jacko
New member
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2007
- Messages
- 2,840
work in progress
pics coming soon
the thermostat opens at a set temperature (usually stamped on it!) (can be tested by placing in a freshly boiled kettle) and allows coolant to the radiator when the engine (coolant) becomes hot. sounds boring but dont forget the internal combustion engine is 30% efficient. the other 70% is HEAT and some noise. so that little thermostat is coping with approx 300bhp of heat in an frp at full chat!!!!!!
it lives under the inlet manifold next to / under the alternator and is a complete *&(%$&* to get to! esp if youv got aircon. it feeds 2 pipes; one to the radiator and a smaller one to the heater control valve from a plastic (yep! be careful!) manifold. the hcv pipe bypasses the 'stat.
iv found it best to use ford parts as others dont always have a thick enough rubber gasket (useful!), its under a tenner and a few hours with plenty of cups of tea. its not very hard just fiddly!
is the stat faulty?
if its died & stuck closed you will fry your engine & the radiator will be freezing to touch
if its died & its open lucky you cos its just bad mpg rather than a fried engine! engine temp will be in lower readings always and radiator will be warm almost instantly.....
OH DEAR GOD! youve just noticed the gauge is in the red!!!!!!!! TURN OFF ENGINE & pull over ASAP.....ASAP!!!! undo coolant cap a little (CAREFUL OF BURNS, VERY CAREFUL). do not let liquid escape, undo a little more etc etc, remove oil cap too......you want to allow the engine to cool asap but SLOWLY. with an alloy head and block if they cool down slowly together and you keep your fingers crossed the head gasket will be fine..... DO NOT THROW WATER ON THE ENGINE.
the puma temp gauge should always be bang on in the middle within 10mins of running the car; if not keep an eye on it as it might be giving you notice of the stat dying.....(sometimes a dead hcv can play with the gauge tho but god only knows how!)
emergency? remove stat; keep outer casing but rip out inner 'switch'; replace.....car will run fine (cold & bad mpg but will get you where your going)
TO REMOVE;
locate
remove drivers side light to aid access
undo radiator cradle and allow to hang (allows small movement of radiator to get to fiddly bits
remove alternator!
(remove belt cover(under car), lock tensioner with spanners & take up slack in belt; careful not to be too hard as you will shear the tensioner off!
do a drawing of the belt for refitting later
wiggle belt off, undo positive terminal on battery, undo alternator plug and bolt on positive feed, remove alternator top bolts x2; tilt right hand down & pull out wiggling past other parts)
if theres a 3rd bolt you may need to lower / release the radiator (so u can move it a little) it sits on a cradle under the car behind bumper....2 bolts hold it to chassis rail at either end....pop it off, let rad hang loose & should giv u plenty of room
when refitting get a friend to help u locate rad at holes in slam panel while u locate & bolt cradle back on....
piccy; thermostat housing
remove hoseclips with pliers / maul grips, remove hoses & catch coolant. do not reuse and discard of properly (sorry i dont know where...anyone?)
what does the coolant look like? if it has an oily film then it could be bad news for your head gasket.
undo 4x 10mm bolts
remove old stat noting which way round it goes....
check stat and seal against new one....
fit new one
make sure seal in plastic manifold is good & clean
refit
piccy; correct layout of aux belt on a 1.7 with aircon
to get the belt back on use a little 'persuasion' and push the belt onto the crank pulley whilst using a 19mm spanner to turn the crank (always tighten).....will slowly work its way on with a little 'persuasion'
adding coolant;
er....mix coolant 50/50 with deionised water (not the limescale ridden rubbish i get in my taps) and poor into coolant tank until upto correct level.
run engine. hopefully the level will drop as engine warms up, fan comes on etc but it prob wont & your heater prob wont work either!!!! (its a crap plumbing system & you get air pockets everywhere.....)
run car with coolant cap on, use throttle to get it very warm on gauge, turn off engine, slowly (and carefully) remove coolant cap; you will see the coolant bubble as the pressure differences suck air out of the system. top up when cool.
