Coolent Leaking after topping up? HELP PLEASE???

[Arc Controls]

Hi everyone

Some help please

I've just been thoroughly checking over my Griff in preperation for a trip down to the South of France, checking oil levels, coolent levels etc etc

My coolent level in the expansion tank was looking a little low so I topped up the level (from stone cold) to about 2" below the top of the expansion tank. My car has never had a problem with overheating nor with the fans kicking in at about 96 degC.

After topping up I ran the car to make sure everything was ok and to my surprise the expansion tank started to leak coolent from the filler cap. I know the filler caps have a pressure relief valve and I also know that TVR's do tend to "spew out" until they reach a level they are happy with so I wasn't initially too concerened. However the temperature gauge got up to over 100 and by this time I could hear boiling and it was still spewing out coolent and the fans did not kick in?

I obviously switched off straight away to allow to cool down.

Considering this problem has only started since topping up the coolent I am slightly perplexed.

Any ideas?????

Thanks in advance

Rob

Edited by Arc Controls on Friday 21st May 19:11

Edited by Arc Controls on Friday 21st May 19:12

[DarkMatter]

Rob, as long as there is water in the expansion chamber you should be OK as each Griff has it's own level - some run with only 2 inches of coolant in the chamber while others run OK with the coolant 2 inches from the top.

[Arc Controls]

DarkMatter said:

Rob, as long as there is water in the expansion chamber you should be OK as each Griff has it's own level - some run with only 2 inches of coolant in the chamber while others run OK with the coolant 2 inches from the top.

Thanks for the help Andrew, much appriciated..

I'm more concerned as to why since topping up with coolant the car effectively overheated and the fans didn't kick in. Any ideas??

[chap]

We usually spend quite a lot of time to put out air in the circuit on Caterham cars. You may have to do the same by opening the bolt at the top of radiator so that all the air potentially contained in the radiator escapes.
The bolt to unscrew is this one on top right side of the radiator.

Be careful if the coolant is hot.

if the fan does not work, that might mean that the thermal switch on top of the radiator is not in the water but in the air on top of the radiator. And air is heating far less quick than water.

Edited by chap on Friday 21st May 19:47

[DarkMatter]

Rob, is it possible that you may have dislodged the connector to the otter switch? I believe that you can just disconnect the switch and connect the terminals together, bypassing the otter switch, to check that the fans are working.

[Arc Controls]

Thanks guys, really helpful info.

I'll check the otter switch connections tomorrow morning and then look into AIR. I've also sopken to my brother who races caterhams and we built his academy car and he had exactly this problem so i suspect that is the problem!!!

Thanks so much for the help chaps, Ill let you know the outcome

Rob

[V8 GRF]

The car will find it's own level as Andrew has suggested. Dumping coolant isn't necessarily a sign of overheating just overfilling of the system. So as long as the gauge shows safe temps and the level stays consistant (without topping up) all is well.

However as you appear to have overheating and the fans are not kicking in, after checking the fuse (first on the left iirc) I'd suggest taking the connectors off the otter switch and 'shorting' them out with a wire or similar with the ignition on, if the fans run then the otter switch is faulty and needs replacing.

Edited by V8 GRF on Saturday 22 May 02:26

[TVR Beaver]

Rob... On your car you'll have 2 fuses.. they are the orange ones... 40 Amp.... and 2 relays....
If both fans are not working it points to the switch... If only 1 then fuse or relay...