Cooling system

[fairclp]

Hi all,

OK. According to the manual, I should have "approx. 10mm of fluid visible within the filler neck."

Anyway, you can't see it because someone’s put a bonnet (hood for the Americans out there) in the way!

I'm using the wooden spoon/finger in the expansion tank and filling up as needed (I'm assuming 10mm from the shoulder of the expansion tank) but the fluid is just disappearing somewhere! It just will not stay at 10mm and I end up having to put in at least 1/2 a litre weekly. (Note to self - buy some antifreeze)

I've had the coolant system pressure tested a month ago and some hoses needed a bit of tightening here and there.

Anyone really know how it should be?

Paul

[hwassall]

As soon as I fill my car to anything like the recommended level, it all gets spat out past the filler cap once the car has heated up. It seems to be the case that each car has a level and sticks to it. Easy to test, fill it up, warm the car up a bit and you'll see water streaming out past the cap for a while.

Cheers,
Howard

[targarama]

Yes, each car does seem to find it's own level. See how far it drops. Obviously if it drops too far and continue to drop you have a leakette somewhere. Mine settles just around the top of the side outlet pipe to the engine. Any more and it spits out, any less and it's hard to tell how much I need (see my recent thread on water temp).

[mikesum]

I broke down this week. Got stuck in a traffic jam, then steam venting out like crazy. Caused by the fans not working. Not sure what's wrong with them yet.

The 'mechanic' that came out to recover me had no idea what he was doing. He'd been informed before he came out that it was a coolant problem, yet he hadn't brought any water with him. I couldn't believe it.

I got some water from a nearby pub. He insisted on filling the coolant level up to the very top for testing and then when it splurted out he said that was a sign that my head gasket had gone!!! He said I couldn't drive the car and he would have to take it away on his truck. Then he realised that he wouldn't be able to get it on his truck. What a muppet.

He wanted me to wait until he could get a suitable truck, and wanted to charge me £95 (it should have been free) because it was 'a specialist job'. There is nothing about this extra charge in my Green Flag breakdown policy.

He also had a go at TVRs saying they were just 'expensive toys' and not suitable to be driven every day. Obviously this guy is an expert. Obviously.

I just ensured the right amount of water was in the system and drove off. The traffic was quieter and so I managed to keep moving which kept the water cool enough.

It's off to the dealers at the end of this week for some proper diagnosis.

[zooooom]

I usually top it up so I can just fill the water with the top of my middle finger.
Not a very accurate method but never had any problems so far.

[targarama]

mikesum said:

I broke down this week. Got stuck in a traffic jam, then steam venting out like crazy. Caused by the fans not working. Not sure what's wrong with them yet. The 'mechanic' that came out to recover me had no idea what he was doing. He'd been informed before he came out that it was a coolant problem, yet he hadn't brought any water with him. I couldn't believe it. I got some water from a nearby pub. He insisted on filling the coolant level up to the very top for testing and then when it splurted out he said that was a sign that my head gasket had gone!!! He said I couldn't drive the car and he would have to take it away on his truck. Then he realised that he wouldn't be able to get it on his truck. What a muppet. He wanted me to wait until he could get a suitable truck, and wanted to charge me £95 (it should have been free) because it was 'a specialist job'. There is nothing about this extra charge in my Green Flag breakdown policy. He also had a go at TVRs saying they were just 'expensive toys' and not suitable to be driven every day. Obviously this guy is an expert. Obviously. I just ensured the right amount of water was in the system and drove off. The traffic was quieter and so I managed to keep moving which kept the water cool enough. It's off to the dealers at the end of this week for some proper diagnosis.

Hopefully just a relay/sensor problem. I hope you made a complaint to the breakdown service - unprepared mechanic with a crap attitude who wouldn't listen to the owner. Not good.

[julianc]

We had a problem with the Tamora last year where the fans didn't come on, the result was coolant temp around 105C and steam coming out of the engine when I slowed down (water/steam was coming out of the filler cap). Took the car to the excellent Henley Heritage with almost no notice and they diagnosed the problem as corroded contacts on the engine temperature sensor connector; the guy said that the wiring design meant that water ran down the wire and into the connector, hence the corrosion. He replaced the sensor/connector, put shrink wrap on the wire to prevent water ingress into the connector, no problems since - lucky as we were en route to Europe for a month!

Julian