Forum:
Looks like I am having a difficult time on my poor YRV Turbo.
Had to call breakdown this morning to collect us over 50miles away from home 
Here's the story:
1) 2 weeks ago replaced thermostat as the car was idling strangely only when ice cold, and that seemed to sort the problem
2) Changed both lambda sensors (but that has nothing to do with this problem)
3) Have driven trips of over 100 miles twice in the last few weeks, with no problems.
4) This morning, car was driving perfectly with no issues, then suddenly huge plumes of white steam seen in my rear view mirror. Immediately checked temperature gauge and it was creeping very quickly to very hot.
5) Pulled off at the next lay by, and opened the bonnet, and found - the coolant expansion/header tank lid was popped off. Loads of antifreeze over the top of the engine, intercooler and battery, so it definitely came from the expansion tank. Waited for car to cool down, and opened radiator cap - now here'e the weird thing, the cap had broken inside and in 3 parts (the top lid which was still tight, the spring now loose and the second pressure washer/mount which had completely broken off. Luckily it didn't fall into the radiator and I managed to get all the pieces out.
6) Breakdown guy took the car back to a garage to see if it could be a quick repair, but after refilling the system, there were no leaks, only using the top part of broken radiator cap, but as the car got warmed up, the temperature gauge still sat halfway (normal), but the expansion tank started filling up (probably due to the broken radiator cap not being able to stop anything through that pipe).
7) The lower thick radiator hose was cold. The upper was quite warm, but I wouldn't say very hot.
My question is, could the failed radiator cap have caused all that problems? I am just wondering if I installed the thermostat incorrectly, but there were no problems and it worked perfectly in warmer temps, so why did it fail so dramatically in cooler temps? Are there other checks I need to do?
Last question is, what's the best radiator cap to get for the YRV Turbo. I am going to need one anyway, and can't take chances!
Radiator Cap specs
On a quick look around some websites, there seems to be at least 2 versions of cap for the YRV variants. Those that open at 13psi (0.9bar) such as these: http://www.mpdonline.co.uk/Car-Daihatsu-YRV-1.3-2004/car-engine-parts/radiator-caps-thermostats/YWZiYmM1YWM0YTY3NWQ5NDJhZDI4OGRmYzgwZjgxNWI3MTA1YzYyMA==
And those at 1.1bar: http://www.mpdonline.co.uk/Car-Daihatsu-YRV-1.3-2004/car-engine-parts/radiator-caps-thermostats/ZjBiYTkyZjhiMDE2NGFjNGZhNDM2MGFjYmRiYjc5OWI2OTEwMTlmNg==
Yet most of them also claim that all the 3 variants take the same cap?
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Just call me G...
2004 Yellow YRV Turbo
Splutter.
I've now replaced the radiator cap with a 1.1bar blue print OEM spec new one.
I let the car idle for about 20minutes, and the temperature of the engine coolant read 93degrees celsius on the Dashdaq. Felt the lower radiator hose and it was hot. Slightly colder than the top one, which I think is normal, but at least I know the thermostat is working.
There was no longer any coolant flowing to the expansion bottle.
The radiator fan was not activating at all though.
Does anyone know what temperature it is supposed to activate at? I cannot find it in the workshop manual.
The car also has a very uneven lopey idle, I am thinking the coolant may have gotten into an electrical connection somewhere, as it wasn't like that before.
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Just call me G...
2004 Yellow YRV Turbo
Hi G! Good to hear you may
Hi G!
Good to hear you may have fixed your problem. To answer the question about what temperature the radiator fan kicks in at; I find this can happen around the 95/96 degrees C range. This is what my Scangauge II shows my water temps to be and when I hear the fan kicking off to cool off the system. Don't forget this water in the rad is cooling not just the engine but also the Turbo and Autobox.
Can only put this down to the Evans... Flame suit on 
Also I am using an alluminium Race Rad and Evans Waterless coolant in my car at the moment. But I have noticed when I last used the car in Summer I was hitting water temps of 100 degrees C whilst driving
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'12' Plate Mazda MX-5 2.0 litre NC 3.5 Venture Roadster 160BHP
'15' Plate SEAT LEON 184 FR TDI. 240BHP/500nm Torque.
Past: '53' Plate Yellow YRV Turbo Approx. 150BHP
Sounds to me like possible
Sounds to me like possible head gasket, especially if idle is a bit lumpy or hunting.
Combustion gasses getting into the coolant, but not any oil/water mixing.
The coolant temperature sensor can send a incorrect reading to the ECU if there is air bubbles being blown into the coolant, so the ECU gets a bit confused and tries to compensate. Hence idle speed can rise up and down at idle.