreted engines then were all bullet-proofed engines. We all know about Nigerian assembled Peugeot 504s & 505s, all with I4 fuel carbureted engines (XN1).

Fuel carbureted or Injected engines is not the case here, but management, maintenance!

Ikenna.

@ Ikeyman,

T-stat prevents coolant in the engine walls & cylinder heads from flowing back into the radiator, to allow the fluid to warm to operating engine temperature. as the combustion/explosion in the cylinders continues, the fluid around the engine walls & cylinder head will start rising beyond required temp(esp at traffic or hold ups). When it reaches the temp of the t-stat, the t-stat will open & pass the hot coolant, with the help of water pump, back into the radiator. The cold coolant that were in the radiator before the opening of t-stat will flow into the engine walls & cylinder head. As soon as the hot fluid enters the radiator, the temperature sensor on the radiator will sense the change in the coolant temp & will switch on the radiator electric cooling fan. As soon as the cold coolant enters the engine, the t-stat will sense the cold/low temperature of the coolant & will close. Fluid will no longer pass it. The trapped fluid will gradually rise to the warm operating temperature as the explosion in the cylinders are going on & will remain like that, pending when it starts rising beyond normal engine temp, especially when you are in a traffic. When the t-stat closes, the radiator fan that has been switched on by the radiator sensor will start cooling the hot fluid & will at a point will become cold/ lower the coolant temperature. As soon as the radiator sensor senses that coolant in the radiator has become low again, it will switch off the fan, pending when next t-start & water pump flows in hot fluid again.

If the car is in motion, the breeze or air flowing into the engine bay is enough to be cooling both the radiator & the engine itself. Therefore, the t-stat wont open & the radiator fan wont switch on. Thats why the electric fans are not meant to run continously. It only run when the car is in traffic or is idling. But once it is in motion, the fan goes off. The continously running of the electric fan kills the fans motor, which is very pronounced here in Nigeria. Correct me if am wrong.

Mind you that there is something called engine temperature sensor on all EFI engines, attached on cylinder heads. If you remove the t-stat, the sensor will always be sensing engine cold & will be sending signal to the ECU (so called brain box by Nigerians) that the engine is cold & the ECU will then command Injectors to be spraying in excess fuel into the cylinders via intake manifold. Any engine requires excess fuel to run when its cold. So it is the engine temp sensor that signals or tells to ECU if the engine is cold or not. ECU works with signals it receives from various sensors. The signals from those sensors determines how it will comand the Injectors & Airflow meters to mix air & fuel in the cylinders.

If your engine always run cold, it affects the smooth flow of engine oil from the sump to cylinder head, camshaft,crankshaft & back to sump/crankcase. In fact, the lubrication of the engine will be hindered. Have you ever wondered why cars driven for years in western world, would suddenly develop engine problems few years after driven them in Nigeria.

Ikenna.