And anothe one - trouble with coolant

Level 1 User Joined: 25 Jan 2006 Posts: 39

OK, now the problems on my fiver are getting more dense as I turn more miles with it...

Yesterday I changed the leaking rad, bought brand new one, put it in place, along with brand new Vernet thermoswitch and thermostat...

I went for a drive and the temp was above second bar, so it was in the area near the red - boiling - stop now. Smile

But on one crossing I was waiting for traffic to pass and the fan switched on.

Today, I was driving around, feather on the throttle, cruising 40 mph, and the temp was rising...I turned around and went home, to check the problem...

I opened the expansion tank, car was in neutral on idle, and I waited...

And the needle went up...and up...fan not moving...temp goes up...and the water started to pour out of expansion tank...

So I turned the car off, leaked all the water out, I thought it was air pocket or something...and put water in, did my best to remove air pockets, though it's pretty hard on that engine (1.7i), and tried again...

And still the temp was going up...and fan stood still...

I checked the rad, hot on the bottom, on the top...hoses hot...fan works when I brick it directly...

So, am I dealing with blown gaskets or should I try some trick to remove those air pockets...

I noticed that top hose that goes from rad to thermostat is barely leaking water when the engine is running...is that normal?

Anyway, I would be glad to read some help Smile

Thanks

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

I would make sure the fan, the switch and the connections are working before you suspect anything more serious!

Level 3 User Joined: 08 Jun 2006 Posts: 68

you did bleed the air out of the rad after it was installed?

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

when the caps on the expansion bottle do the hoses swell?

Level 8 User Joined: 30 Jan 2006 Posts: 270

you did put the thermostat back in the correct way?