Thermostat or Water Pump? Telling Cooling Faults Apart on a Diesel Van
Both cause overheating but the repair cost differs enormously. How to separate a thermostat fault from a failing water pump using hose temperatures, a bench test and live data.
Van repair, diagnostics and maintenance guides for UK van owners
Both cause overheating but the repair cost differs enormously. How to separate a thermostat fault from a failing water pump using hose temperatures, a bench test and live data.
Head gasket failure gets diagnosed far too readily. What genuinely confirms it, which cheaper faults produce identical symptoms, and the tests worth doing before authorising major work.
Coolant is never consumed, so if the level keeps dropping it is going somewhere. A methodical guide to finding hot-side leaks, internal losses and cap faults on a diesel van.
The EGR valve is blamed more often than it fails. How to tell a sticking valve from a wiring or sensor fault, when cleaning is worthwhile, and why the intake manifold matters too.
Injectors are expensive and frequently replaced unnecessarily. Cylinder contribution testing, leak-off tests, why coding matters, and the high-pressure safety rules that are not optional.
A structured diagnostic approach to overheating on all three Vivaro generations, from reading the pattern of the fault to pressure testing, fan checks and knowing when to stop.
The DPF light is a request before it is a fault. What each warning stage means, how to clear it properly, why regeneration fails and when it stops being a driving problem.
Does it crank or not? That single question splits diesel no-start diagnosis into two very different paths. A structured sequence through both, plus the start-then-stall pattern.