Help (rather urgent) :'(

[Spawn]

Hi all

Just been out to make sure the car starts before taking it to the garage tomorrow morning to have a diff bracket and bushes fitted.

The car starts... after a week of being sat in the garage. Good news.


I sat there for a few minutes. How long does it normally take for the first fan to come on

I noticed, ever so slightly, some smoke coming from here..




What could this be Kind of worried now! (Circled in red, below the air intake I have noticed a haze of smoke appear through here) Sorry for the poor pic!








Also..... this has appeared......... some sort of braided hose/pipe which I havn't seen/noticed before now. Surely this needs to connect to something..





Outlined in red in the above pic.

Edited by Spawn on Sunday 30th March 22:46

[mikesr]

The raided hose is the bleed hose for the clutch. Usually just tie wrapped to the other braided hose that disappears into the bulkhead. Needs to be tie wrapped securely so that it doesn't drop onto the manifold.

Edited by mikesr on Tuesday 1st April 07:26

[jonbarrett]

Looks like it's the clutch bleed hose. Does not connect to anything at this end but should be tied back. Mine came loose, touched the exhaust and caused smoke.

[kevin63]

The braided hose is the clutch bleeding nipple as pointed out above, as for the other pipe it looks like it comes from the radiator, or is it from a oil cooler, which ever it is I am sure there is nothing too hot in that area to cause a problem of fire, but there could be a leak of water or oil mist depending on where the pipe goes.
I have a Sp6 so can't really help.

[Spawn]

Just so you know.. 97' 4.2

So it would appear the one circled would be the bleed hose, which is supposed to be there, tied back not connected.. which it is so. So thats that one sorted if this is correct.
I just hadn't noticed this before!


Back to pic number 1 (sorry I know its a crap pic). I went out to make sure we still had life, which there was. No problems starting at all.
I sat there for may 4 - 5 minutes keeping the revs around 2k - 2.5k. once getting out the car there was the usual heat haze raising from the engine. [i]Just out of curiosity I was wondering how long they would usually take to come on, on average.[i]

This is when I saw a very faint (white coloured if that helps) smoking coming from the gap below the passenger side air intake - just wondering if anybody has any idea's what this could be?

Sorry for the questions. I am quite happy to use a spanner and get stuck in but can not diagnose anything Cerbera related as of yet. Learning though

[Silvervanman]

Hi Rob ,also had a similiar experience except from drivers side of radiator when hot. Turned out to be the radiator bleed nut, washer knackered! As for your problem 1st picture shows the radiator top hose, not oil and shouldn't give off smoke or steam. I have a 4.5 and my fans ,well pass side fan,never seen drivers side fan come on, comes on at about guage reading 102deg although should come on at 92deg after about 10mins ticking over. Any steam or smoke should be seen to be dripping somewhere generally when fluids are warm. Are you losing any water ? Sorry i cant be more helpful. Good luck. SVM

[brogenville]

Firstly, the smoke thats rising from the front of the car is definitely steam- there's nothing hot enough there to burn any oil. Secondly, where you have indicated is directly above the thermostat, so I would hazard a guess that either one of the hose connections there is perished, or simply isn't tight enough. Either way, as long as the car doesn't overheat, and you keep a close eye on how much coolant is in the expansion tank every time you start up, then there's nothing to worry about- it will be an easy fix.

[JensenA]

Enahanced the foto so its a bit clearer...



Thats the top Radiator hose, so the 'smoke' you are seeing is steam, indicating a leak somewhere. Take the front enginecover off and check the jubilee clip is on tight, and check for any splits in the hose.

[Olly]

Pic 2 has been covered, so we'll ignore that.

Pic 1 sounds like steam to me ! This is where the radiator feed comes up from the thermostat. When was the car last used ? If it's sat for a few weeks, it could just be condensation evaporating from the radiator as it warms up. Moving away from that onto slightly more serious issues, it could be that the steel pipes under that panel are rotten & have rusted through (a common problem, but ACT can supply stainless steel versions). Having said that, as long as there is still water in your expansion bottle, then it's not drinking much water, so I'm sure the garage can check your pipes for leaks/rot once it's there !

FYI, fans would normally kick in after about 10mins of running if it's just sitting there not under load. Water temp needs to get north of 92 degrees (from memory) before they come on.

[Spawn]

Thanks for the replies guys.

The garage is a 1 minute journey at the end of my road so will drive it (slowly) there tomorrow morning.
It is definitely steam - have just been reading through a few things and I assumed a hose somewhere may have perished. But could be a few things by the sounds of it.

