I was in the fast lane and the van in front of me slowed, then sped up again. Partly out of wanting to keep the revs up, partly out of habit with the manual, I dumped it down a gear.
Next thing I know, the tacho is off the scale (the ECU is supposed to limit the plant to 5k) and the throttle is refusing to play. I ninja lane-changed to the outside but couldn't get the speed back up.
So I threw it in to the hard shoulder with me hazards on and went in to fault diagnostic mode. I saw the temperature gauge was way past the red line and reasoned the car had engaged limp mode.
I struggled on to the MOT station and sure enough, it passed the emissions test. However.
As I left, the temperature sprang right back up. I pulled in to a park and gave it half an hour to cool off. When I started the electrics, the gauge read 90 or so, perfectly acceptable. But sure enough, once I pulled away it went right to the line again.
Having had it outside the house cooling for three hours, I topped up the water (the computer was complaining and, yes, the level was pretty damn low). Took it off for a test drive at 30mph and... the temp hit the red line in under two minutes and car started limping again.
So, what have I done? No leaks apparent, cooling fans kick in just fine... did I kill the thermostat? Please, God, tell me I didn't
)
