hi my name is claire.HELP!!!my 626 started idling at 2000 revs.if drop into neutral is reving 1500-2000 repeatedly.used to come ok after short run.now revs remain high with reving as before when driving making driving jumpy.today overheated with coolant leaking from overflow hose.can anyone help me.garage said could be drawing air?

 

forgot to mention intermittantly cabin heater blows out cold air!!!!!

 

You should give us a year and engine type. There are several items which govern engine revs, especially at idle. Any work done lately? What do you mean by leaking? Filling the overfow bottle? Does this happen just after warm-up or when the car has been run for awhile?

 

Yes a year and engine are always a nice thing to know, especially the year. Sound to me like your coolant is probably low. If no coolant is getting to the Idle Air Control Valve on older 626 then it never gets heated up and idle speed will not drop from what it would be normally after a cold start up. Intermittent lack of heat in interior is also the same indication of low coolant as well as overheating as there is not enough coolant to flow thru the engine properly. This will require more than just checking the level in the overflow bottle. With engine cold so there is no pressure in the system you need to remove the radiator cap and make sure coolant is right up to the top. If not then add 50/50 mix of coolant/water untill it is full. Start engine and just allow to run for awhile untill fully warmed up. Let cool back down so you can remove that cap again and top up again as you may have some air pockets caught in the engine or hoses.

 

engine size 2litre 1996 model. someone has suggested water pump or thermostat busted.also heater hoses at back of engine cold when engine hot .revs high on starting overheating after 5 mins.water loss from overflow hose at passenger side .removed radiator cap no fluid visible but cap etc wet!!

 

Then you may have found out why you are having all of these weird problems. Top up the coolant level slowly untill the level is right at the top, reinstall cap and get engine running to find out if idle is back down and you have interior heat. The next part is to discover where the coolant is going. Might try putting a large, clean piece of cardboard under the entire engine area once cap is back on and while engine is warming up, look for drops appearing on the cardboard and make note of where they are. Coolant usually runs straight down but there are certainly exceptions to every rule. Once you know the area that coolant is leaking from, it is much easier to look at what things might be the cause.

 

And you want to set the heater controls on high while purging the system of any trapped air. No sense in burping the radiator if there's air pockets in the heater core.

 

many thanks to you for the advice.went to top up radiator-it appeared to be completely empty.all of above problems have returned to normal.still dont know where coolant has gone-dont appear to have any leaks.is it poss that it just dried up as i was always just checking overflow bottle

 

Coolant does tend to evaporate some as it is half water and hot water being pushed into the overflow bottle would evaporate even quicker. If no leaks are evident then just keep a close eye on the level for any drop, also checking the radiator level now and then when cold.
You could also have a faulty radiator cap. The cap has two separate valves built into it. The pressure valve portion is designed to allow excessive cooling systempressure to be relieved by dumping coolant into the overflow bottle when engine is hot. After the engine is shut off and coolant temperature begins to drop, the cooling system pressure starts going into a negative pressure and a separate valve in the cap allows coolant to be drawn back into the engine from the overflow bottle. If you are seeing the overflow bottle becoming overfull and the coolant level in the engine low then this second valve in the cap could be stuck and a new coolant cap should be installed.