Radiator fans not spinning up & water from exhaust

[finlay666]

So my car is (semi) fixed, central locking is sorted (there was no fuse so it was disabled, shame the remote fob broke lol) and it now has a nice new radiator

Only now the radiator fan doesn't seem to spin up, neither do the interior fans, not a huge huge issue as there is a working radiator now but a little worrying (temp levels seemed ok)

Other thing I noticed is there is water dripping from the exhaust, a fairly steady drip when idling and going faster when revved.

Could the water from the exhaust be a sign of a cracked head/head gasket? Little bit concerned that running the car as I did (even though for a very short period of time) could have damaged it, or if that caused it to go in the first place.... if it is then I guess it's time to look at another new car! (I have checked the oil cap and it's not milky, and the radiator itself isn't leaking)

[GoNz0]

if your not losing water its just condensation and quite common, the backbox will be full below the pipe

[finlay666]

Yeah I think it might just be condensation, my old man reckons it could be the gasket.... but with no milky residue I'm not 100%

I'm going to keep an eye on it over the next week or so to see how it goes

Any ideas about the radiator fans? I have intermittent fans in the car (no air con...but it doesnt bother me) but doubt they are connected unless it's a loose connection

[GoNz0]

if the rad fans dont work chance is you killed the thermostat thats on the rad, assuming you swapped it over ?

on the other hand the old rad could have been so full of crap its flow was restricted and the new one isnt so its working ok without having to cut in the fan.

sit in the car with the heater off and rev it at 2000rpm until it gets hot and see if the fan kicks in.

[finlay666]

Well the temp gauge seems to work on the dash, there wasn't anything left on the rad that wasn't removed

The thermostat could have been killed, is there a way to check, like a micrometer?
I ran it for 20 mins on a run (to see if the exhaust was still dripping), when I stopped aside from no more dripping the fans never came on and I was giving it some beans on the back roads, there were a LOT of fans on the old rad missing so maybe it is running fine.

I'll mention it when I go get the handbrake cables changed over as they are pretty stretched (not willing to work on the handbrake myself as I don't feel confident enough)

[GoNz0]

oh m8 handbrake cables are haynes level 1 ! ffs. man up, get under the car and get them done

anyway thrashing the car with wind hitting the rad is no guarentee on kicking in a fan, maybe a thrashing then pull up and hold the revs above 2k until you see the needle move over its normal mark. if it gets to 3/4 and no fans kick in there is a problem.

if the thermostats faulty it will overcool or overheat and never sit in the normal position, same with a faulty temp sender unit, stuck on or off if its shagged, very rare it does anything else.

go overheat it, thrash it round, pull up and hold the revs halfway until the needle shifts enough to kick in the fans.

[finlay666]

oh m8 handbrake cables are haynes level 1 ! ffs. man up, get under the car and get them done

The haynes manual for my car doesnt seem to exist, I have the US version but the car is quite different to what it suggests (and a Rover 600 manual is pricey and a bit of a PITA to get hold of, but i'll probably get one at some point, getting the replacement remote fobs atm)

I don't have a way to get the car up, it's not the work involved, it's the fact I have no way of getting my car up to work underneath it/any specialist tools I need (having done rad myself, timing belts etc with friends who had the kit for getting the car up and to change the belt... but no longer live in the area so I can't borrow their kit for a pint)

[finlay666]

Well after a run down some back(ish) roads to the shops and back the radiator fans were spinning up which is good

Downside is having checked the levels when I stopped the radiator top up reservoir was dry, topped it up and going to check the water level in the radiator when it has cooled off in a bit

Is this indicative of having a leaky hose, tempted to take it to a garage to get a professional to have a look at it now

[GoNz0]

you could have finally got the thermostat fully open and bled the system. its often difficult to get a system bled. obviously if it keeps losing water you have an issue and may have warped the head or have a leak, leaks are easy to spot, you have puddles of water under the car when you stop!

[finlay666]

I'm hoping it's just the issue of bleeding and not warped the head

Started looking at other cars, I guess a week with semi-regular use on short journeys will be enough to know if the head is warped or not?

Spotted a 523i and a few astra/vectra SRi's that looks rather nice that I might have a look at and try to trade in the Accord against come payday