car runs fine now.. however if i have been driving for a while it sounds like another fan has kicked in.

 

The fan gets louder with higher revs. once cooled down (after being fof for a bit) it is fine again. IS this overheating or is it normal? Temp gauge reads med temp however i have been warned that these are naff (especially as my gauge might not go any higher)

 

The other fan that is not attached spins at its own speed? (as in not with revs)

 

anyway apart from conzult can i test if my thermostat is not doing its thing properly or if my temp is TOO high?

to test the thermostat you have to remove it

 

if you place it in boiling water you will see if it opens or not.

 

if it doesnt open then its knackered m8

could that be the reason why the fan kicks in after a long drive? ALthough my car usually find it hard to get up to temp.

the stock gauge is not the best , they tend to detect the temp rising slightly to late

 

mine overheated once and it was rising by the millisecond!!! :eek:

ahh i see. well the rad is topped up with fluid so i am wondering if the thermostat is on its way out.

 

Guess i will have a look at some point

ahh i see. well the rad is topped up with fluid so i am wondering if the thermostat is on its way out.

 

Guess i will have a look at some point

 

the above test is the best way for the stat

 

 

As for the coolant top-up >

 

pm on the way

 

Chris :)

Edited May 21, 200916 yr by ck300z

The Thermostat allows water to flow, and has NO electrical connection whats-so-ever!

Now there are two temp senders, one is for your temp gauge and the other sends it's signal to the ECU, which then controls everything else that is temp related.

Fan coming on? The main fan is attached via a viscous coupling to the engine and is NOT electrical. The electric fan that is in front of the rad will be the air-con fan, and will work in conjunction with the air-con ECU. This will be coming on because your air-con needs it to.

 

HTH

Dave

Edited May 21, 200916 yr by Daves_Zed
typo's

i dont have air con :-( was taken out

So what electric fan is running then?

no idea. all i know is once (i presume) the car gets hot there is a noise of something else spinning (sounds like a fan) it increases with revs and when pulling away it can sound louder than the engine. I was thinking the fan moves ALL the time however i only start to hear it once i have driven for a long period or driven hard.

 

I was thinking maybe my car is overheating and another fan is kicking in.. yet the temp says midway

 

just wondering if it is thermostat or my temp sensor cant go higher than half way

Well like I posted above, it wont be thermostat related.

You'll have to do some investigating yourself here, as I'm sure you're aware no-one here is going to say for absolute certain that it is 'this' or 'that' that is your problem!

Drive your car until the noise is well apparent, then pull over and start looking around the engine bay to see if you can locate the area, or even the exact place, of the noise. Then you can give us more info to work on.

I know it's not the answer you really want, but we're going to need more info first to be able to help.

Its sounds like your sub fan is running, twoi causes for this

connector messing about, check and clean or replace.

Or an air lock?

If the air lock, does the system get hot, you state the temp gauge is half way, but when hot, put heater onto max and full fan, with car running it should stay at warm/hot all the time, if for any reason it goes cooler then back to hot, you have air in the system.

Check all hoses are getting hot.

Might need bleeding, also check your expansion bottle, when engine is cold, that rad is full, but bottle is no more than min.

brilliant advise from everyone ...

 

thankyou and i will get round to trying this :-) i will report on my findings

the engine driven fan has a bimetallic spring coil clutch gizmo that locks it up when it is sensing high temperatures. Typically after being sat in trafffic when its warm. You then hear this fan noise tied to revs when you rev the engine. Otherwise the viscous coupling lets it almost freewheel and make no noise like when its cool.

yes this is happening... as soon as i am on a road going 60+ its ok. but even just now coming back from a meeting in epping. as soon as i get to town it starts making a noise. Temp gauge is happy to move anyway from bottom to midway but i guess it is nackered and not showing me when it is hot.

 

when i leave work it will be ok again until 10-15 minutes driving round town

It's totally normal. Its just doing what it's supposed to do. It does not mean the engine is overheating. When it is hot also check that the system is pressurising properly by squeezing the top hose. Obviously it will be hot so take care. It should be well firm. If it is soft you have a leak or a radiator cap that is not sealing against pressure.

ok when i leave work i will give it a go :-)

 

i will report on my findings