21 replies to this topic

[rpowell86]

Hey.

I made a stupid mistake today. I went to the petrol garage and topped up the water and air in the tyres & continued home. By the time I got near my house the fan belt started making some noises.

Anyway pulled up and found I forgot to put the radiator cap back on and the radiator fan is now hitting against the radiator.

I only done 5 miles but is this enough to do any damage Im worried Ive done some damage

Any comments apprieciated.
Thanks, Ryan

[newdawn1st]

the rad cap being off should of only made the car overheat, don't see how it caused the fan to hit the rad.

[chappy]

fill the radiator up and run the engine a little (with the cap on), then take it off again and top up the rest of the radiator.

The fan might me catching because there's strain on the on belt from the water pump (as there is no water in it).


See how it is...

[Saxo-Fiesta-Mini]

ive done very simlar things b4 first i lest the rad cap off started the engine went back to the car where the cap whats that funny noise dooh

and then last week i was topping up and put in the same place and guess what where the rad cap whats that noise im special hahahhaa

[MRA]

Looks like I need to make a "special" rad cap with a string.......... you know like your motorcycle gloves so that you din't lose them

Regards Martin

[Saxo-Fiesta-Mini]

ya like my mittens mummy sowed them to my jackets so i didnt loosed them


hahahahhaa

[newdawn1st]

lol, SFM = Special Finks Me

[Saxo-Fiesta-Mini]

hahhhahahaa or silly f***kin monkey

[newdawn1st]

hahhhahahaa or silly f***kin monkey

well at least you admitted it before anyone said it

edit: sure SFM apologies to the OP for sidetracking their thread.

Edited by newdawn1st, 19 June 2009 - 08:05 PM.

[91neon]

[once again a thread that deviates to a certain theme!





back on track should be fine not sure about knocking tho is it visibly hitting or is just sounding like it.?

as said top it up and keep an eye on temperature.

good luck

[Cooperman]

To get back on topic, why would leaving the rad cap off cause the fan to hit the rad? Did the cap fall down between the rad and the engine? We used to have a joke on a friend who did just that: Maintenance tip of the week: the easiest way to disantle the rad cap is to drop it into the fan!
It does no harm whatsoever to run without the rad cap on (so long as it doesn't drop into the fan area, obviously) so long as you keep the water topped up. With the cap off, the cooling system becomes what used to be called an 'evaporative loss system' as opposed to a 'pressurised water system'.
In fact, if you have any small leaks from the water system, it can be a great help to remove the cap so that there is no pressure in the system to force the water out faster. The water loss from a small leak is then minimised and so long as you top it up every few miles you can often complete a journey. It's then easier to top up, as the system will not scald you when you remove the cap. True, it can throw a bit of dirty water over the engine bay at that end, but that's easy to wash off.

[Ethel]

A few miles without a cap is unlikely to do any harm. It's not a good idea to run without a cap, if the coolant gets hot enough to boil, the steam will interfere with the water circulating allowing some areas to get hot enough to be damaged, unlike a kettle or saucepan the hot bit of an engine is at the top. It's also not best practice to put cold water into a hot engine as the uneven & rapid cooling can cause distortion as well.

I too was thinking the fan issue could well be down to what happened to the cap

[Big Man]

Ages ago I topped up and bled the radiator, thought i put the cap on nice and tight.....with the bonnet up I gave it some rev.......cap flew skyward hit inside of raied bonnet........rocketed back down hit fan........fan smashed and a couple of blades went through the radiator!

Was not a happy bunny!

Good Old SOG came to the rescue with a radiator top bloke!!!

[rpowell86]

Arrggghh!

With these problems, you fix one problem just to find another.

Anyway I though I found the issue: A fan blade was getting caught between the fan and the radiator! (just snapped right off)

I think what must have happened is I think I might have hit a kerb and the force has knocked the fan alignment off, as there is so much friction between the blade and the radiator that I cant even turn it over.

How simple is this job to fix?

Thanks

[Saxo-Fiesta-Mini]

well rad swap isnt too bad on mk3 onward minis as u unto the top mounts on the thermostat housing, then undo the hoses on the water pump, top rad and heater matric remove the grill and then used a 13mm socket to undo the bolt under the rad and then lift the radiator out and then u can replace the fan and rad if necessary