Car overheating, need advice

[Decibel]

My fan seems to be fine, when I reched my destination in town, I stopped the engine but left the electrics on, opened the hood and saw the fan spinning at full speed for a few minutes, then switched itself off.

Edited June 17, 2006 by Decibel

[Decibel]

I see, wow so quite alot of things could be the problem eh? Sian..

[Mivec9]

yes there cld be case where radiator choked..hence the water/coolant not recycling

[Mivec9]

first of all, let a good mech to do a diagnostic first..

 

u can keep us update in this thread

[Decibel]

Update - Drove to town late at night, CTE was clear so i could maintain 90km/h, needle didnt move past its usual 1/3 mark till I exited outram and stopped at the traffic light. Spiked up till abt 3/4 mark then hovered at ard 1/2 mark till i reached my destination.

 

Drove back home again at abt 5+am, maintained 80-90km/h all the way. No increase in temperature till i reached my carpark, then it increased just a little bit from its usual 1/3 reading.

 

Plan to bring the car to the mech on Monday, but if the above would help anyone narrow down its diagnosis would be nice. Cheers!

Edited June 17, 2006 by Decibel

[Sky8807]

Post: My fan seems to be fine, when I reched my destination in town, I stopped the engine but left the electrics on, opened the hood and saw the fan spinning at full speed for a few minutes, then switched itself off.

 

Air-con s/w shd be off, so as not to confuse. Actually, leave the engine running and air-con off. Fan shd cut in abt 3/4 mark of so.

Edited June 18, 2006 by Sky8807

[Apollo]

chances r your radiator fan/ thermostat/ fan relay then... not so bad. check if water leak.. this mebbe through radiator (check for signs of coolant leak on the floor where u park) or if u need to top up. leak thru hoses will b cheap. when topping up, make sure it is just plain water although distilled ones r better. dun add more coolant.

 

if the radiator fan is working fine, wat i suggest is get ur mechanic to rewire and override the radiator fan. ie continuous running and ignoring the temperature cut in/ cut out. this avoid hte problem of thermostat/ fan relay failure.

[Mivec9]

seems either the fan or the thermostat problem

[Dipstick]

The radiator cap is often overlooked in common engine overheating problems. It is designed to add pressure to the cooling system and increase the boiling point like grandma's pressure cooker. A faulty radiator cap can cause your car to boil-over at a lower temperature, but is an easy and inexpensive D-I-Y repair.

 

http://www.stant.com/index.cfm?location_id=179

 

Symptoms of a faulty pressure cap may include overheating and a coolant reservoir that either doesn

Edited June 18, 2006 by Dipstick

[Pisces69]

Seems like your problem only started after u had some work done on your cooling system.

 

Cud b either the water pump is not working properly, the radiator is blocked restricting the water flow, the thermostat valve is sticking, the thermostat switch which controls the fan is faulty, air pockets still in the cooling system.

 

After hard driving when u slow down, the temp goes up. Looks like your cooling system has trouble coping with the load.

 

Looks like fan,radiator or thermostat valve problems.

 

I presume u checked your coolant level daily & do not find your coolant level dropping?

 

1 more thing, just check the radiator fins that they r not clogged up with leaves n such which will restrict air flowing tru it.

 

Also another stupid problem. Check your fan is blowing in the correct direction.

 

Sounds silly, but knowing the quality of some new mechanics, it's just possible.

[Decibel]

Hi bro, I just went down to check but the radiator cap seems stuck, I couldn't pull it off. The coolant reservoir is reading a little above the full mark when the engine is cold, but i noticed something strange, of the 2 tubes leading from the radiator to the reservoir, only 1 is connected. I've looked but there doesnt seem to be anywhere on the radiator to connect the other one. Should it even be connected?

[Decibel]

Thanks bro, your input is very much appreciated!

[Decibel]

I honestly hope the problem doesnt lie with the water pump as I got it changed at the yew tee mech just 2mths ago.

 

But you're right, all that was done before my trip to KL and it was during that trip that I first had cooling problems, before that all was fine.

Edited June 18, 2006 by Decibel

[Pisces69]

Usually there is only 1 tube connected to the radiator. The other tube is probably a vent tube to allow excess coolant & air escape the reservoir.

 

Maybe u sud position the 2nd tube so that the excess coolant will run down below the car & not touch the paint or metal inside the engine bay.

 

The coolant will damage the paint & cause corrosion.

 

Just ensure that the coolant in the reservoir is not exceeding the "MAX" mark when the radiator is "HOT".

[Pisces69]

So from this, I wud conclude that the work done recently had something to do with your problem now.

 

Oh & just ensure that your radiator cap is 0.9 bar which is standard for jap cars.

 

Conti cars is 1.1 bar if i'm not mistaken.

Edited June 18, 2006 by Pisces69

[Decibel]

Will do that thanks, bringing my car to Ah Ting on Monday, hope can get problem sorted out

 

My radiator cap is 1.1 bar leh

Edited June 18, 2006 by Decibel

[Pisces69]

Point this out to the mech when u go down.

 

Anyway a new rad cap is only $5.

Edited June 18, 2006 by Pisces69

[Decibel]

Its a 92' Swift, will do thanks

Edited June 18, 2006 by Decibel