Technical Temp Problems

[ginner]

Just to conicide with the warmest days of the year to date, my sei has decided to play silly buggers. Whilst driving on saturday for about 30mins (10 of which were stood still in traffic), the warning light came on. My gauge reached 90 and no fan came on, and the temp kept goin up and up, so pulled over and there was water and steam coming through the header tank cap.

I let it cool down then carried on, but with the heater on full when driving slow, as there doesnt appear to be a problem at speed.

Ive read a thread saying the the thermostat possibly aint opening, but the pipes were hot, so is this still an option, and how do i test if the fan works?

Cheers
Dan

 

[fingers99]

Just bridge the terminals of the fan switch (on the radiator) with the wires connected.

If the fan didn't come on, it's unlikely to be the thermostat, but you can test that with a pan of water (bring it to the boil and it should open).

If you've lost a significant amount of water, bleed the system after refilling.

 

[ginner]

Bridged the terminals of the fan and that works fine, so its now bridged all the time to try and help me out a bit.

Bin told i should hose down the front of the radiator in case it is blocked up? Could this be the source of my problem?

 

[rallycinq]

Bridged the terminals of the fan and that works fine, so its now bridged all the time to try and help me out a bit.

Bin told i should hose down the front of the radiator in case it is blocked up? Could this be the source of my problem?

The problem is the fan switch, make sure its not running too cold, thats almost as bad as too hot. Your rad may need flushed. not so much from the outside, but from the state of the coolant. Do you know when the coolant was last changed?

Cheers

D

 

[ginner]

Put fresh 50/50 mix in about 2-3 months ago when i installed the temp gauge.

I will take the rad of tonight and flush it through, or wud it be alrite to flush the system stands or does the rad need to be taken off?

 

[rallycinq]

Put fresh 50/50 mix in about 2-3 months ago when i installed the temp gauge.

I will take the rad of tonight and flush it through, or wud it be alrite to flush the system stands or does the rad need to be taken off?

Better to take it off.

Cheers

D

 

[ginner]

Took the radiator off and flushed it through and also jet washed the front and back just for good measure.

Whilst the car was in bits i decided to check the thermostat, just in case. So i removed it and put it in boiling water, but i didnt see any movement, i did the same with the spare i have from my other sei (the dead one) and again no noticeable movement. Ive ordered a new one now, but just for future reference, what movement should there be?

 

[rallycinq]

At about 92 degrees it should open. It only moves a few mms.

Cheers

D