Pre trackday advice

[GaryR1980]

Hiya guys..

Looking for a little advice here,
I picked my car up a week ago from Radical as an approved used car that had been checked over.
For 1 reason and another I dropped it off in my garage and didn't give it a second thought until today,
I started it up this morning for the very first time since I've owned it while moving some wheels etc around the garage.

I noticed a large puddle appear under the car after about 5 minutes, had a look inside and the steering wheel was flashing "hot" and the water temp was on 95degrees.

I've had to run off back to work but this is playing on my mind,

I assume an SR4 will have a radiator cooling fan to keep things cool when stationary?

Do any of you think there is a problem that needs addressing?


Thanks

Gary

[GaryR1980]

Just been thinking.
Fan or no fan there shouldn't really be enough pressure in the system at those temps to force its way past the coolant tank cap so perhaps thats at fault?

[Steve57]

Unless someone has fitted a fan i doubt there is one, i dont have one on my clubsport and TBH doesnt cause any real issues apart from bringing it up to temp for a noise test where i have to monitor it closer.

saying that, i have on a couple of occasions been sidetracked and found it around 95 degrees so quickly switched off and never lost any coolant. was it definatelty from the header tank?

[MindBend]

Fan makes the world of difference. (on my SR8, at least)
The temp rises to about 95°C, when the ECU tells the fan to come on, then the temp starts dropping.

Mine did NOT have one on from factory, but does not and should absolutely have it!
Give it a try.

[BertBert]

So the temp will go up as there almost certainly isn't a fan. Having said that, 95 is hot enough to trigger the "hot" alarm, but it's not that hot. I'd certainly not expect coolant to be coming out because of it. I'd locate the source of the leak and see what's going on.

We've changed header tank caps before - they don't seem terribly reliable.

Bert

[MindBend]

Yes, the coolant overflow tank would be my first guess. I think you UK'ers call it a "swirl pot"...yes?

[mnrvortxf20c]

gaz mine was getting hot qickly at idle,but i noticed levels were low. i flushed it out last weekend with some rad flush,new coolant and temps are now more stable.i have no fan and temps not an issue on track!

[GaryR1980]

It's not really the temp that's bothering me tbh,
More the coolant pissing out the bottom of the car.
Unfortunately I've been busy today and a wedding tomorrow so I won't get to check it out until Sunday.
I'm expecting to to be a simple fix.

How did you get on at Blyton Dan?

[mnrvortxf20c]

id flush it ad re fill to correct levels as it shouldn't heat up so quick! no need for a fan if temps are stable.
i can honestly say ive never experienced anything like it before.its not a sports car like a 7. its a race car,and it grips,changes direction,brakes,and goes like nothing ive ever been in. ive previously done a few thousand road miles and 2 half day trackdays in 7 type cars before today and other than a 1440 busa poewered car, nothing passed me all day. it was my firs ever time to blyon and my first time ever in the car. youll get a massive shock mate.massive!

[radical78]

if rad filled a cold engine right to the top you then left it running with no airflow it would blow the exess out of the overflow when it warmed up

[andylaurence]

I assume you had the water pump on, right? If not, you can ignore what's on the gauge as that'll be somewhere other than in the engine where the coolant is overheating...