406oc.co.uk

Hey Guys,
Basically i've been for a few drives and for some unknown reason, the stop light has come on, and the rad fans a blowing incredibly fast and i have no idea why the enging temp is reading normal, just over 70 and doesn't increase over 80.
any ideas? where do i check the water level in the cooling system? i had a look but coulnt seem to find it anywhere

Cheers for any help, Ben

cooling fan ecu or the fan switch is buggerd
most likely the ecu as the switch wont put the stop light on

DTBEN wrote:where do i check the water level in the cooling system?

Take the filler cap off. There are 2 distinct levels in the plastic beneath the cap and you should only be able to see one of them.

ok kewl cheers guys..
Could it be a dodgy temp sensor?
and where about would i find the fan ecu or switch?

where abouts is the filler cap? i had a good look yesterday but it all looked french to me lol.

Cheers Again, Ben

DTBEN wrote:Could it be a dodgy temp sensor?

Maybe. check the coolant level first.

where abouts is the filler cap? i had a good look yesterday but it all looked french to me lol.

It's shown in the handbook. You'll find it behind the offside headlamp with the expansion tank. The blue one right next to the headlamp is the washer fluid, the next one back with the pressure cap is the coolant. Don't open it with a warm/hot engine unless you like being scalded.

DTBEN wrote:where abouts is the filler cap? i had a good look yesterday but it all looked french to me lol.

You beat me to it mjb! Look for an exclamation mark on the cap, you can't really miss it.

teamster1975 wrote:

DTBEN wrote:where abouts is the filler cap? i had a good look yesterday but it all looked french to me lol.

You beat me to it mjb! Look for an exclamation mark on the cap, you can't really miss it.

It took me a year of 406 ownership to see that exclamation mark! It was that covered in gunk you couldn't see it until i decided to give that side of the engine bay a clean after a failed cambelt change attempt...

mjb wrote:It took me a year of 406 ownership to see that exclamation mark! It was that covered in gunk you couldn't see it until i decided to give that side of the engine bay a clean after a failed cambelt change attempt...

Clean the engine bay? Are you mad man?!
Mine is in a pitiful state. I WILL fix that oil leak and give it a steam clean! Eventually!

teamster1975 wrote:Clean the engine bay? Are you mad man?!
Mine is in a pitiful state. I WILL fix that oil leak and give it a steam clean! Eventually!

Well, I don't get so much crap all up my arms now and I can actually SEE what I'm trying to break

Cheers guys, i'll check it tomorrow when i get a chance.I would have checked my handbook but i lost it

one more thing tho, i've just be doing a bit of searching and found a post somewhere that says the STOP light is linked with oil pressure and engine temperature. so with my fans running i'm guessing its engine temp....so could that mean that my thermostat isn't working correctly/not opening fully?is there any way to check?
Also i found that the stop light, cooling fans and air conditioning are all controlled by the Bitron sensor and ECU as james said, so is there any way of ruling either out? and i'm guessing that if it is the sensor/ECU its gonna cost me lots of £££ to replace?

Cheers Again
Ben.

probably not thermostat or the engine would be over heating and the temp gauge would show it. I'd guess dodgy engine temp sensor, well thats first thing i'd be checking/replacing.

ah k kewl,
at least i think its jsut a sensor and nothing major.
i checked the coolant level yesterday and it hasn't lost a drop and it looks normal, and the oil is at the right level. i think its the radiator thermostat/temp sensor thats playing up or a faulty connection somewhere (bloomin french electrics).so i'll just put up with it for now (it happened to me yesterday for about 2 mins and then decided to quit and work properly).

Cheers for all your help guys, much appreciated, and i'm sure i'll be asking for your help if something else buggers up lol.
Ben

DTBEN wrote: (it happened to me yesterday for about 2 mins and then decided to quit and work properly).

I had a engine temp sensor on my old rover go. had intermittant problems with it idling fast then normal, new temp sensor fixed it.

It actually broke down on me once. just driving along and it cut out and refused to start. After 10 mins of start in the road i bounced it up and down and it started. i think the temp sensor made the ecu flood the engine! never had any more problems (apart from head gasket!) after replacing the sensor.

ok guys, basically i think the thermostat isn't opening. i checked the rad after a 20/30 min drive and the rad was cold.
so does that sound like the thermostat is stuck closed?

how do i go about changing the thermostat then? any1 got a guide any where? what tools will i need etc etc?

Cheers again
Ben