Recently bought a 56 plate mk1 fabia vrs.

108k

Cambelt/water pump change at 85k according to SH.

Few issues:

Intercooler pipe cable tied onto top pipe off that goes across the right side of the engine, causing a boost leak, as I can hear a loud hissing when accelerating.

Revs rise above 1k often when at standstill.

But today, was stuck in traffic for an hour, and the car overheated, past 90, but not all the way to the red.

I havent checked the pipes off the radiator and I dont recall hearing the fan kick in.

What could be causing this?

What can I do to identify and rectify the overheating fault?

Cheers :-)

Fix the fan.

 

Check it spins freely, check the fuse, check the relays and the thermoswitch.

Thanks for the reply. Where is the thermoswitch located ??

Also any ideas about the revs issue ?

:-)

Down the back of the radiator if it has one fitted.

 

Fix the boost leak first, then worry about the revs.

On top of the battery, is it fuses 5 and 8 that operates the radiator fan?

Over 90 does not indicate it overheated really,could just be the gauge slightly out for a start,or the sensor.

Did it actually overheat and chuck coolant out of the header tank?

On top of the battery, is it fuses 5 and 8 that operates the radiator fan?

3 and 8 according to this.

 

I tend to agree that it may not be overheating though. On low speed the fans are pretty quiet.

Well the needle went past the 90 mark, over to the next line, so a quarter from the red.

Coolant hasnt decreased, and no gunk in oil cap.

What steps should I take?

Check fans are working first

Not sure if its the same on the fabia but on my golfs you could bridge 2 of the rad thermotime pins to get the rad fan to spin up, that would then tell you if its the fan or the switch.

Switch off the ignition, get out of the car, open the bonnet and make a start.

 

You'll solve nothing by just driving it around, there's clearly something wrong with it, maybe the thermostat is stuck open, maybe the fans aren't running, maybe this, maybe that. You'll have to physically do the work unless you pay a mechanic to sort it.

Well I've checked the fuse, and it is broken, and needs replacing. Just to be safe, I was thinking of buying new fan switch also, as it is inexpensive, and once the new fuse and fan switch are fitted, then ill be able to tell if there lies any other issues.

Also, ive had a look under the car, and the lower intercooler pipes are all cable tied, and leaking boost all over the place. I assume, best bet is to cut all cables, and reattach pipes and go from there??

Thanks for all the replies btw :-)

I'd check the fans spin freely first in case one has seized and is popping the fuse.

Ive checked, and they both do spin freely..

Well I've checked the fuse, and it is broken, and needs replacing. Just to be safe, I was thinking of buying new fan switch also, as it is inexpensive, and once the new fuse and fan switch are fitted, then ill be able to tell if there lies any other issues.

Also, ive had a look under the car, and the lower intercooler pipes are all cable tied, and leaking boost all over the place. I assume, best bet is to cut all cables, and reattach pipes and go from there??

Thanks for all the replies btw :-)

Which fuse, the big one or the blade fuse?

The blade fuse? It was in the bigger black fuse box, on top of the battery.. The 3rd fuse going from the left..

OK, so the 40A strip fuse, not the 30A blade fuse (No. 8) in the covered group to the right of  those strip fuses. Maybe that's busted too, doesn't sound like you've been in there to check it?

Looks like the second one from the left of that group as you look from the front of the car, judging from the third picture in this thread.

 

The 40A strip fuse does the high speed fan operation, the 30A does the low speed, I think.

The leaking boost pipes have nothing to do with it getting hotter, also removing the cable tie bodge mod will make the already far too worn pipes pop off everytime it comes on boost, they will need replaced with new hoses as the lugs will be worn, i spent ages with mine trying to sort leaks in the end it all went in the bin and a fmic fitted.

Edited 12 November, 201510 yr by 12345Jay

Thanks for the replies. I've got my hands on extra strip fuses, however how do I know which fuse is the 40 and 30 amp? As they all look similar, just a few differences in width.

And yeah I figured, im better off buying a fmic instead of trying to replace pipes etc, however they just damn expensive :-(

Do the fuseholders on top of your battery look like the ones in this picture? If not, can you take a photo of what you have and post it?

 

Credit to DRJ for the picture, from his battery change thread.

 

If they are like in that picture, are they not numbered somewhere in the plastic?

My understanding is that 1-6 are in pairs under the three big covers on the left,  7-11 are blade fuses all under a single wide cover:

 

 

3 being the 40A strip-fuse you found busted? 8 being the other one that powers the fans.

Edited 13 November, 201510 yr by Wino

Thanks for the reply. Yes, mine is exactly the same as above. I know which fuse to replace, however I have all strip fuses from a breaking fabia vrs, but they all look the same, so i don't know which one is the 40 and 30 amp..

Does that make sense?

Gotcha, yeah. 40A is the lowest rating of the strip fuses, so the narrowest one.

I think when new, you can read the values stamped/engraved into the fuses, but maybe not visible with a bit of age and grot.

 

Don't assume that Fuse 8 is OK though, check it too.

Edited 13 November, 201510 yr by Wino

Ive changed the 40amp fuse, and the 30amp fuse was fine when checking. I left the car running for 50mins to an hour, and the car didnt overheat, however I opened the bonnet a few times and the fans didnt operate. Where is the fan switch located?

On the boost leak issues, the turbo intake pipe is leaking boost from the turbo, im assuming I can just tighten the pipe off the turbo?

And Im looking into replacing the intercooler hoses, will 2.25" or 2.5" metal hoses fit fine, in the engine bay and connect fine to the standard intercooler?

Edited 15 November, 201510 yr by Azzy12

Fan thermoswitch is a few inches above where the bottom hose attaches to the radiator.  If you can see what colour wires go into the thermoswitch connector, I may be able to tell you which pins to short to test the fans/fan controller. There seems to a few different versions with significant differences in the current flow diagrams for later cars.

There's a fan control unit on the bottom of the chassis leg just near the thermoswitch that is another possible problem.

 

Edit: forget the wire colours. It's always pin 1 connecting to pin 2 that brings on the fans at low speed, and pin 1 connecting to pin 3 that brings them on at high speed.

Edited 15 November, 201510 yr by Wino

I can't get the fans to kick in on mine with it sat idling either,nor could alexe3 on his,so that's pretty normal.