Overheated!

[cdnp62000]

I drove my 1970 series 2 OTS home on the highway after having it serviced in a city about 110 km away.
1/2 hour into the trip I noticed my gauges quit working and assumed I would have a fuse to check when I got home.
Awhile after that I had to wait in queue for road work. It didn't take long before until i noticed heat waves from the bonnet vents and then could hear the overflow boiling off. I turned off the car, and lifted the bonnet.
The only coolant leak i could find was from the rad overflow hose.
I dropped the fuse box panel and found fuse 7, gauges, rad fans, etc was loose. I repositioned the fuse and turned the key to accessory to check gauge function. The gauges were now operative and engine temp up to the red. I let the car cool as I called a friend to bring coolant from my garage to top up the coolant. By the time he arrived, the car had sat for over an hour, and water temp was much cooler. We topped up the rad and overflow and car started right away with no odd noises, obvious leaks. Car ran well on rest of the way home with good oil pressure, good engine temp.
Are there any issues I should be keeping an eye open for?

[Durango2k]

Bubbles in water reservoir... Oil in water...

Hopefully nothing serious happened, but that would be what I would look out for.

Carsten

[christopher storey]

The real question is : were your fans working ? The S2 is much much better than earlier cars in relation to overheating in traffic, so I would suggest that you start it up, run it up to temperature, and then leave it idling for half an hour or so . The fans should come on and off regularly in that time . If they are not coming on at all, you have your answer. If they come on and stay on, then it suggests that the radiator is not as efficient as it should be

[cdnp62000]

The cooling fans started up after as the fuse was reseated.

[christopher storey]

Ah, well, I think you can be reassured by that fact. If the fans were not working , then it is unsurprising that in stationary/slow moving traffic, it boiled up

[cdnp62000]

Yes. Doesnt take long. I was surprised to see a series 2 coupe at a field meet on the weekend that drove a couple hundred km. to come.
His car did not have any fans in the shrouds.
I checked the oil this morning and theres no water evident. Ill start the car tonite and look for bubbling in the overflow canister.
Hopefully will be fine.

[Herzeg]

Mine had a cooling system rebuild this April with rebuilt rad, new otter switch and all new silicone hoses. Also the fan motors were rebuilt.
Drive along in normal London traffic and the water needle stays dead centre. Sit in a jam for a few minutes and the needle goes up towards the red - doesn't get there, but close.

There's obviously a great deal of heat in the engine as it's too hot to touch even after sitting for two hours plus

John

[PeterCrespin]

Is it running retarded or weak?

[cdnp62000]

Part of the work completed before I picked it up was to have the fuel lines and carbs cleaned. Carbs had new jets installed and carbs were set. I would imagine it was not running retarded or weak.

[cdnp62000]

Peter, I'll be taking the car back to the mechanic on Monday.
Ill have him check mixture, timing as well as giving the engine a thorough inspection.

[Keith in Norfolk]

Check the fuse holder itself , had the same problem a while back , turned out the fuse holder was heat damaged and the fuse was not
making a good contact which in turn would not operate the cooling fans , rev counter or horn.

[Herzeg]

Mine was running hot all the time lately and I got the experts to look at it today. Needed a coolant top-up which helped, but the main point is that the otter switch is at the top of the rad so if the coolant level drops a bit the otter switch won't work.

John

[cdnp62000]

Yes Keith, the culprit was the fuse block!
There was indeed evidence of some heat and melting. The fuse block was replaced, all circuits checked and engine given a good inspection.
Looks like all is well.
Roy