Topic

Hi all, a few weeks ago I took the car out for a spin and everything was fine. Got to a light and as I was sat there the temp gauge started heading north. Luckily I was in a town, so I was able to get some coolant and drove home with the needle staying where it normally stays (just below the halfway line). Anyway I was at a light this week and the same thing happened. I was able to pull over and waited for the car to cool down. I drove home once again will the needle staying put. Thing is the car had it's MOT this week and while they found a loose clip it was replaced. It also seems the fan doesn't seem to be kicking in when it gets a bit hot. So I am not sure what exactly is happening, so any thoughts would be great.

Just a few thoughts. Is the coolant flowing ok? Can you see it returning to the expansion tank? Air lock? Is air getting in somewhere? Might you need a new expansion tank cap?



Coolant system - Servicing guide - Bleeding and filling.

To test the radiator cooling fan disconnect the brown or black coolant temp sensor, the fan should fire up.

Most likely the radiator cooling fan the fuse is under the bonnet on the right.Here's a video to help check the fans are working.

Leigh Ping wrote: wrote:

Just a few thoughts. Is the coolant flowing ok? Can you see it returning to the expansion tank? Air lock? Is air getting in somewhere? Might you need a new expansion tank cap?

Coolant system - Servicing guide - Bleeding and filling.

A small but important addendum to this useful guide.

The spring clip on the plug is designed to be pushed in towards the body of the plug to release it, rather than removed.
It works perfectly and the bonus is there's no chance of the spring disappearing off at a rate of knots into the engine bay!

watch out for fuses that crack due to age rather than blow they can then work intermittently.. I had one like that on my cooling fans in the garage the fuse circuit tested fine and fans worked it was only on close inspection of the fuse I spotted the fault and have since replaced all my fuses

Just a quick update. I had thought that the problem was sorted, been driving her since it's MOT with no issues re temp, but last week, the car started to overheat again. Managed to get home after letting the car cool down. Anyway I now have a full expansion bottle and there doesn't seem to be any circulation of fluid. So, would this be the pump gone? If so is there a specific pump for a 95 MGF? Also I've been told to replace the cambelt at the same time.

Thanks for all the replies and any more help is greatly appreciated.

Did you establish if the fans were coming on or not?
Is the expansion tank still full after cooling down?

David Aiketgate wrote: wrote:

Did you establish if the fans were coming on or not?
Yes they were fine
Is the expansion tank still full after cooling down?

Yes the bottle is full, and if I start it, it stays full and no fluid comes into the bottle.

Ned wrote: wrote:

David Aiketgate wrote: wrote:

Did you establish if the fans were coming on or not?
Yes they were fine
Is the expansion tank still full after cooling down?

Yes the bottle is full, and if I start it, it stays full and no fluid comes into the bottle.

And the fan?

Remove some coolant to get the level down to the seam. Try running the car a little and seeing if you get flow into the tank. It is very unusual for the pump to fail completely.

If coolant is flowing run up to temp and check if the fan(s) are coming on.

Check that the cap is holding pressure.

Get a garage to do a 'sniff' test to establish whether gases are getting into the coolant. via the head gasket.

There's no specific pump for a 95 F, and yes as you need to remove the timing belt anyway it would be sensible to change it at the same time.