Citroen C3 - Nothing to do with boats but

[EnglishLes]

there are a lot of mechanical minds on here.

My C3 (2003) 1.4 Manual Petrol runs fine and has no problems apart from sometimes when I am in a queue of traffic the temp lights shoot up from the normal 3 to the max of 6 (with the top one red) and a warning beep goes off. I wasn't towing at the time and only has the driver so very lightly loaded.

Moving even a small distance and it drops back to the 3 lights. Sometimes it doesn't seem to be a problem until I depress the clutch! In a big queue it may happen several times.

Putting the heater on (in the summer) doesn't make the temp lights go back to normal.

I have checked the water level and that seems fine.

The rate at which the lights go back to normal and the fact that the heater being on made no difference makes me think that it isn't the water temperature that is the problem. I have tried leaving the engine running when I get back home and nothing strange has happened after 10 mins. The electric fan hasn't even come on.

Any ideas?

Thanks

[spartacus]

Could be as simple as faulty temperature sender. You might want to rule out something more serious with hydrocarbon test on coolant. Colleague at work has just sold her 2003 C3 to a mechanic after head gasket went as labour charge to replace was horrendous.

[jyasaki]

Does the temp stay up if you rev the motor (depress clutch, but keep the rpms off idle)?

If not, I'd guess water pump, a lipping water pump belt (if you have one), or partial water jacket blockage.

jky

[m chappelow]

Could it be the electric fan that's not working at all or one of the temperature sensors. / sender units faulty perhaps the thermostats sticking .