And yes, the correct caps are in the correct places.
Thanks Santos, Car does not billow out white smoke and it runs very smoothly. Engine doesn't skip or anything like that. As for discoloured foamy oil, where would I be looking for this? The 4-5 litres of water that drained out of the radiator was very murky yellow colour, did not appear oily though, just very dirty. The fact that only this small amount of liquid came out of a 15 litre radiator tells me that the lack of water was contributing to the over heating. Anyway, I'll hopefully receive the cap in the mail tomorrow and will start the motor and see what happens. If the car overheats, back tot he dealer we go. Regards Roger
Hi there, New radiator cap arrived this morning. The rubber on the underside is roughly 2-3mm compared to the 0.5mm on the old cap. Ran the car in my driveway for 20mins then drove up and down my street for 5 miles or so. Temp is staying steady at just over 195 Fahrenheit. I let the car run for another 15 mins after this drive and still not overheating. Fans are cutting in and out, all 3 of them. No coolant is coming out of anywhere and the exhaust is clean and clear. I'm about to go for a bit more of a run up the highway where I can get some higher speeds. Taking water and rags etc with me in case anything goes wrong. Thank you again to everyone who posted replies and showed interest in my problem. I owe you all a beer if you are ever in Sydney! Kindest Regards Roger
Congratulations! That blue is gorgeous on the car! Expect more gremlins but just cast them out as they appear. We have all had them. Run the car regularly and it'll love you for it. Greg
Thanks Greg, Yep, just gave it a good 70 mile run. Temp sat steadily just over 195 and then rose to around 210 in traffic. Still not 100 percent satisfied as i think it could be running a little cooler than that so I'm going to get a Ferrari guy to go over the vehicle sometime this week. Pressure tests etc. What a learning experience! Last week I did not even know what a thermostat was!!! Thanks again to all for your reassurance. Without this site I think my brain would have exploded over the weekend, patience has never been a strong point of mine... Regards Roger
Except for the fact that And this is what has me baffled. It is the opposite of the standard set-up of the conventional cooling system that incorporates the overflow tank. Older systems (without overflow bottles) had the pressure cap & the coolant level is supposed to be 1" below filler neck for expansion reasons. Newer systems keeps the pressure cap on the radiator but the coolant level is to be filled to the very top of the filler neck, & the unpressurized cap is on the overflow tank. I can understand why they're reversed (a sign that the car was serviced by a shop not familiar with Ferrari). My thinking is that when the car is shut off, the engine continues to heat the coolant in the water jacket for a short period of time & raises the coolant temperature a bit. The pressurized cap begins to close as the coolant temp. decreases & at the same time draws coolant back from the overflow tank as the coolant contracts. Note the 'Cold' & 'Hot' lines on the overflow tank. When the coolant level increases in the overflow tank as the engine heats up & falls back to the 'Cold' level when the engine has cooled down, it is an indication that the pressurized cap is functioning properly. Again, I can understand why these 2 caps are reversed. I'm still trying to figure out the engineering behind Ferrari's set-up
My 400i has a flat brass/metal ring sitting in the neck of radiator filler neck with a wire extending into the radiator. Any idea what this might be for? Aidan
Here you go. The wire is attached to the ring via a spade connector. Aidan Image Unavailable, Please Login
Neither have I. What happens when you pull out the wire? Is it connected to anything? BTW, your coolant looks awful brown and rusty. Might be time for a change.
I had my over flow tank repaired to stop up some leaks. In the process two theories we advanced. Mine: the Italians were not using plastic tanks and so could put the pressure cap on the surge tank. The radiator shop's: the Italians were keeping water vapor out of the radiator by adding a sacrifical surge tank that held pressure. It is the vapor that eats radiators and vapor that ate the surge tank from the inside out. No doubt there are other equally reasonable ideas. Greg
That's exactly what I thought. But thanks Aidan for posting that pic, I'll look closer at mine to see if I've got one of those. Oh, btw, posting pix can get you into trouble sometimes I don't know if I quite follow the theory Greg. If the pressure cap is on the radiator with the radiator completely full (with no air in the rad chamber), the vapor would only be present in the overflow tank. Or am I missing something
I haven't tried pulling the wire hard as I didn't want to break anything. I flushed and repalced the coolant last year and am topping it up now. The coolant is clear and the rusty brown color is the color of the inside of the neck I believe. Aidan
You are quite correct. If the radiator stays full regardless of the level in the surge tank, there will be no vapor in the radiator. If the surge tank can hold all expanded fluid and return it to the radiator when cooling because of the pressure within the tank, then the radiator still has no vapor. But the "it ain't plastic" surge tank can be full of vapor and leaks will develop over time. I think they must have tried it both ways and found that putting the pressure cap on the tank worked better to keep the radiator full. I suppose the answer is blowin' in the wind. Greg
I recently had a problem with my 412 losing coolant. The culprit was a dodgy expansion tank. The tank had rusted from the inside ..... Barely perceptible from the outside. When hot steam etc would go into the expansion tank , condense and then seep through the corroded wall of the tank. I am not saying this is the answer to your problem but worth a check anyway. Wen the car is left after a long run you will see drips of coolant under the tank. Good luck Jerry
I'm not so sure about the "sacrificial" surge tank since a replacement is more than $600! Of course, you can get a metal replacement Jaguar surge tank for "only" $300.
Bonjour M. Galbert Je ne sais pas mais je vais demander à mon mécanicien. Je pense qu'il peut être d'une XJ6.
merci pour la reponse je regarderais ce que je pourrais trouver par ici avec les prix si d autres sont interesses
I replaced my leaky one last year with a new metal item from Superformance UK (item no. 114708), cost GBP247.20 (approx. USD380).
When the car is hot, are all three fans running? Two are not enough in warm weather. Look for my previous posts about fan electrics. More likely since you said temp rises very quickly indicates the T-stat does not open. Take the previous post advice (Frenchman) and remove the T-stat and see what happens. This may not be a $$$ problem. Ken
