Vauxhall Insignia 2013 " Engine overheated turn vehicle off" message

[Enigma123]

Vauxhall Insignia

Engine - 2.0L CDTI 163bhp

86,000 miles

While I was driving the temperature gauge jumped up to red 130 degrees with no warning, an alarm sound started coming on the dashboard with a message saying "Engine overheated turn vehicle off". The first time I pulled over, waited for it to cool down (after checking my coolant levels, which were fine), but it wouldn't start easily and when it did, the engine sounded really rough and almost straight away the overheating warning message started coming again and engine turned off on its own. And the symbol of engine fault in yellow does show up constantly on the dashboard. Please let me know on what could be an issue here?

 

[Mottie]

Sounds like it needs to go on a scanner. If you started it from could right now, would you still get the overheating warning?

 

[Enigma123]

Thanks, yes it straight away goes to overheat warning with very rough sounding engine and the engine turns off within few seconds. I have left the car in a local garage and waiting for it to be looked at. In the meantime would like to know what could be the potential reason for this and how much it could cost for the repairs please

 

[Burnerman]

Unfortunately this engine is known for many issues, but the diagnostic scan is the way to go.
Initially my thoughts turned to a stuck thermostat but not any more.
There are a few youtube repairs on this, which could be worth a look.
Of course we'd like to know the outcome and fingers crossed for a simple repair.
Are there any oil leaks on the engine passenger side that you can see?
John

 

[Enigma123]

Thanks John, yes keeping my fingers crossed. There was a slight brush of oil leak on the engine cover that I noticed few weeks back and was not sure on the reason so left it without taking any action. Would this remind of any potential issues that could have lead to this problem?

 

[Old Salt]

Head gasket

 

[Enigma123]

Does this mean the issue could be because of an issue in Head Gasket and hence I am receiving the engine overheat message on the dashboard?

 

[carmanmemoranda]

Needs a scan and read of codes, could be so many things

 

[Enigma123]

Here is the scan report shared by the garage folks. They have cleared the codes and now the car starts fine. Is it safe to drive the car back home from garage (around 2 miles). And the mechanic is not sure on the exact issue. Please help in understanding what needs doing next?

 

[Mottie]

Wait until it happens again and see what that code shows. Might just be an electrical fart that the ecu had?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Here is the scan report shared by the garage folks. They have cleared the codes and now the car starts fine. Is it safe to drive the car back home from garage (around 2 miles). And the mechanic is not sure on the exact issue. Please help in understanding what needs doing next?

Those codes appear to be just random ones, caused by some sort of glitch. The only sensible way forward (and this is normal practice), is to clear all the codes, and see which codes if any reappear.

 

[Enigma123]

Looks like after clearing no more codes reappear, but I would want to get the real issue fixed before it happens again as it was not a nice experience being stranded on a motorway and my breakdown cover would not cover the same issue if it happens again. Hence please let me know what I should be doing next to fix this issue so that it does not happen again

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Looks like after clearing no more codes reappear, but I would want to get the real issue fixed before it happens again as it was not a nice experience being stranded on a motorway and my breakdown cover would not cover the same issue if it happens again. Hence please let me know what I should be doing next to fix this issue so that it does not happen again

There might be no issue at all, needing dealing with - the only way to tell, is to take the risk, drive it, and see if any codes reappear. If you feel inclined, you could buy your own code reader, for not a lot of money. That would enable you to check for codes, more frequently.

 

[Mottie]

Hence please let me know what I should be doing next to fix this issue so that it does not happen again

As Harry says, buy yourself a cheap code reader (less than £20) and keep it in the car. If it happens again, just clear the codes and you’ll at least be able to get it to the garage.

You could always try a hard reset. Disconnect both battery terminals. Hold the two cables together for 20 seconds or so to completely drain all power from the system electronics and then reconnect them to the battery. A common fix for electrical glitches on Range Rovers!

 

[carmanmemoranda]

I am curious why you have had a garage scan it and look at the car, but then ask a lot of strangers on here who havent even seen or heard the car running to diagnose any fault.

The person to ask is the person who scanned it and had it running.

But generally with an intermittent fault, which could just be a voltage gilitch or smilar, the advice would be to run it and see if it happens again