Guys

Ive taken the 3 door on its maiden voyage today, but after a little driving the temp gauge was well over the half way mark but below the red, i popped the heater on and and the temp dropped after a while and just remained just slightly over half way with the heater on.

I got home and checked the fans and they didnt/dont come on at all even when the temp is quiet high.

I pulled the plug off the red? sensor/stat screwed into the bottom of the rad and linked the plug out, and now the fans run continously,

So my question is;

Is it the red? sensor/stat in the bottom of the rad?

Thanks in advance.

 

Steve i have a spare fan switch if you want to try that mate

 

likely to be fan switch; i understand they come on at 87 deg

 

wiring at the plug onto the switch is also a favourite for failing.

 

Misreading temp gauges are std on fords, MAY be nothing more than that, but for cheap piece of mind you need a new fans switch, and a REWIRE of the crappy fan wiring, with new relay etc, the ford stuff was junk when it was new and overloaded, so a hours work will have it good.
tabetha

 

Just thinking out loud.
If the temp sender has been cooked at some point they often read wrong, but downward not up. So that is why the rewire that Tab mentions is so popular as it will bypass the fuse box and run from its own relay. Some (like me) also have an overide switch for safety. I also wired in an LED to flash at me to get my attention.

If you remove the wiring and simply run a power cable and earth with a bulb in the circuit you can check if the sensor is off when cold... if so its the wiring thats the problem mate - good luck

 

Could possibly be the fusebox to as these tend to have a melt down

 

Steve,when i bought it i was told that field checked the temp sender and it was faulty and it read high.i had one on order when you bought it but sold car before it arrived.
As you say,the gauge reads a little high,but the fans do not come on,although if you let it idle they will come on,which suggests the fan switch is ok.
Change the temp sender first.

mark

 

mine stopped working a while back and mine was due to the fuse melting in the fuse box.
took mine to local garage and was quick repair,had it rewired at the same time.
it works fine now

 

Even on new cars they had trouble with the fuse getting HOT, was very bad of ford to put cars out like this, vaux did the same with overloaded HRS's on some cars!!
tabetha

 

clearly it's the rad fan switch (the one in the radiator itself) as you've bridged the wiring to it and everything else works. replace it and everything else will be fine, but it's worth replacing the whole wiring, relay and fuse as they were inadequate from the factory as mentioned

the temp sender in the head (exhaust side) is only for the gauge (nothing to do with the fans or the ecu)

the blue temp sensor underneath the inlet manifold at the back is only for the ecu (cold start fuelling etc), again nothing to do with the fans or the temp gauge

 

Cheers for the help guys, it was the rad temp switch, but how high should the gauge be when the fans come on, mine comes on at 3/4 roughly but below the red, is this normal?

Cheers

 

that's normal steve, don't worry

 

Most of mine have come on around half way but those gauges are not the most accurate at the best of times. No worries imo as well mate

 

Cheers guys

 

Mine comes on just at the top of the "O".
tabetha