loss of water in the radiator!

tom · Post by **tom** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:09 pm

The car only got to 105 because the fans did not kick in. Check the switch and its wiring. If you don't, you will kill the engine in the end. I advise changing the switch anyway at 150,000KM because they wear and get later and later until they get too late.
Now, with the switch and wiring sorted out, fill the radiator to the very top and drive the car for TWO weeks. If you need no more water than usual, then you haven't got a problem.

Rgod · Post by **Rgod** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:26 am

alright i will change the unit to a new one ,its about 20 $ .

is it normal for the fan to go on about 80 C ,end stop about 85 and then its goes on again about 100 c ?isnt it suposed to work all the time above X c ?

macplaxton · Post by **macplaxton** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:11 pm

Rgod wrote:alright i will change the unit to a new one ,its about 20 $ .

is it normal for the fan to go on about 80 C ,end stop about 85 and then its goes on again about 100 c ?isnt it suposed to work all the time above X c ?

I would have thought it should have come on at say 85C slow then at 90C still be on but faster until it drops to 85C when the it goes slow again and cuts out when it drops to 80C. I wouldn't have thought there should be a wide gap in it.

Here is a typical BX thermoswitch:

Temperature variants available (depending on model) of that thermoswitch:

(The rest of that catalogue is at www.facet.it

)

Linegeist · Post by **Linegeist** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:35 pm

Good info there Mac. Nice one!

Rgod · Post by **Rgod** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 1:30 pm

thanks for the INFO,i will buy a new one,tell me how many drainage points are their in this car for air ?when i fill water i open the bolt on the rad and fill from the cap,are their any more that i should open and let the air go out ?

Linegeist · Post by **Linegeist** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 3:05 pm

Try here The method's pretty much the same.

macplaxton · Post by **macplaxton** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:23 pm

Linegeist wrote:Good info there Mac. Nice one!

Yeah Bob, I'm not just a pretty face!

I hoard information, even if I end up doing a job once on a car. Hard drive (and brain) is full of useless information. Trouble is I've had to displace the unused stuff out of the brain and try and file it on the HDD so I can find it again.

There is always the home-made version of this:

(Plastic bottle with bottom cut off and old radiator cap)

to help with bleeding the cooling system.

Makes the radiator filler the highest point in the system, thus making bleeding easier.

Rgod · Post by **Rgod** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:14 pm

the last time i filled water was yesterday,i opened the cap added water opened the bolt on the rad for the air to go out ,filled max ,than turned the engine on and added some more and clossed the bolt when just water came out with no bubles ,and then the cap .
will check again soon to see.
whats that pic ?

Rgod · Post by **Rgod** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 12:36 pm

cheked the water level and added some water,i cheked the oil too ,seemed alright,but the oil cap,were we fill oil was like mionz,white,that not a good sign ,suggestions ?

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 12:40 pm

Creamy deposits on the filler cap are a common BX thing. The oil vapour mixes with condensed water.

I'd be more worried if I found this 'mayonnaise' on the rad cap.

Rgod · Post by **Rgod** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 2:14 pm

hhhh thats a relieve,it doesnt mean that a have abad gasket hh ?

no cream in the water,but the water is going to some place and i dont no were !!!

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 9:27 pm

I found quite a bit of wax in my rad cap, so after draining the coolant & washing out the rad, normal service resumed, now there is only a tiny bit & it's not mayo, deffo wax. I suspect that there was probably different types of coolant in the car which when they mixed caused wax to appear, a bit strange?

Mothman · Post by **Mothman** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 4:50 pm

If the head gasket has blown, wouldnt you see bubbles in the water if you ran the motor with the rad cap removed?
I had this problem with an earlier BX of mine and it used water for some time before it became a terminal problem. Blowing bubbles like a goodun it was.

Andy

Rgod · Post by **Rgod** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 12:19 pm

Hiii ,when the cap is of ,no bubbles.

I have changed the cap,and the loss of water is almost gone,this cap is better but i think i need to buy a new one and the problem will be gone,
now the fans start to work sometimes as i turn the switch on(the car is cold) ,they work at low speed,and sometimes they start at aboot 75 at low speed.

is that an electric problem ?before that when the car gut warm,the water was gone because the cap didnt hold the needed pressure,and the fans didnt kick in because the termo unit didnt now the tmp.

kiwi · Post by **kiwi** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 7:45 pm

My view on this is if you have changed the radiator cao and the water loss has gone and by that I suspect you have been overfilling anyways so loss is now limited to physics and expansion loss.

If you go looking for problems you are going to find them.