Discussion
My car is overheating.....alot..I can often hear bubbling under the bonnet from the expansion tank when stopped in traffic..
The father of a friend of mine had a quick look at the car yesterday and he says it appears the fan is not turning on to cool things down. I must say I haven't really noticed..... He recommended I loop the fan relay (i think thats what he said) to see if the fan turns on and find out whether its just the relay and not the actual fan thats packed up..
I was too embarrased to ask how to do it and thought i'd check with the pro's on here.
Is he right and how do i do it??
I've just ordered a new thermostat from mx5parts so hopefully this will help??
The father of a friend of mine had a quick look at the car yesterday and he says it appears the fan is not turning on to cool things down. I must say I haven't really noticed..... He recommended I loop the fan relay (i think thats what he said) to see if the fan turns on and find out whether its just the relay and not the actual fan thats packed up..
I was too embarrased to ask how to do it and thought i'd check with the pro's on here.
Is he right and how do i do it??
I've just ordered a new thermostat from mx5parts so hopefully this will help??
Conversely, the 1.6 fan is triggered by a thermoswitch in the top of the thermostat housing at the front of the engine and if this dies the fan stays off.
More details at http://www.miata.net/garage/CoolingSystemProblems....
More details at http://www.miata.net/garage/CoolingSystemProblems....
ALawson said:
Had the same problem on our when we got it, new thermostat sorted the problem out. About 20 quid from mx5 parts, and easy to change.
Cool, my thermostat has just arrived, £8 with gasket from mx5 parts, will change over tonight... Is it just a straight swap, anything I need to look out for?MX-5 Lazza said:
One thing to bear in mind - if the coolant really is boiling then you shouldn't be driving it. If you overheat the engine you can warp and/or crack the head and can seize the engine.
Ouch, hopefully i haven't damaged anything, the drive to work is only a couple of minutes though..I'm stupid, to clarify where exactly do I put the coolant?? Into the rad or into the expansion bottle? I'm confused as the expansion bottle has min/max marked on it and its currently well below min...
On the MX5, it has the older style cooling system where the radiator and engine is pressurised, the expansion tank is not and just takes excess coolant as it heats up and expands. When the engine cools, it sucks it back in from the tank. So, when you fill it up, the radiator should be full and the expansion tank should be filled to between the minimum and maximum marks. Under operation, you can expect the fluid level in the expansion tank to rise slightly, then as it cools it will return to the previous level.
As an aside, the radiator cap is a common failure item on the MX5 and most people have poor experiences with the aftermarket replacements, so always fit a Mazda rad cap.
As an aside, the radiator cap is a common failure item on the MX5 and most people have poor experiences with the aftermarket replacements, so always fit a Mazda rad cap.
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