The temperature gauge of my Peugeot 206 LX 02 plate has started to suddenly fly into the red, activating the ''stop'' sign on my dash which beeps at me. Then it will stay there for a couple of seconds, & go back down to about 90ish (which is where it normally sits). Then a couple of mins later will go back down to 0 & then fly around into the red. l have topped up the oil & anti - freeze (was not sure if there was any). The car when switched off appears to be making some kind of noise, a fan or something maybe & today after it has been switched off for about an hour has abit of smoke escaping .... its not bellowing out ... looks like the steam when a kettle has boiled !!

Any ideas what it is & how much it will cost to repair (roughly) ??

l know nothing about cars, but know this is not normal!

Is it ok to drive??- l do not do long journeys just potter around.

Thanks :o)

You need to put coolant in the water .Had the same problem then it works like a dream.Forgot to say bleed the system and top it with coolant . l wouldnt drive it until you have done this as you risk it overheating and blowing ur gasket

are you fully topped up with water/anti freeze mix? you may have an airlock in the system which may give this result, maybe a loose electrical contact on your thermostat.

l had a similar problem about a year ago with my Mini One.

The temp would quite suddenly go into the red (at which point l would stop & switch off my engine immediately) then it would be fine once cooled down but then it would happen again.

The problem was a leak in the ''thermostat housing unit.'' Which l then got replaced, luckily it was still under warranty!

It could be that or it could be all manner of things. You need to take it to a garage to get it looked at really. Good luck!

Steam from exhaust is normal. (not masses of it though)

Sounds like the gauge sender needs replacing, probably corroded. (the quick up and down would support this)

Worst case would be a micro blown head gasket which is super heating water causing irregular readings.

Theres a common fault with peugeots where one of the earth straps breaks off causing symptoms similar to what u have described. Does the temp guage move when different things r switched on (heated rear screen, indicators etc)? If yes then its an easy fix, the part is only £5 (18'' earth strap frm any motor factors).

However unless you're good with spanners u should get a mechanic to do it, it only takes 15 mins (if he charges u more than £20 he is at it).

Lift the bonnet, look down onto the gearbox for a thick black wire attached to a bolt (13mm), the wire should run from there over to the inner wing on the passenger side (another bolt 10mm or 13mm), If i'm right this wire will be broken at the gearbox end of it.

This info is only correct for this specific fault, if u r unsure in any way dont attempt to fix it on ur own, let a mechanic look at it for you.

l fixed this exact fault on another peugeot in November & have done loads of them over the years.

hope this helps

Dont worry about the steam, but get this fault checked asap incase its something more serious.

Edit: Re - Gordon_Shrek - l didnt know it had been a recall on auto's, the ones I've done recently were on a 1.4 306 manual (1999) & 1.9 Dturbo 306 (1998) also manual, hovever the straps had snapped due to corrosion, not incorrrect fitment, cheers for the additional info mate.

Have u noticed if the fuel gauge is doing the same? If it is then u need to replace the voltage regulator (aka dashboard stabilizer) on the back of the dashboard console. Usually this is just a small metal box with three spade terminals that just plugs in.

The next possibility is a fault with the temperature sensor on the engine.

The engine can not suddenly increase in temperature, it'd take a few seconds at the least, & u say that it all seems okay too, it probably is.

Your gauge is faulty,possibly voltage stabiliser fault (normaly affects fuel gague as well) but also u have a leak somewhere & u need to find it & not drive until u do ,or u will have serious problems.Your fan seems to be working & that is probably the noise u hear.Try to see where the waters coming from after topping up with the car running standing still.Possible causes are--thermostat jammed shut ,water pump leak,hoses leaking, radiator leaking,radiator blocked,cylinder head or gasket problems,heater valve or heater rad leaking--so many possibilities---overheating in this cold spell indicates a bad loss of water somewhere which u say is happening because u r topping it up & have steam.--dont listen to the others-.If u have steam coming from the engine & ur fan is on all the time in this cold weather & u r adding water ur car is boiling up.A voltage stabiliser problem will not cause water loss & steam.Not in a month of Sundays

l had a very similar problem some years ago, l must emphasise it was pre-electronic dashboards so do not know if this answer is still valid. The symptoms were very similar and it was the dashboard voltage stabiliser at fault. Good luck, Gizz.

Hi there, l work with peugeot for some years, there r 3 main problems that u possibly have
1// They have a common fault with the coolant temp sensors cracking causing the temp to go into the red the back down to cold again, l would chech this first as they r very common.
2// do the fans come in at 90?
if not the fan might be seized as they get a lot of moisture from the road.common too (ECIA units more so)
3// there is a fault with the relays that sit down at the front left of the cooling fan. if someone takes the cover off & checks for blue corrosion at the base of the two relays they normally corrode & make/break connection going over bumps.
Also just keep an eye on the bottom core of the radiator as they had a recall on them due to poor construction.they were leaking coolant.

Hope this helps in any way cheers.please let me know



Also FATRAB, if u r aware the earth cable only snapped on the automatics as they were fitted with the incorrect earth strap.fitted them for 3 years during the recalls.