Sanity Check - Cooling issues

[Alex-Ks1]

Mine was always over heating , only fix with out spending tons of money for a customer radiator was to weld two Rads together , simple job for me . I ran it untill it reached op temp then let it cool down .then added coolant , I did this about 4 times until it was full when I took the rad cap off . After I ran it and let it cool back down 

Now the temp on driving hard reaches 180 then drops to 160. Mostly stays in the 160 range while driving . But that's just my fix.

Edited July 28 by Alex-Ks1

[MV8]

That looks like it would be fine if a bypass restriction is placed in C6 (5/8" hose) between B2 and C3 (so as not to restrict flow to the expansion tank). The restriction will aid cooling at the expense of extending warm up time.

[pethier]

Does anyone know what goes on in the black box (both figurative and literal) called "thermostat"?

 

On the Circle 'C" Performance Schematic:

 

Are the thermostat ports, one large and one small, on the upper left of the "black box" schematically the same?  I mean is the water for both in the same chamber inside the box?

 

Are the thermostat ports at the bottom of the "black box" schematically the same?  I mean is the water for both in the same chamber inside the box?  If it is, why would water flow in the heater core?

 

If the valve for the heater actually cuts off water flow completely, does it not follow that both connections to the heater can simply be capped off?  I do not have a heater in the nearly-complete installation of the ex-Birkin Zetec in my Caterham.

 

Huge thunderstorm going on right now.  I hope in the morning I can check into the actual status.

 

I will start a separate thread about the radiator fan switch.  Even for me, that's a bridge too far for thread drift.

 

 

Edited July 30 by pethier

[Slonie]

EDIT: I just realized this thread started off talking about Duratec installations and at some point shifted to talking about a Zetec installation. The following information is about a Zetec car.

 

I don't see why you couldn't cap off the heater port on the thermostat housing. And also, I think the answer to your question of whether the heater and bypass ports will have the same temperature coolant coming out, I think the is also probably yes. That being said, on my car the one that comes out on the same side as the upper hose is used for bypass and the one on the "back" is used for the heater. 

 

I should redraw my diagram to make it more clear which side of the thermostat the various ports on the thermostat housing are. The heater and bypass hoses (5/8" or similar molded) both come out of the chamber on the thermostat housing before the thermostat itself (this is why it makes a big curve around from one side of the housing to the other). 

 

The upper (small) "bleed" line and the main hose to the top of your radiator come from the after the thermostat. The idea being that when the thermostat is closed, all the coolant goes to the bypass and heater (if present) until the temperature gets high enough to start the thermostat opening, at which point the majority of flow will go through the upper big hose. 

 

 

This video I found when I was working on my car shows what the housing looks like inside. Unlike for SVT Focus owners, my car has the gauge temperature sensor installed on that lower port that they're capping off in the video so the actual point of this video isn't relevant, but I still found it handy!

 

 

Edited July 29 by Slonie

[pethier]

To start with, I believe my thermostat housing is from a 1996 Contour.  The temperature sender is on the top of the housing.  I'm now going back to the video.

[Slonie]

My car actually has two temperature senders, one for the gauge and one for the ECU. The ECU one is on top (with the square connector and braided cable in the image). YMMV of course. This photo shows the small "bleeder" port which is plumbed to the top of the expansion tank. There is also a small bleed hole in the thermostat plate itself (I've read about people drilling their own but mine came equipped as such already).

 

[Alex-Ks1]

Question , and don't jump down my neck , Is your car actually running hot to cool to hot . Computer cars love to give false info .

Try this .. disconnect the NEG side of the battery , hold the brake pedal down with a rod or something for about 10 minutes , this will drain all the capacitors in the ECM . Turn the KEY TO ON .reconnect the battery . This will reset the factory settings to default . I had to do this a lot when I had my shop . Using a scanner to clear codes sometimes does not work . Or they keep coming back, change a quoted device and the problem comes back ?. Non computer vehicles brake down. Easy fix  .computers degrade in time and have nervous brake downs..... Just a thought

Edited July 30 by Alex-Ks1

[Vovchandr]

On 4/22/2025 at 9:16 PM, pethier said:

OK.  I own a Zetec.  I don't have it here at my house.  I bought all the gasoline equipment from a friend who took it all out of his Birkin and is going electric.  He was kind-enough to keep all the stuff in the loft over his workshop.

 

I am getting my waterfowl aligned to make the swap from 1700 Super Sprint to Zetec.  I now have new motor-mounts from England.  

 

I have another friend who owns a British-car shop.  His specialty is putting GM V6 engines in MGB cars.  I expect that I will be able to move the ex-Birkin parts and my Caterham to his shop sometime in May.

 

Thanks to this forum, I have seen the notes of someone who has made this exact swap.  He stated that he needed to remove the safety shroud for the cam belt to clear the nose.  I see that has been done to the Zetec in your video.

 

He also said that the front of the cam cover also landed under the nose.  To get the nose to fit, he needed to trim the lateral fin on the top front of the cam cover by about 1/4 inch. This has not been done to the Zetec in your video?

 

Just seeing this. I dont have any clearance issues with my cover on. It was removed for other reasons in the video