About a mile from home today I hit an uncharacteristic traffic jam which led to it taking half an hour to cover that last mile. Almost immediately the air-conditioning (climate control) stopped working. This has happened a couple of times in the past month in similar conditions (semi-stationary in hot weather) but always fixed itself once I got moving again. This is my first summer with this car, and I thought it was a bit crap to have air conditioning that couldn't cope with hot weather, but didn't think any more of it.
Today I noticed the engine was overheating as well. I tried switching the engine off when I could. When I switched it on I would get overheating warnings for several seconds and then the needle would drop to just below the level where the warning light would come on. My question is: is this just my model not coping with the weather, or is something broken in my car if it overheats? (I have childhood memories of my father losing an engine to a stuck thermostat.)
On my previous car (1.6 litre petrol Honda as opposed to current 2 litre Rover 75 diesel) the temperature needle always stayed locked to the middle of the gauge, no matter what the weather. (And also despite the radiator being empty on one occasion, as the Honda dealer told me in tones of shock and outrage on one occasion when it was in for a service.) The Honda air conditioning always worked, though it was a bit smelly and not computer controlled.
Today I noticed the engine was overheating as well. I tried switching the engine off when I could. When I switched it on I would get overheating warnings for several seconds and then the needle would drop to just below the level where the warning light would come on. My question is: is this just my model not coping with the weather, or is something broken in my car if it overheats? (I have childhood memories of my father losing an engine to a stuck thermostat.)
On my previous car (1.6 litre petrol Honda as opposed to current 2 litre Rover 75 diesel) the temperature needle always stayed locked to the middle of the gauge, no matter what the weather. (And also despite the radiator being empty on one occasion, as the Honda dealer told me in tones of shock and outrage on one occasion when it was in for a service.) The Honda air conditioning always worked, though it was a bit smelly and not computer controlled.
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