temp worries

desertfox · Postby **desertfox** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 2:24 pm

i used to have problems with overheating after i put my supercharger in especially during freeway driving. my mechanic had the radiator cleaned and unblocked and the water pump and thermostat changed but the car was still running hot. i thought the stock radiator coudln't handle the supercharger setup. then one day, i decided to change the location of the number plate from the front of the mouth to above the mouth of the front bumper. it was a matter of inverting the brackets that held the plate in place. i figured that the number plate obstructed the air flow to the radiator. i've never had overheating problems since.

hope that helps.

sabretooth · Postby **sabretooth** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 3:19 pm

I think that your radiator may be partially blocked and in need of a good flush/rodding. I'm assuming that if you keep the engine above 3500RPM in any gear, that the car will start to overheat. The water pump is another likely candidate.

You can rule out the fans right now because the airflow at speed is far more than a piddly fan could dream of blowing into the radiator.

I would only be inclined to think it's a partially-stuck-open thermostat if the engine is taking a long time to warm up.

mmx005 · Postby **mmx005** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 6:38 pm

hey guys, sorry i havent replyed lately, my net has been down (thankyou bigpond for sending me in circles with a machine and telling me my call is important, then sending me to india for tech help. the only help that was given and was useful was the hair cut i got from tearing my hair out due to stress). back on topic now

ok, the thermostat got replaced (it was non oem, but the near $50 saving was enough to buy petrol for me to get to work for 2 days to do overtime, so i can buy oem later) i thought it had fixed it, as i had been racing round all thursday night last week (as tim and the others saw) but when the twisties came, the guage went up again.

i took the car to mania last night and had the system pressure tested (thanks guys, especially at such notice :mrgreen:

). it held pressure.

fans both work fine, and if the radiator was blocked, surely it would get hot on idle???? :?:

number plate was moved to give more airflow months ago.

conclusion, it heats up under load other than that i NFI!!!

i do have a water pump and will change it when i get some time, gaskets etc.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ALL for trying to help, will do my best to keep you posted between pulling hair out and the car apart

cheers ben

sabretooth · Postby **sabretooth** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 9:39 pm

mmx005 wrote:fans both work fine, and if the radiator was blocked, surely it would get hot on idle????

Nope. Heat out (fan blowing through rad) > heat in (heat generated at idle). It's not until heat in (at high load) >heat out (wind blowing through rad) that you get a problem.

JBT · Postby **JBT** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:36 pm

I agree with Sabretooth. Could also be stuffed water pump. In any case it needs some major attention.

How many ks has the car done and how regularly was the cooling system flushed in the past :?:

Maintenance history :?:

mmx005 · Postby **mmx005** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 7:03 pm

the car rolled over 139thou yesterday.
i found out today it wasnt the water pump (i dont think anyway).

i got the the end of the f3 this morning, and noticed steam and coolant coming out of the bonnet. long story short, the top radiator tank had split almost the entire lenght, along the line of the foam strip that is glued to the tank thus spewing coolant everywhere.

after limping to hornsby radiators,and having the car fully checked out they found 60% of my core was blocked and a pin hole in one of my heater hoses was also found

a HUGE THANK YOU goes to hornsby radiatorswho worked on it most of the day at very short notice and did a great job to get me back on the road around 230pm.

im now praying that will be the end of my problems as it was an expensive day off work (560 to be exact). i just hope my water pump holds out as i dont want to go playing with my cooling system for a while.

thank you to all for your advice and input :mrgreen:

ben