Etrips

Went to go pick up my FC today... ran perfectly. Few annoying rattles but was going to take care of them sooner or later. But neverless, still ran good. When I finally got back to my friends house, we decided to go eat somewhere. I turned off my car because its kinda loud and he lives in a neighbor hood, and with my car theres a manual switch that you have to turn on / off for the electric fan. Turned it off when I turned the car off. Now when we decided where to go eat, my friend asked me to pick him up. Ok np. Went to go pick him up mabye like 5-7min away. But I forgot to turn on my freaking fan!!! *now note this is my first rotary / turbo'd car so I didn't pay attention to the temp gauge* Notice some steam / smoke coming out from my hood when I got to my friends house, and the car barely able to hold idle. Turn my car off for a minute while my friend comes outside. Didnt really pay attention to the gauges again... And we go to eat which is about another 5-7 min drive. Then I finally noticed that my temp gauge was almost at H... quickly realised that I forgot to turn on my E fan, quickly switched it on, and temp is still rising... got to the food place and let the car cool down... After eating started the car back up and temp still rising even with the fan on... Got really worried / mad at myself for f'ing up a car that I havent even owned for 4 hours. So I went to go drop it off at my friends house which was 2min away, while the temp gauge still rising.. dropped my car off and got into my 240 and drove my friend home, and when I got to the same place where I was waiting for him / saw the smoke/steam, there I saw a puddle.. was kinda of dried up but it was fairly big. Someone help me out here... tell me what to look for. SO pissed at myself right now O_o

Edit : btw the puddle was kinda dried up and didn't really have a smell to it buy a oily type texture...

WAYNE88N/A

First place to look is probably at the left side heater hose, starts at the engine down below the oil filter, & goes to the firewall. Look closely at the area near the engine connection...

Etrips

do you think the engines ok? that the biggest thing im worried about :x

Forcus

Well.. it's not a GOOD thing what happened. Fill her up with water, and purge the air from the system. If it continues to make air bubbles the cooling system has combustion chamber pressure in it.. warped housings.

Do a compression test as well. If you have before numbers, compare them.

If everything checks out... consider yourself lucky.. and GET AN AUTOMATIC FAN SWITCH!!

Icemark

another reason for not using and electric fan.

I should archive this for other owners thinking electric fans are what they need.

You will need to see if you start using coolant... if you do, you probably wasted the motor.

Etrips

would the motor still run if i "wasted it" ? Because even though the temp was rising the car was still running fine..

Forcus

I disagree, the fan wasn't the issue, the method of engagement was the issue. I'd take a slim electric fan any day over that archaic mechanical fan.

It will probably still run if you warped the housings, either air will get in your cooling system or you will be blowing coolant out your exhaust (it will have kind of a sweet sick smell to it).

Etrips

First checking the hoses to look for any signs of a pop / break in it...
So should I JUST use water? or use a 70/30 water/coolant mix?
Since I just got the car I was gonna take it to a rotary specialist to take the car for a good look over.

Forcus

Yeah that would be my first step. Did you identify where the steam/coolant was coming from, or was it just the overflow?

Just do a 50/50 or 70/30, whatever you use. Drive around, watch the gauge, and let it cool off and see if coolant is missing. Remember you will probably have to purge the air out of the system first.. so don't mistake that for using coolant.

And change the way the fans turn on. I don't think anyone would remember to turn the fans on every time they get in the car!!!

Icemark

Yep and the method of engagement is why there are threads like this...

the properly working stock fan makes it idiot proof....

Forcus

I agree. I find a new way everyday to de-idiotproof my S5

Etrips

Well.. I JUST picked the car up from the seller... and he put in the electrical fan because the stock fan blades broke. So I bought the car how it is.

Sorry its kinda late and still trying to cool off... could you be a little more clearer about purging the air?

No I didn't. Did not have any type of proper light source to look into the engine bay.

Forcus

I am assuming you have an S4. Funny I was just reading about this tonight. Air is supposed to gather in the highest points in the system.. in the S4 there is a bleed screw on the left hand side of the radiator (looking towards the radiator from the front). This and the radiator cap should be enough to purge.

In the S5 well.. I am attempting to purge mine and the only places I can find are the water level sensor and the water fill on the radiator.. i just idled it with these two out to try to get air out of the system.

