Sad day. 216,967 miles but no more.

[HighwayStar]

It doesn't account for the air in the system though......

[4ndee]

Fans not controlled by coolant temp sensor is it? Or is there a fan switch on the radiator. I know when I rebuilt mine there was air in it for a while afterwRds. They are a pain to bleed.

[HighwayStar]

Well Luke had it back and he's run it round for a few days. He's changed the fan relay and bled it again (nothing to bleed the second time after a days tootling about) then I've had it back a day and temps are rising to about 2/3-3/4 up...again... particularly going slowly in traffic though it appears fine at speed.
Haven't had the sniffer redone yet but frankly I'm not sure I can be bothered anymore. Whatever the result it doesn't really help me so it's looking like that's well over a grand spent and no car at the end.
Frankly I'm in a bit of a sulk. Ollie you were right and I've made the wrong choice.
Just seems a hideous shame 12 years of joyful ownershio have ended so bitterly... and more importantly I suppose, expensively.

[4ndee]

Sounds Luke the fans not cutting in

[HighwayStar]

Does it?
Took it out again this afternoon and gave it another damn good thrashing.... cruising 70-90 it behaves quite well, there's a little movement of the needle, say between a bar and a half on the gauge depending on speed, revs etc but as soon as I came off and slowed to 30-40 up it went. Still only to about 3/4 though, no higher. I pulled over and could hear no fans. Could it just be a little air left after the work and a loose fan connection or something else just stopping the fans from starting?
What is the fan system by the way... how many fans are there and would their demise cause the symptoms I'm getting? Maybe the relay is sound but there is a loose connection elsewhere.

[4ndee]

yeah when your driving fast the air cools the radiator. as soon as you slow down the air flow is reduced causing it to not cool as much, if the fan isn't cutting in it won't cool down, and you don't want to get a new headgasket hot.

[HighwayStar]

How many fans are there though and does a rise of 4/5 bars sound about right if they weren't functioning?

[matt-mr2]

my rev 1 had 1 fan ,it stopped working so the car kept overheating i replaced it and there was no problems after that

[4ndee]

2 fans, sounds about right. Remove the plastic trim in the frunk and find the connection to the fan

[uglee]

How old and what make is your water pump, and how long has the radiator been fitted?

If your water pump is below par, low revs could mean it cannot pump enough water around the system to cool it. Using higher revs means the pump is able to push more water through hence the temps come down.

If the pump is fine, get yourself down low down to the floor just behind the front wheels when the car is idling, when the fan kicks in it you should feel toasty hot air coming out. If it's anything less it's possible the cooling alleys of the radiator are furred up meaning the radiator cannot get rid of the hot water as efficiently as possible.

If you have a working cooling fan system, let the car idle and within 10-15mins from cold the fans should kick in. you'll hear it. I'm sure that side of the system will have been checked at the garage when you've been having issues though.

The symptons you describe doesn't strike me as HG failure, although they can vary greatly. To me it just sounds like it cannot get the heat out of the system fast enough.

Keep the faith!

[4ndee]

I would assume the pump was done when the head was done.

[HighwayStar]

It was actually done before the H/G as a possible cause... done with a brand new Toyota one. Rad was changed maybe 3 yrs ago. Not new but a good condition rev4 from GTS Chris I think I recall.

[Charged]

Just seems a hideous shame 12 years of joyful ownershio have ended so bitterly... and more importantly I suppose, expensively.

Doesn't have to be a hideous shame mate.. new engine and off you go for another 100K..

Whatever you do at this stage is going to cost money and better the devil and all that..

[uglee]

It was actually done before the H/G as a possible cause... done with a brand new Toyota one. Rad was changed maybe 3 yrs ago. Not new but a good condition rev4 from GTS Chris I think I recall.

Out of interest is it possible to find out what make the water pump was?

[HighwayStar]

Says in the quote fella if you read it.... genuine Toyota. If you mean the old one just replaced I assume it was the original!

[Driftlimits Performance]

All will be well

[HighwayStar]

[slipping clutch]

Keep the faith Rob

[HighwayStar]

Well I have it back again....
Now has the twin fan turbo set up, yet another new 'stat' cos the last one wasn't working properly (less than 1mth old) and a new 'ignitor'? Apparently it stores charge from the king lead and was in the worst shape of any old component Luke had ever seen that still worked. Nothing to do with temps but likely the cause of my poor cold & damp starting.
I'll be rolling it out to feed it some beans after the qualifying this afternoon so keep your fingers crossed for me.

[riot68]

fingers crossed...