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[Smiddy]

Changed the header tank last Friday which seems to have helped very slightly but its still getting too warm if left to idle or doing 30-40mph it will hit 100.

When doing about 60mph its fine and sit at bit over 90 where it should.

After I changed the tank the other day I let the car run up to temp and noticed the fan doesnt kick in till it gets to 100, I am guessing it should kick in way before that? It doesnt seem to stay on very long either, only cools it down slightly

When I got home the other night I could hear the fan running when I got out of the car (engine was off) but it gone off by the time I walked to the front of the car.

Could this just be the radiator fan switch?

I went out in the car on Sat did about 40 miles of 30 - 60 mph roads temp was going up in the 30 zones down in the 60 zones, checked the coolant that night and it hadnt gone down at all, yet the other night when I went out it managed to empty the header tank and screen was showing check coolant  :-? Hasnt seem to lost any more yet so maybe the new tank has helped with that.

Any suggestions welcome 

If it is the radiator fan switch I found one on buypartsby.co.uk part number INT50195, could someone just confirm that its the right one for my 98 3.0 V6 Elite it seems to list a few of them on the site.

Cheers,
Dave

[Big_Roger]

Hi,
How long has this problem been coming on?
 
If gradual, my first thoughts are that the radiator is partially blocked. Can you try and feel if there are any cool areas on the matrix of the radiator. There may be only a third of the tubes clear.

If onset was very sudden, I would suspect thermostat only partially opening.

Does the water coming out feel cooler than the water going in at the top.

Some of the old fashioned radiator repair places could run hot water through to see if any cool areas, but with the advent of all the aluminium non repairable radiators now used, they are now few and far between.

The fan coming on at near 100 may be a red herring, it may be sited where the radiator is choked up so not getting early warning of temp rise.

There is nothing too unusual about the fan still running for a minute or so after switching off the engine.

HTH

Roger

[Smiddy]

Hi Roger, as far as I know it has been happening a little while (iv only had the car 2 weeks) and its been doing it since I have had it.

It did have the oil cooler problem a while back and that was changed so maybe it has clogged up the radiator, although the system was run up and drained a few times.

I will take it for a run later and see if i can feel any cool spots on the radiator as you suggested.

[sneakypenguin]

What I suggest you could do is empty the coolant out, put a few drops of fairy liquid in, top up with water and run it for 10-15 mins with the cap off the expansion tank. I did this on mine a few months ago and rubbish and crud that came out was astonishing. Be sure to throughly flush all the fairy liquid out before replacing the coolant