Of course if its blowing air bubbles even after you purge then that's most likely from the combustion chamber.

Someone who has purged an S4.. please correct me if I'm wrong.

Etrips

yea its an S4 Tii...

Alright let me get this straight on what to do so I dont mess my car up any more...

1) Check for cracks / imperfections on the coolant hoses
2) Fill radiator with water/coolant mix.
3) Purge the air out using the bleeder / leave radiator cap off
4) drive around keeping an eye on temp gauge.

Anything else im missing? Also how can I tell if I still have air in the coolant?

Etrips

and btw thank you guys for helping this idiot (me) out.

Forcus

Yeah, that's about right. No matter what make sure the system is full. After the air is purged, any changes in water level are a bad thing. Just try not to let it overheat again...!

BTW if you did end up ruining the engine, just buy a JDM S4 motor that has been tested.. I know I can get them locally for $750.. if you can get a similar deal you can sell everything you don't need (injectors, turbo, IC, etc) and really only spend $400 or so with new hoses, etc. So don't feel too bad.

Etrips

ok another check list...

1)fill coolant to top or close to it.
2) purge air
3) retop off?
4) close rad cap
5) test drive around
6) cool down
6a) if level is same im ok
6b) if level is different im f$*#ed?

Forcus

You might have to purge and refill more than once. So don't go on one test drive and call it quits.

Try it over a period of a week. Before you go anywhere (and make sure the car is cool) fill it up. Still coolant missing after a week? Yeah, you are probably in trouble.

Also if your plugs are really clean then they are being steam cleaned by the coolant going through the engine...

Etrips

yea when i saw the steam come out it was coming out from my right head light (looking though driver seat). So if i keep on seeing steam coming out for a period of time engines toast?

Forcus

Well you shouldn't be seeing steam ever. Of course make sure all your hoses are ok. If you see steam coming out of that area it could be your upper or lower radiator hose, or the hose going to the tube that comes from the exit side of the heater core. Pinpoint that first. Hell replace all the hoses for good measure. I only buy Mazda ones but any new ones are better than old ones. Also make sure the end tanks on the radiator didn't separate from the core.

Off to bed..

PureSephiroth

it sounds to me like not turning on the e-fan had little to do with the car overheating. If the temperatures continued to raise even with the e-fan on then it sounds like you lost a coolant hose or something. The e-fan shouldn't usually be on while the car is moving anyway. The stock fan is generally only on while the car is sitting still or at low speeds. Since you were actually driving places and not idling your car the e-fan probably had nothing to do with the car overheating. Of course, this still doesn't mean that your engine isn't shot....

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

Hey...this isn't gonna solve your problem, but it might help save your engine (now or in the future).

When the temp gauge starts movin up, you're obviously building a lot of heat, and the fan really isn't gonna be a magical solution in dissipating that heat...it can only do so much. What you wanna do is turn the heater up to the hottest setting, and on the "vent" setting, turn on the heater fans to the max. Yea sure, that sux for you being the car, but it basically helps vent lots of that hot air. I can almost guarantee that it'll help bring down the temps...

OverDriven

What happened is it obviously overheated the first time, blew all your coolant out the overflow, and so it didn't have enough coolant the next time you started it. You may have ruined the engine, but maybe not...time will tell. On the topic of E-Fans...there is nothing wrong with them as long as they are linked to a thermoswitch! I think a Ford Escort efan is a great upgrade because it fits perfectly, moves more air than stock, and cleans up the engine bay tremendously. Just don't hook it to a manual switch unless you have some kind of alarm that goes off if your temp goes over half way.

-Joe

RHDturboII

iTrader: (4)

Overdriven,
How do you know the escort fan moves more air than the stock one? Do you have any numbers? When I was living in Tucson AZ, my friend tried 3 different electric fans (with shrouds ) in a period of 1 month in 116 degree weather in traffic, and his temperatures were rising all the time. He switched back to the perfectly running stock fan and his temps were fine and normal. I personally like the stock fan better than any other electric fan, but this is just my opinion. Other than a cleaner engine bay and more space I think the stock fan works the best. Especially if you have a front mount IC.

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

I heard the best fans were the Volvo fans....where the sensor and everything was rebuilt, and they cool very well...??