Huffing and Puffing

[Gerhard]

Just when the starter problem was sorted, the next one arrives.

Standing in the queue at MacDonald's all of a sudden lots of steam and whistling from the engine. Strange thing is that the temperature gauge did not show overheating, and I know for a fact that it is working.
(That's the puffing bid)

Now I am huffing, because I am starting to get slightly annoyed with all this breakdowns.

[Hawk]

Could be any of a number of things, the most likley being: 

- coolant leaking from a small hole in one of the hoses / bad joint and spraying onto hot parts of the engine

- too much coolant in the system and pressure / steam being released by the rad cap working as it should (this may explain the whistling)

[MattNoVAT]

Hi Gerhard

As you have just had your starter motor replaced I am wondering how much was removed so that your mechanic could get the starter motor out as this area is very close to the radiator thermal switch.

Do you remember if the cooling fan cut in/ out while sat stationary in the queue in McDonalds? The wiring to the radiator thermal switch could have been disturbed and a wire accidentally pulled out and this would explain why it overheated.

Or there could be a big air lock in the cooling system.  How many miles have you driven since the starter motor work?

Was it blowing steam from the expansion tank?  If it was then I think the cooling fan/switch is most likely cause of your problem.  You can test this by running the car and then shorting the two wires that connect to the radiator switch together, if the fan spins then thats good, if the fan does not spin then trace the wiring (especially the earth).  There should be two wires connecting to the radiator thermal switch (located at the bottom left hand side of the radiator) If they are both connected trace those wires up to the wiring loom as I've seen some cars with an in-line fuse.

If it was blowing steam from elsewhere then it could be a split hose (after being overtightened).

Hopefully this will be a straight forward fix.

[Gerhard]

Mmmmmm, food for thought. I shall investigate and report back. Thanks for this advise it is highly appreciated.

[Gerhard]

Apparently because that fan was not working the overflow/water reservoir blew. Any ideas on what manufacturers bottle will fit, as to find OE in Durban for the Beta is impossible.

[MattNoVAT]

Hi Gerhard,

So the radiator thermal switch do not work and that caused the overheating?

Has the fan switch been fixed?

Has the expansion tank split because the engine overheated?

The expansion tank cap should "vent" if the pressure goes beyond 7 psi, this will then vent out the tube mounted on the side of the expansion tanks filler neck and should have a long tube taking hot water/steam and letting it vent down low in the engine bay.  Thats all normal !!

If the expansion tank has ruptured then I have one that has was pressure tested last week.  See "Donated Parts for Sale thread" in Parts for Sale section.

[Hawk]

Apparently because that fan was not working the overflow/water reservoir blew. Any ideas on what manufacturers bottle will fit, as to find OE in Durban for the Beta is impossible.

I have the same questions as Matt - this doesn't really stack up. 

On your initial post you say that the the temperature guage was known to be functioning.  The fan(should) only kick in when the temperature reaches a certain level so if the engine wasn't hot enough there would be no reason for the a non operational fan to cause any problems. 

[Gerhard]

To clear this one up: I believe that when the starter motor was worked on some of the wiring was moved as mentioned by Matt. Also, I am informed, was the wiring not put back.

Now this is were it gets difficult, as it is now one mechanic's word against another.

Be that as it may, I do not have the time or the energy to try and prove who is right and who is wrong. The best option for me is to vote with my feet and just not go back to the first mechanic. (Although he has done some brilliant work on my other cars - Fiat X19, Stilo 1.6 and of course the Beta)

[MattNoVAT]

Hi Gerhard,

So your car is all fixed and working properly now?  (To me, this is the only important question!!)

I agree, its not with having disagreements between mechanics, it's just not worth it.   Only you can decide who you are comfortable with when it comes to who performs work on your cars and as you say you vote with your feet (and your wallet!)

[Gerhard]

Hi Matt,

No, still looking for the bottle. Noted on the bottle in the sale section. Problem would be costs to get it to SA.

Gerhard.

[Gerhard]

Good Morning All,

Just an update on the problem. Could not find a replacement bottle in South Africa, although Matt had a replacement but of a different size. (Thanks again for all the trouble Matt. If you ever in my part of the world, the beers will be on me)

Anyway, the mechanic tried a couple of different ones, but could not get a comfortable fit, and I did not want him to drill into the body to make it fit.

So the old tank was carefully cleaned and then patched with Pratley Putty (I am not sure people outside SA will know of it) Basically two entities that is mixed and then applied to the area, left for some time, and then will set rock hard. That sorted, he then added a switch into the radiator pipe linked to the fan that according to him, "will always start the fan when the temperature gets high" Again he said a lot of mechanical stuff, and I nodded and looked very intelligent.

So, now we shall see if this will sort the problem.

Thanks again to all that had inputs in helping to find a solution.

Gerhard.

[Hawk]

Back on the road for Christmas - happy days

[MattNoVAT]

I will be very interested in how the Pratley Putty (Like Aryldite??) holds up.  These expansion tanks are all getting very old and have some design flaws that cause them to split after years of heat expansion/contraction and a few overheating sessions.

Next year I will be looking into getting either an ABS plastic or a steel version of the rectangular expansion tank re-made - depends on tooling costs etc but initially I'll be doing the rectangular version not the late kidney shape version.

Glad the car is back on the road

[rossocorsa]

that looks very much like milliput brilliant stuff but I very much doubt that a hard resin like that would adhere very well long term to the type of plastic used in an expansion  tank

[Gerhard]

I shall keep my eye on it and report back.

Hope you all will have a blessed Christmas and a perfect 2012.