overheating mayfair

[steve smith]

guys
after getting the mayfair home a week ago i noticed she keep boiling over she will drive say 25 miles or so before she starts to boil over i knwo the fan on the front is :censored: but i have a round that the wiring to it is shoot wire it straight to the battery via a switch and a fuse but why does she keep boiling over could the rad be that blocked or could the headgasket be :censored: as it had stood for 2 years she has now had a service and a flush out times and she still boils over your help would be great full

[E_T_V]

First does the fan on the radiator work at all?
If it does are you switching it on early enough to prevent it boiling?
Does it overheat when travelling at speed? (if so the fan isn't the problem)
When the engine is hot, feel the radiator with your hand, does it get hot all over? If not rads can become blocked, two on our cars have had to be replaced. If it is not hot at all then you may well have a stuck thermostat or a duff waterpump.
When it has been running a couple of minutes are the water hoses pressurised? If so then it could well be a dead head gasket.
Also are you losing water anywhere?

I hope these random thoughts help a little. If not then please ask me to explain myself :D

[steve smith]

the fan does work she only starts to boil over when u get in trafic or drive her round town i not checked the rad but will tomorrow teh head gasket seems ok as none of the hoses pressureize the thermostat is a new one and i am not losing water the only time i do is whe ni switch off the engine and release the cap from the tank then it all comes out :laugh: the water pump seems to be ok as the heat in the car is nice ans warm if the pump was duff would this still happen ?
anyway one other thing will my rad from my diesel fit the mayfair as the diesel is about to go pop an i am thinkingof using the diesel as a parts donor for a while.

[Quality]

My 1.6 has started acting up along the same lines, the expansion tank cap had fallen apart so we bought a new one yesterday. Today we went to a shopping cente, had to queue to get in the cap park. By the time we parked steam was coming out of the bonnet and they was a green pool under the engine, the fluid was escaping out of the cap.
The temp gague however stayed where it normally is, which is 1/4 of the way between cold and hot.
On the way home the system didn't cool down (sat in cold car park for 3 hours, several stops to fill up with water with the bonnet open for 10-15 mins) but it didn't boil over again, but the leak did continue.

What could be causing it, the fan or radatior, and how do I check?

[tony]

just a thought but are you over filling the water up?as overfilling can cause this problem
as for making the fan work,you can leave the car ticking over for half-hour,or short the contacts on the sensor on the rad,

[Quality]

I possible added too much water, but haven't added any for a while so it isn't the cause of the problem unless the buggered tank cap may have allowed more water than the design allows?

[E_T_V]

To check the fan is working look at the radiator, on the drivers side there are two electrical connectors, remove them and insert a small piece of wire between them. With tese connectors "connected" and the ignition on the fan should start running. If not, then that is certainly a problem.

Quite often the fans seize (through lack of use). Simply remove the grill and with the ignition off turn it by hand whilst applying a drop of oil to the spindle. Then when it turns quite freely, replace the fuse in the fusebox (which will most likely have blown) and test the fan for a couple of minutes using the method above.

[Quality]

The water was over filled :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: , the new cap meant the garage filled syste had too much water in, and once syphened and ideled for 45 mins with the fan coming on and off all was fine.

So today was just a wash and a polish :)

[steve smith]

after further investingation today i found the headgasket is dead not sure where it has gone but have ordered a new one and am gonna get round to fitting it next week i also wired the fan straight to the battery as the wiring to the fan is not working for some reason i have even changed all the fuses for a complete new set (cost me a fair bit) and it stil not work so have decided to find what wires go where and wire it in to the main loom using my own wiring or just as easy to wire it straight to the battery via a fuse and a switch. the rad seems not to be blocked either...