new old van

HI all just got a nice clean hijet not used for 5 years done engine flush oil change and coolant flush runs sweet as a nut usual overheating but will put bypass switch on her soon so my question is what more should I do to sort her out i cant find dip stick and fuel gauge dosnt work but apart from that she is sound the overheating was standing on tick over for about half an hour so not to bad and she has only got 25000 on the clock back up by the old mots so well chuffed any advice would be great so thanks in advance

Dont have much advice but intrested to hear it from others as mines exactly the same - overheats but only if not moving / stuck it traffic. And fuel guage doesn't work - apparently could just be a bad earth?

Also it has a fan switch but it doesnt seem to do anything :s

Dipstick is found under driver's seat - it's towards the front of the engine, look down to the front of the sump. If you don't find the stick you may see a hole where it should be?

Stationary overheating - save petrol and switch off

they all overheat when stationary :p

you need to learn to use the heater as a second cooling system.

when in traffic, open your window(s), put the heater temp on max and turn the fan to maximum.

difflock123 wrote:they all overheat when stationary :p

you need to learn to use the heater as a second cooling system.

when in traffic, open your window(s), put the heater temp on max and turn the fan to maximum.

Haha, does that actually work?

Harryy wrote:

difflock123 wrote:they all overheat when stationary :p

you need to learn to use the heater as a second cooling system.

when in traffic, open your window(s), put the heater temp on max and turn the fan to maximum.

Haha, does that actually work?

very well actually....

the standard cooling system isnt really capable of cooling the engine....

a heater matrix is only a small radiator with the hot air being ducted into the cab.


when mine was on the road, I used to leave the heater on hot all of the time, and the fan on the 2nd setting.
there were 4 (or was it 5?) settings on mine:
1 - fan off, vent shut
2 - fan off, vent open
3 - fan on low
4 - fan on high

then if the temperature started rising a bit high, I'd switch the heater fan on.

plus the rad fan had a switch to over ride it, so that was on most of the time.

I am very puzzled by all the references to Hijets always overheating as I have had my MPV since 2003 and it hasn't overheated once.

As regards getting hot when stationary I would expect all vehicles to do that; mine simply gets hot then you can hear the engine fan cut in for a while until the temperature drops again. This will happen regularly if I run the engine on the driveway for a period of time but not usually in traffic. I would have expected all cars/vans to behave in the same way; the Metro I used to have did so no change.

All I can think of is that you must make sure it is fully topped up with coolant and ensure that the engine fan thermo switch is working as it should. (Just test that by running the engine stationary for 10 to 20 minutes, the fan should cut in and out. If not perhaps the switch needs replacing).

Another point is does the temperature gauge work properly? One thread refers to removing a gauge and then having difficulty in setting it up again for it to read properly, apparently because there is no stop position on it. Has this happened at some time so that it reads as overheating when it actually isn't? The only solution / test I can think of there would be to fit a Smiths or Tim temperature gauge as they are self contained and won't suffer from that problem.

Only some people ever do have overheating issues.....

its pretty much a lucky dip....


I never worried too much though, as I didnt pay a huge amount for the van :p