When Should The Fans Cut In?

[Draco]

Hello all.

 

Only owned my standard S1 a few weeks so still discovering new things. When sat in traffic for over 10 mins, I'm registering up to 95 celcius on the stack, but more like 90-92. Is this OK? Normal running at 87-88.

 

More worryingly, I'm steaming from the front bonnet grills when sat at these temps. Dealer said fans cut in when things get quite hot, but still haven't heard anything fan-like from the bonnet even when steaming. Dealer also said if coolant level is high (I'm dead on the max line) it might boil a little off.

 

Finally, I'm assuming its better to get moving for a run to cool things down , rather than switch off.

 

Any similar experiences or advice? Have I got anything to worry about? What is a dangerous temperature to reach?

 

Cheers

 

PS Top down for the first time last weekend. Big grins, cool as!

[Zircon450]

Dealer said fans cut in when things get quite hot, but still haven't heard anything fan-like from the bonnet even when steaming.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The dealer was ?

 

PSSC's by any chance ?

 

Did you but my S1 Chrome Orange ?

[Jonathan E]

Draco,

The steaming is perfectly normal,just standing water evaporating off the rad,it happens more when its raining,I'm not sure about temp but I think fans should cut in around 102,don't worry about not hearing them just wait until summer and a hot day,you won't be able to shut the damn things up.

HTH

Regards

Jon

[MattyB]

Yup about 103 degrees when it kicked in on mine last time.

 

Mine hovers about the 87-88 mark when at operating temp, and it also blows off a small amount of coolant from the header tank when its sitting at max.

 

So its all normal

[Steve J]

Check the jubilee clip holding on the hose to the top of the radiator (drivers side). This is often not tightened up letting coolant seap out under pressure (causing steaming) or even worse blow the hose off (loosing all the coolant).

 

Temp sounds about right. It's slightly different on the S2 but mine does the following:

 

Moving running temp - 87'

Stuck in traffic temp - 94' to 102'(when the fan kicks in).

 

Check your coolant level often. It shouldn't move much. You may get spattering of dried coolant over the pipes near the expansion bottle if you have a badly fitting cap. Replacement cap is about £5 from a Rover dealer.

 

Don't rag the car from cold. Wait till it has been at operating temp (87-92) for a couple of minutes before taking over 4,000rpm. Premature Head Gasket Failure can be caused by hot/cold cycling of the engine which is more pronounced when car is thrashed from cold.

 

[Draco]

Thanks guys! I am reassured.

 

I love you all, and I love my Lotus once again! Its all going to be OK!

[Scott_Mac]

It does sound all ok... the coolant level is a bit high and in effect wasted as when it expands it will blow some off - std practice is to run it on the MIN line.

 

Might be worth just checking the clips etc to be sure... i had a rad failure on my car 4 weeks after buying it