hey bought a s2 yesterday (my first 1 after numerous xrs) temp gauge was at about halfway but thought that was prob normal for a turbo (being it generates more heat etc), and thought nothing more of it. drove her 40 miles home, not a problem (open road so the air mustve cooled it). today in traffic she went right up to just below red (never went in red) and eventually she started to steam from the expantion tank. water looks ok, no discolouring (apart from coolant), no white sludge under oil filler cap, and no signs of water on dipstic (oil level ok). it was only after she overheated that i notice loads of blue smoke, which got worse. let her cool down, smoke still there but knowhere near as bad. any ideas? fan is working, and the isnt modified.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

just a few lil things, just been looking at it and me an me mate noticed the fan doesnt cut in till just above the n of 'norm' ie about 5mm below red. the car never 1ce went in red, even when she was steaming, always fluctuated around 5mm below red. could it be the fan temp sender thingy? maybe its because it isnt cutting in till 2 late??? when, according to the temp gauge, should the fan kick in? (on all of my xrs it was around the 1/2way mark)




also 1 last thing, what should the car be boosting at as the gauge shows a steady 0.6 bar (not sure what psi that is). i know she is fitted with a piper x filter and maxnex exhaust, and in the big pile of invoices i got with her it says something about a .31 actuator, but the actuator on the turbo looks pretty old to me. has she been turned up, causing it to run lean and detonate? what should she boost as standard?

please help cus i just forked out 2000 for her...

 

If it was me i'd flush the radiator,fill it with new anti freeze,fit a new stat and fan switch. Has the car been chipped ?

 

yeah as above fit a new thermostat and fan switch and see how it behaves. standard boost is about 7 psi i think so your only slightly above that at 0.6 bar ( about 8.5psi ) . standard ecu's will cut the ignition at about 10psi so i'm told ( never had a standard one)
a good idea with any turbocharged car is to have it set up straight away so you know it runs sweet.

 

0.6 bar is about right for a standard setup, you wont be able to run any more than 10psi because if its not chipped it will cut the boost. it shouldnt detonate or run lean if its been setup before, if not your best bet is to buy a chip and increase you boost abit, go to a tuner though to check the fueling

 

im paranoid about modifying the engine any more, like i sed i had 4 cvh's and they all blew up thru 1 reason or another. this 1 dont make any noises, but i dont wanna blow her up as she has doen 85,000 on the original turbo and engine. im gonna put the fan on constant to see if she overheats then, if she doesnt then ill know its that. fan temp tingy £9.70ish from ford....... the parts bloke even recognises my voice now lol

 

if you worried put a switch to the fan with a relay if you notice it get hot turn it on but if not the fan will still come in on the temperature sender switch.
you can get the a 12v relay from halfords which will come with wiring diagrammes

 

The fan normally should be able to bring the temperature down without any probs, are you sure the fan is turning the right direction? It might sound silly, but I've seen fans turning to blow air away from the radiator instead of blowing THROUGH......
Engine setup sounds standard to me. 1 PSi is about 0.07 bar.

Are you sure there's no leak in the cooling system? In case of a leak the coolant will "boil" at a much lower temperature compared to a correctly closed system.