Forum:
your opinions much valued...i am not planning to take Sportrack apart myself but would like to get it sorted without being ripped off.Apologies for 'girls' descriptions and hope you can deceipher ok.: 
Problem is that it has been overheating.The temperature needle on the dashboard never used to get beyond the centre. Tootling round town...fine..uses up a lot of water but so long as i check it twice a week no problem. On the motorway, goes fantastic...70mph no problem and the needle on the dashboard only gets to 1/4, but when i check the water it hasnt used any at all (as its cooling down it uses a lot- not suprisingly, i'd be thirsty in those conditions too).
Exhast is new; the radiator has been re-furbished; the radiator cap has been replaced with a higher pressure cap and the fan couplings changed. The garage also took out the thermostat which freaks me out completely - isnt this asking for the engine to go cook? - and seems to have stuffed a bit of foam between the radiator and the car front (something about forcing the air in and over the engine). Garage does freak me out as they say paternalistic things like ''bring it in so we can check the water''(if i did that it would always be bone dry) and dont explain. They say the next thing is to open up the engine and do the head gasket.Doesnt that cost a fortune? Its a G reg sportrack.
I have looked through the site and found some re-assuring bits of information but thought i'd see if any of you have an idea of what might be going on and what i need to do next
HenHenBabyDarling (You have t
HenHenBabyDarling (You have the coolest name here)
First up, taking the thermostat out won't cook the engine - quite the opposite, because that only starts to open when the water temp starts to rise. So that's why yours is sitting around the 1/4 mark, because the water is not getting hot enough. Next up, GET RID OF THAT FOAM. It could fall off and into the pulleys/belts and the rest causing all sorts of crap. I don't quite know exactly what they were thinking of doing something like that.
But before letting them loose with it again, the Sportraks are known for the fact that the heater matrix does not last forever, and this causes water loss - have a look for damp carpets around the clutch pedal area....It Could be the head gasket, but have a good look around for leaks when it's standing from pipes, etc.
If it is the CHG, then it's not the end of the world and not always a garage job if you have some basic mechanical common sense. Find another garage, whatever you decide!
Kep us informed.
Dave with a Sporty
Dave with a Sporty
Thank you so much Dave H; i'm
Thank you so much Dave H; i'm so glad you are alarmed by the foam too. i think i will take it back to the garage that tended to it last year with your words of advice and some other pieces of information i have downloaded. i think the heater matrix is ok but i shall check it.
foam air stop
hi thaire henhenbabydarling know my fourtrack has a piece of foam along the top of the radiator at the front whare the bonnet catch is. its thaire to halp force air into the radiator to aid cooling rather than let it go over top and be wasted.
yes thats where my piece of f
yes thats where my piece of foam is too. does it work crazy driver?
foamy bit
never tried it without it cant see any problems without it but why did daihatsu install it in the first place.
think its just thaire to aid a bit of extra cooling in extreme use.
eg towing in hot weather like just now
Try this.
Your radiator should not 'go down' when the engine cools. Unlike humans your engine does not drink but circulates the water through the engine to be cooled in the radiator. From the radiator its sent continuously around the circuit. Hence the volume of water never goes down. If it is 'going down' then your car is loosing water and there is a problem
1. Why have they fitted a high pressure cap? Is the intention to raise the water pressure and create a leak! Ridiculous.
2. A thermostat of correct degree centigade is needed. Get it replaced. Without a thermostat your petrol consumption will rocket. The thermostat regulates the engine temperature and the automatic choke may not operate efectively. In winter your engine will not reach full operating temperature, the internal heater [matrix] will be cold/warm rather than hot, and your petrol comsumption will be excessive.
3. Loss of water evident whilst the engine cools could be the head gasket. Take a look at the exhaust fumes when the engine is HOT ... is it white [water], blue [oil], black [fuel]. Try putting a cloth over the HOT exhaust with engine running and see if it gets wet. Also if your brave enough carefully remove the radiator cap whilst the engine is HOT [cover rad cap with cloth and slowly release the pressure .. dont scald yourself]. Look into the radiator and rev then engine ... look for air bubbles escaping from the radiator. Air bubbles = blown head gasket.
Thank you...your advice sound
Thank you...your advice sounds knowledgeable.Are you a mechanic?!!
sweating sporty
hi henhen, i have a sporty myself and have not long done the head gasket! mine has the foam too so i would say leave it there as long as it doesnt look like its going to fall out. my advice would be this....
Get a new thermostat fitted pronto
Replace the cap with the original one (begging for problems)
Get a decent garage to flush out the cooling system, and go from there.
one thing i will say is this, these engines are fairly weak when it comes to head gaskets, so if you have had it hot the likely hood is that it will need doing soon.
If you need any help or advice on doing the head gasket let me know, im only too happy to help