finally got my tax and mot earlier, so my RS is now fully legal, so i went out for a drive, not booting it, just taking it steady........ but after i got home i let the car idle to cool down, but i decided to let it idle for alot longer (15 mins) to see how hot the new engine would get, the needle didnt move over half way or there abouts but all of a sudden i had a load of steam start coming out of the bonnet, the temp gauge was still normal, but when i popped the bonnet i found i had a small crack in the top of the header tank (expansion tank), where the steam/water was spraying from.

could this be caused by the car running too lean/rich on idle??? the revs are also a bit low on idle. i will be getting the fueling checked/setup tomorrow @ Race Power Motorsport (norfleet, kent), but not run up for atleast another 500 miles. I need to know if the idle fueling could have caused this or could there be something else? it had a new head gasket and head bolts fitted recently, so i know these are fine, and i done a compression check after fitting the engine a few days ago, all was fine and in uniform.

 

i have seen s2,s get hot with a low co at idle but the gauge was rising aswell,i,d say its just a simple case of a crack in your header tank finally giving way.i take it that its a plastic type.the standard plastic cozzy tanks do this as well and you can actually see the "i,m just about to burst fracture lines on the tank surface" .
try a new tank or better still upgrade to an alloy or stainless steel one

 

that sounds like a plan, nice new bling bit!!!! ATM ive got an xr3i one on there but its an efi one so it should be mounted on the right hand side of the bonnet (whilst looking at it), just temporarily to get me out of trouble

 

My old one looked shit, and had a few fracture lines, I replaced it with a brand new ford item whilst I could Will be going alloy eventually

 

i think this might be a bit more than a old header tank!!!! just driven up the road to get some petrol, all fine but when i pulled up outside my house i sat and idled for a few mins and i noticed the temp gauge was getting really really hot (about 1 mm away from the red), then just as i was about to turn the ignition off sh!t loads of steam came out from under the bonnet!! after the steam passed i popped the bonnet to find a split in the thin water hose that goes onto the turbo.

now im thinking, definately fueling prob as the car also doesnt idle after its been running for a min or two and also it could be getting hotter as i have still got an xr3i bonnet on there (getting a new vented s2 one soon).

Was booked in to get it setup on the rollers tomorrow aswell, just my luck!! now i need to get another pipe quick and think of an excuse to have the day off work.

any more ideas on the car prob???

 

i just found out why the hose split, where i still had the heat proofing on the bonnet, one of the bulges was pushing the boost hose down onto the water hose and the metal elbow that feeds the water has cut through the hose, where they join together.......so that prob is sorted but why is the car getting so hot??