mr2 cooling issue

[littleredrocket]

Had some loss of water had to fill up the cooling system yet again,due to the expansion tank bubbling up....

Have checked the pipes going to the radiator and they are cold,this surely cant be right can it!?
Any advice much appreciated on what to do next...
Si

[jimi]

Did you bleed the system after you filled it up ? if not you should do it now, this article explains how CLICKY

[littleredrocket]

after topping up i opened the top bleed valve on the radiator and also checked the heater bleed point both didnt have any air,both the pipes are cold going into and out of the radiator

[Kieran Williams]

i may be way off the mark here but are you sure your thermostat is not stuck shut?

[littleredrocket]

really have no idea,the temp gauge seems to work fine,how would i be able to check?

[MartG]

really have no idea,the temp gauge seems to work fine,how would i be able to check?

Temp sensor is on the engine side of the stat, so would show temp rising normally.

If the pipes to the rad are cold, it's 99% certain your thermostat has jammed shut - not a big job, though you will need to drain & refill the coolant

[littleredrocket]

ahhh bu88er!
i guess thats a job for the weekend,will i need a new thermostat?

[MartG]

Yep - can't remember if you need a gasket too ( I just used RTV sealant when I did mine )

[jimi]

after topping up i opened the top bleed valve on the radiator and also checked the heater bleed point both didnt have any air,both the pipes are cold going into and out of the radiator

That's not what I would call bleeding it properly, you may well have an airlock which could stop the coolant circulating properly.

[littleredrocket]

with coolent already in the system which valves would i need to open first?

[jimi]

If you follow the procedure in the article you shouldn't go wrong. There's no set order for opening the bleed valves, just attach the bleed pipes and open all 3, then follow the procedure from
"Refilling / Bleeding the Cooling System"

[littleredrocket]

thanks very much,i will try bleeding first then if that fails second option replace thermostat

[jimi]

It's pretty straightforward, sometimes you need to repeat it a couple of times to get rid of all the air. The same article covers changing the thermostat if it turns out to be that. Let us know how you get on.

[littleredrocket]

Have just had a go at it.
The pipe to the left of the radiator is now hot,it was cold before.
idle seems steady and gonna take it for a drive.

The radiator fans dont seem to come on when its hot.
I when i move the cables about on the right side of the rad the fans turn on and off intermittently and i hear a clicking noise coming from the relay,is this ok?

I will need some coolent as i think its mostly water in there,any particular recommendations?

[monkeymax]

I will need some coolent as i think its mostly water in there,any particular recommendations?

As Jimi's article he linked to says:

Use a good brand of ethylene-glycol base coolant mixed according to the manufacturer's directions

You can get that from any Motor Factor (including Halfords). Or you can use Toyota's Forlife, but any appropriate coolant should do (just check the base content is ethylene-glycol).

[jimi]

The radiator fans dont seem to come on when its hot.
I when i move the cables about on the right side of the rad the fans turn on and off intermittently and i hear a clicking noise coming from the relay,is this ok?

You'll find that the radiator fans very rarely run sommer or winter, the only time I've heard mine run in 5 years is when I unplugged the temperature sensor on the radiator to prove to myself the fans actually worked If you want to check them your self, you just need to unplug the sensor that's on the top right of the radiator and the fans should run continuously.
as Max says any decent ethylene-glycol coolant will be fine, I use Halfords Advanced.
If your going to put coolant in, I'd start from scratch and drain the system completely, then follow what it says in the article and give everything a good flush with a hose before adding the new coolant and bleeding.
Apart from anything else it will work wonders for your heater.
For all it costs you might want to consider changing the thermostat at the same time.

[littleredrocket]

Just got back from newbury and had a few problems.

Fine on the way up there about 40 min drive.
On the way back the needle nearly hit the red to which point i pulled over and turned the engine off,managed to make it back home,seems to have lost all the water,and as i was driving back the idle was bouncy and a metallic sound coming from the engine bay.....

opened up the bonnet lid,and there was steam coming from the side of the engine,looked like it was coming from the head



im fearing the worst right now

[littleredrocket]

just added this to show where the steam was coming from

[MartG]

That's the coolant outlet from the head - you may be lucky and have just blown the gasket for the outlet - unlikely though

[littleredrocket]

i did notice that the black stuff was bubbling a little,i topped up all the water tonight and left the car running with no overheating at all....might i have been lucky im not sure