Repeat, using throttle will force coolant around the system; you should be getting warm air from the vents now.....let engine warm, top up etc.
you should also be checking the thermostat is opening at 3/4 hot by placing hand on radiator (back one; front is aircon); be careful. the fan should also be working.
this will get it 90%.....test drive the car.....top up etc
keep a tub of mixed coolant in the boot for a month & check twice a week. it will be fine by the end of the month. garages can use a vaccum system to suck the coolant round / suck air out but with the puma its still crap! just carry some spare coolant for a while.
tada! other than being fiddly & getting air pockets its very simple
also a good time to replace the hcv; heater control valve seeing as youv got most of the coolant out to do this.....
pics coming soon
the thermostat opens at a set temperature (usually stamped on it!) (can be tested by placing in a freshly boiled kettle) and allows coolant to the radiator when the engine (coolant) becomes hot. sounds boring but dont forget the internal combustion engine is 30% efficient. the other 70% is HEAT and some noise. so that little thermostat is coping with approx 300bhp of heat in an frp at full chat!!!!!!
it lives under the inlet manifold next to / under the alternator and is a complete *&(%$&* to get to! esp if youv got aircon. it feeds 2 pipes; one to the radiator and a smaller one to the heater control valve from a plastic (yep! be careful!) manifold. the hcv pipe bypasses the 'stat.
iv found it best to use ford parts as others dont always have a thick enough rubber gasket (useful!), its under a tenner and a few hours with plenty of cups of tea. its not very hard just fiddly!
is the stat faulty?
if its died & stuck closed you will fry your engine & the radiator will be freezing to touch
if its died & its open lucky you cos its just bad mpg rather than a fried engine! engine temp will be in lower readings always and radiator will be warm almost instantly.....
OH DEAR GOD! youve just noticed the gauge is in the red!!!!!!!! TURN OFF ENGINE & pull over ASAP.....ASAP!!!! undo coolant cap a little (CAREFUL OF BURNS, VERY CAREFUL). do not let liquid escape, undo a little more etc etc, remove oil cap too......you want to allow the engine to cool asap but SLOWLY. with an alloy head and block if they cool down slowly together and you keep your fingers crossed the head gasket will be fine..... DO NOT THROW WATER ON THE ENGINE.
the puma temp gauge should always be bang on in the middle within 10mins of running the car; if not keep an eye on it as it might be giving you notice of the stat dying.....(sometimes a dead hcv can play with the gauge tho but god only knows how!)
emergency? remove stat; keep outer casing but rip out inner 'switch'; replace.....car will run fine (cold & bad mpg but will get you where your going)
TO REMOVE;
locate
remove drivers side light to aid access
undo radiator cradle and allow to hang (allows small movement of radiator to get to fiddly bits
remove alternator!
(remove belt cover(under car), lock tensioner with spanners & take up slack in belt; careful not to be too hard as you will shear the tensioner off!
do a drawing of the belt for refitting later
wiggle belt off, undo positive terminal on battery, undo alternator plug and bolt on positive feed, remove alternator top bolts x2; tilt right hand down & pull out wiggling past other parts)
if theres a 3rd bolt you may need to lower / release the radiator (so u can move it a little) it sits on a cradle under the car behind bumper....2 bolts hold it to chassis rail at either end....pop it off, let rad hang loose & should giv u plenty of room
when refitting get a friend to help u locate rad at holes in slam panel while u locate & bolt cradle back on....
piccy; thermostat housing
remove hoseclips with pliers / maul grips, remove hoses & catch coolant. do not reuse and discard of properly (sorry i dont know where...anyone?)
what does the coolant look like? if it has an oily film then it could be bad news for your head gasket.
undo 4x 10mm bolts
remove old stat noting which way round it goes....
check stat and seal against new one....
fit new one
make sure seal in plastic manifold is good & clean
refit
piccy; correct layout of aux belt on a 1.7 with aircon
to get the belt back on use a little 'persuasion' and push the belt onto the crank pulley whilst using a 19mm spanner to turn the crank (always tighten).....will slowly work its way on with a little 'persuasion'
adding coolant;
er....mix coolant 50/50 with deionised water (not the limescale ridden rubbish i get in my taps) and poor into coolant tank until upto correct level.
run engine. hopefully the level will drop as engine warms up, fan comes on etc but it prob wont & your heater prob wont work either!!!! (its a crap plumbing system & you get air pockets everywhere.....)
run car with coolant cap on, use throttle to get it very warm on gauge, turn off engine, slowly (and carefully) remove coolant cap; you will see the coolant bubble as the pressure differences suck air out of the system. top up when cool.
Repeat, using throttle will force coolant around the system; you should be getting warm air from the vents now.....let engine warm, top up etc.
you should also be checking the thermostat is opening at 3/4 hot by placing hand on radiator (back one; front is aircon); be careful. the fan should also be working.
this will get it 90%.....test drive the car.....top up etc
keep a tub of mixed coolant in the boot for a month & check twice a week. it will be fine by the end of the month. garages can use a vaccum system to suck the coolant round / suck air out but with the puma its still crap! just carry some spare coolant for a while.
tada! other than being fiddly & getting air pockets its very simple
also a good time to replace the hcv; heater control valve seeing as youv got most of the coolant out to do this.....