The car has been sat for over a week now Olly - as I have managed to snap the top mount diff bracket (fixed tomorrow).




Now then, I plan to get the car to a 'specialist' to get a few things checked out (Have not been able to yet). But before I purchased there has been an independent report carried out. One of the very few things that appear to be an issue is, and I quote 'there is a slight weep from the top near side at normal operating temperatures'.

Something I have been meaning to look at since purchase but have personal things going on so simply have not had time. I assume this will give me a good clue as to where to look.

As long as I check the water, make sure i'm not losing a great deal I should be good to get my fathers (70 miles) and check everything out. (easier to work at my dads as he has hydraulic ramps).




Thanks all.. I think i've probably just answered my second query (I do get there eventually ) but always good to get the reassurance from you guys! I do hope I can get out to meet you all before to long

[Spawn]

JensenA said:

Enahanced the foto so its a bit clearer...

Thanks

[Olly]

Spawn said:

before I purchased there has been an independent report carried out. One of the very few things that appear to be an issue is, and I quote 'there is a slight weep from the top near side at normal operating temperatures'.

I would suspect a hose, or the pipes I mentioned earlier that are on their last legs. It's possible it may be the radiator is on it's last legs, but you'd normally get the steam out the front, rather than up through the engine bay. Either way, it's fairly easy to check. Get the car nice & warm & remove the front engine bay cover (4 allen bolts on each side & lots of ) & keep your eyes peeled !

Driving to your Dads should be fine, but check the water before you leave & take a few litres of water with you just incase you need to top up en-route.

Hope it all gets sorted quickly

[Allandwf]

Hi ,
Mine does that too, the jubilee clips are looking well rusty, don't want them giving up on me, so changing them all out this week, hopefuly sort out my cooling problems after I filled it up to the recommended level. Should have left well alone.

[Spawn]

In the garage now

we'll have to meet Allan if we can find a meet somewhere in the middle. We can then laugh at our faulty cars

[Spawn]

£76 is all that cost the garage have fitted the new bracket. We are alive again!

The steam is caused by water coming from the top of the radiator (near side), running down and then evaporating around the thermostat.
I need to have a closer look really. Although some one did mention Radweld, worth a try?

Im rather happy anyway


Thanks for the quick replies last night guys! Really appreciated - was a little worried before it went to the garage

Edited by Spawn on Monday 31st March 18:45

[NeilV70R]

The hose in the first picture is the top radiator hose and goes to the thermostat housing, which you can just see from inside the n/s/f wheel arch. Probably best to remove the front engine cover (the cover in your pic that goes over the screenwash bottle) and have a look under there. There are a number of water hoses and cables that are hidden under there.

The fans normally cut in around 92c for fan 1 (n/s) and at 97c for fan 2 (o/s).

Hope this helps.

Ignore the above. Must of had brain fade as hadn't seen the replies above

Edited by NeilV70R on Monday 31st March 19:22

[Spawn]

lol Neil. I know what temps they come on, but wasnt sure how long it took time wise. Didnt want to wait last night as there was steam coming from the area


I will be taking the cover off when I get a chance and have a much closer inspection

[Silvervanman]

Dont recommend Radweld or an egg white or anything else thats not meant to be in your engine. My local garage guy told me that radweld in a high performance engine, where tolerances are much smaller, doesn't leave any room for products that claim a QUICK -fix, best get to root of problem especially as most cerbs appear to run hot and rely on an efficient cooling system which is unrestricted by debris or anything else. Spend time checking all hoses, clips, and especially the two cooling pipes at front underside of engine for corrosion, you know your car deserves it and will thank you for it. SVM.

[Spawn]

Silvervanman said:

Dont recommend Radweld or an egg white or anything else thats not meant to be in your engine. My local garage guy told me that radweld in a high performance engine, where tolerances are much smaller, doesn't leave any room for products that claim a QUICK -fix, best get to root of problem especially as most cerbs appear to run hot and rely on an efficient cooling system which is unrestricted by debris or anything else. Spend time checking all hoses, clips, and especially the two cooling pipes at front underside of engine for corrosion, you know your car deserves it and will thank you for it. SVM.

I will be doing Im not a fan of sticking make shift products in engines

I have to change the clutch slave cylinder.. I could just change the seals would rather just pay extra and do the lot!

[Allandwf]

Yes , sounds good, and we can discuss our cars character !!! Slowly getting to grips with mine.