the temp gauge on my saph goes up to the 'o' on norm,it doesn't go over that but after owning 4 other cossies i know this is high,the fan doesnt seem to b coming on but sometimes after a run when i turn my engine off the fans kick in?!?! Q1-why is my temp so high?....Q2-is the fan fault electrical or maybe fan swith?. also the heat coming out of my heaters is only luke warm despite the high engine temp,any ideas...cheers

 

My Sapphire sits between the 'R' and the 'O' of NORM, I'm basically running Stage 3, with RS500 Intercooler, swirl pot and breather system.

If Im driving out on the open road it will sit just in the centre of the R but if if I'm stoping and starting and going under 50Kph it will fluctuate between the 'R' and the 'O'. My fans kick in at the top of the 'O' so often if I dont let my car cool down before I turn it off they will kick in and bring the temperature back down.

 

hi i got a stage 1 saff and when it up to right temp it goes up to the r in norm and been like that 4 a year with no trouble. runs a little cooler now with winter coming though if that any help.

 

as long as its not overheating dont worry could be worth replacing fan switch and thermostat

 

repalce the lot its cheap as chips from ford.
temp sender in the head is about 9 quid
thermostat is about 11 quid
fan switch is about a tenner.
couple of liters of coolant and the jobs a goodun

 

Do you have the finnis codes for those parts by any chance mate?
And does the Temp Sender require any major work to change or is it easily accesible?
Cheers.

 

pretty easy to change its on the left hand side of the head in front of the exhaust manifold.

just go into ford they will have them no probs...

 

Is that pretty much all I'd need to do renew my cooling system mate?.
I've got a full set of new Samco hoses and have just flushed my radiator.

 

yeah that and maybe a new water pump?? lol

 

cheers all for the quick replys and advice

 

Hi All,
I have owned the same 2WD sapphire for nearly six years now and have replaced the temp senders on quite a few occasions. I have found that there is a big discrepancy over the resistance values of the temp senders, these senders work on a NTC principle, which means that as the water temperature increases the resistance decreases and this will obviously effect the overall reading of the temperature gauge.
I had the same one in the car for a few years and that one used to read between the N & O of NORM the next one read a bit below that, The current one I have fitted now reads a lot higher at between R & M.
For peace of mind I have very accurate additional temperature monitoring which covers all my engine parameters. The water temp in the cylinder head is around 85 degrees C in normal use, give or take a few degrees on thermostat operation. When sat at idle the fans will cut in at 96 degrees C and will trip in and out quite frequently if sat in traffic.
Personally I think it is wise to have another means of keeping an eye on water temp if you dont trust your standard temp gauge, bearing in mind an increase in water temperature will also affect your engine oil temperature!

CheeRS, Mike.

 

second that as i have changes a few senders aswell

 

def check ur fan relay,you may find that it has been overheating and thus causing it to switch on only now and then.just over Ł8 to replace.(its the yellow one in the fusebox)

 

nice to know the temp is not uncommon,i think ill get an additional temp gauge(suggested by vyper developments )fitted at the weekend just to keep a second eye on things,also when i give her some welly i can smell oil but she doesnt smoke,and doesnt use any(always just under max)???any ideas

 

poss leaking exhaust manifold at turbo letting fuems into the car via heaters??

 

Get a Secs monitor. See what tempurature it actually is

 

can you fit a secs monitor to a l8 ecu?how much roughly are these fitted?

 

that is the most disturbing aspect of your problem. it doesn't matter a great deal what the temperature gauge is showing, as it is not really accurate. however, provided that the air flap is moving fully to the hot position, you should get hot air out of the vents.

if you do not, it suggests that you don't have full coolant flow through your heater core. that can be one of two things.

1) the core is blocked with old antifreeze and crap so doesn't flow properly

2) you have an air lock

check 1 by flushing it through with a hose pipe at low pressure. if blocked, fill with drain cleaner and back flush several times

if 2, you need to bleed air out from the top hose when the thermostat is open. this may well affect the temperature reading, as the air lock could cover the sensor, but it won't affect the running of the fans as they switch from the radiator. if the air lock is in the head though, the thermostat may not open correctly.

in any case, an air lock is bad news as it will cause hot spots in the head that could give you all sorts of problems

 

is poor heat or no heat thru the heaters not a sign of head gasket failure too?

 

Hi All,
in regards to the last post I have known other cars have poor heater performance due to head gasket problems, this often manifests itself when the car is on idle but if you drive the car over 2500 rpm it the heater seems to be ok. try backflushing the heater core with a hose pipe and make sure the flow is about the same coming out as going in. after that refill the cooling system and run up the engine to temp and check that both heater hoses are hot.

CheeRS, Mike

 

it can be yes, because the combustion pressure can be leaking into the waterways and causing effectively an air lock in the head. look for ballooning of the the expansion tank.

 

or simply change your heater matrix tenner from a scrappy..