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E6J cooling problems

briera2

Member
First off, I apologise for the length of this (saga) but I am totally stuck and want to give as much detail as I can.

Well I have a couple of weeks to work on my 11 again and I'd really like to get it running properly. As I've mentioned before it has an E7J engine in it with a carb setup so really it's an E6J. I've been having major problems with the cooling system. The fan doesn't come on and when it hits the 3/4 mark on the temp gauge it starts hissing and leaking coolant around the thermostat housing.

What I've tried so far: Originally using the old cleon radiator but the pipes were butchered to match and on the wrong side. I thought maybe the piping was too long or something so I bought a 19 radiator (from the scrap yard), a new thermostat and unfortunately only megane top and bottom rad hoses. They had to be butchered to accept a bleed screw and to make the lower one straight. I used copper pipe for this. If I short the fan switch wiring the fan runs. To be honest I haven't waited long enough to test if this solves it. I'm afraid to run to the engine too long in case it explodes or something. I've also tested the switch in boiling water and it works to pass current through when hot.

Needless to say I am no closer to solving this problem. I thought maybe head gasket but there is no mixing of oil and coolant. Hopefully I'm correct here although there is a lot of pressure in the system it seems!

Now I have two original rad hoses on order from Renault in France as I don't trust the excessive screw clamps and copper pipping. Too many changes in pipe thickness. Also I've just realised that the fan switch I'm using is from the 11 and may be too long to allow water flow pass it.

Before I go any further with testing and potentially damaging the engine I'm going to list the layout of where all the pipes are connected. I hope this is understandable and not too much info or too much to ask!

On the radiator - Top hose - Connects to the thermostat housing (thermostat spring is pointing toward the engine). This area splits to two smaller pipes. *One goes to the top of the expansion bottle. *One to the lower pipe on the firewall to interior matrix.

Bottom rad pipe - This goes to the lower pipe on the engine block. Splits to two smaller hoses. *Straight through pipe (larger) goes to bottom of expansion tank. *Other t-piece goes to the intake manifold on the drivers side beside the brake fluid reservoir.

The other lower hose on the expansion bottle goes to the upper pipe on the firewall to interior matrix. No water pipes to the carb. Is there a difference between piping on an E6J and E7J? For some reason the megane's E7J system is a completely different layout and I know nobody with a 19 to compare.

Again, I am very sorry to ask all this. I am at a total loss for months now and this is incredibly frustrating!!
 
Sorry for the very late reply. I had account issues after changing email address and exams etc. so I left the car again. I've just got a new rad and both upper and lower rad hoses (from France). Still the exact same problem. Bottom rad hose is hot, top is cold. If I open the bleed screw on the rad or top hose water spurts out with no bubbles once the engine is warm. Fan never comes on but I've tested the switch in a pot of boiling water and I can short the wires to the switch but no matter the rad is stone cold. Also I let it heat up with the expansion cap off (it's brown by the way) and within 5 minutes it was boiling. The rocker cover on the engine was scalding as well. I don't know about the energy engine but it certainly takes the volvo 480 a hell of a lot longer to get that hot. It's as if the water isn't circulating yet in the bottle it looks like it as soon as the engine is running. Also when I open the bleed screws the water is warm but not boiling like the rest of the system.
 
I have loads of hoses, in fact binned loads but there you go. No bleed screw is needed it was done away with in the megane as it was superfluous.

Sounds like the pump isn't pumping tbh.

The small hose to the top of the bottle should flow coolant all the time until the stat opens but they are often blocked.
 
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