My FC won\'t stop overheating, help!

[James H]

Been having problems with my FC for a good month now, she just keeps over heating!! I have modified the front abit to get as much cold air in the engine as pos which has helped but it is when im not moving fast & sitting in traffic, the temp shot\'s up, ADD COOLANT alarm has a go & the radiator blows out hot air, resovouir fills up with water then boils up cause of the hot air being shot out of the radiator. I THINK it is down to the clutch on my fan, so took off the standard fan & put on a electric fan I had laying around but it is only a 10" fan so pretty sure it is not up to the job & is still overheating. Anyone had this them selves or got any advice to sort this problem or get to the bottom of it, thanks James??

[antnicuk]

sounds like it could be a water seal

[James H]

Interesting i\'ll have a good look any idea where to be looking on my fc, she is a n/a, thanks?

[BlitzBoy]

water seals are in the inside of the engine, you cant see them, you will need the engine strip down to replace them, as you are in Portsmouth take it down to REWORX in Hilsea they can do a pressure test on the engine and tell you if ya water seals are fubared or not

[James H]

Ok thanks for letting me know, due to go there on Saturday sa will get that done, thanks for your help!

[grinder]

you could do the champage test - that might give you an indication ?

[James H]

The what lol???

[Prof]

you could do the champage test - that might give you an indication ?

Thought that only worked on FD\'s - as the FC doesn\'t have an AST tank.
 
There is some chemical test they can do on your coolant to see if combustion products are getting in to it - they take a sample of coolant out - stick some reagent in it and wait for a colour change.
 
A compression test should reveal it though, and from your symptoms - it could be the engine pressurising the coolant system through a leak.

[James H]

I see, well sure all will come clear on Sat when im at RE:Worx, heres a question is there any gain from adjusting the timing on my fc??

[nikp]

I see, well sure all will come clear on Sat when im at RE:Worx, heres a question is there any gain from adjusting the timing on my fc??

You\'re looking at adjusting your timing before having figured oiut why it\'s overheating!?

Anyway, to answer: possibly. But only if you know what you\'re doing. And since you didn\'t know what water seals are, i\'d stay well clear if I were you.

[James H]

No course not just getting a list of things i may get them to do, for when i go to RE:Worx but then again they prob the answer to that.

[grinder]

im sure you can do it on a FC

thats the advice i got many moons ago

1 - make sure car is cold
2 - remove rad cap
3 - start car and see if lots of bubbles appear - if so it could be a sign of the water seal failure


why would you need the AST for this to work ??

[pdtaylor18]

That test Stu is the same test you can do on almost any engine.  Plenty of other things you can do that dont cost anything:
1.   Flush the coolant system and make sure a good flow from rad top and bottom
take out the thermostat or replace it. Make sure your rad has good flow.
2.   Make sure that your fan is the right way round, some fans are designed to suck air through the rad, make sure your fairly small fan is the right way round in its operation. I used to rally a Metro GTI in my Germany days and I wired the fan wrong to reverse the flow, overheated all the time until I figured what an idiot I was.
3.   Compression test, maybe the only really accurate way to tell a water seal or tip problem.
4.   Did this just happen? dont b fooled by the fact that changing from stock to electric fan has not changed the fault, it might just be you fitted a fan way to small and without the correct ducting lots of valuable cooling air is wasted.

[James H]

Well went to RE:Worx & they comfirmed it.... the water seal is gone so time for a rebuild, happy days... anybody got a 13B engine for sale lol!?!