Help needed,overheating!!

[Tartanbeef]

After yesterdays events with the car overheating to the point where it couldnt get any hotter and steam started appearing from the engine i left the car sitting over night.
Im just back from having another good look at it in the day light and from what i can tell its fine now!
When starting the engine the temp light comes on and gives the warning noise,then rapidly rises half way and stays there!
I was told it may be the water pump,but the pipe that feeds the water o the radiator is warm and feels like waters making its way through it.
I left the car idling for about 20 mins to see if it would overheat again so that i could try and indicate where the problem was coming from once the steam started,but when it never happened i decided to reverse the car outta the parking space when low and behold i spotted a puddle of water sitting right beneath where the radiator had been!

Im no mechanic by any means but basic knowledge is making me think that perhaps its a radiator fault,or can i still consider the water pump as a problem?

 

[Gogsie78]

Water Pump

 

[Myki da Pyki]

Water pump problem would bej ust that the temp will keep rising until.... Bang!! Had this problem last month but without the bang lol. Water pumps are very weak if they are the plastic impeller type, they just shatter inside the block then need replacing with the brass impeller one. The puddle may have been where the pressure was so much that a pipe has either split or started coming off where its connected to. On the radiator there are 2 hoses connected, both are on the passenger side, one at the top and one at the bottom

If it was water pump you wouldnt have lasted with it idling for 20 mins i can guarantee that mate

 

[Daz_gibbo]

Checked the fuses on top of the battery? Common fault with them melting. One of them is a feed to the fans.

*Just read whole post. Puddle sounds ominous.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

I was gonna say the fuse, check the one closest to the wing, if it is that you can still drive it home with the heating on full but only when really desperate. Mine overheated and had steam coming from the engine bay but the water pipe had rusted and split causing a leak, what are your coolant levels like?

 

[Tartanbeef]

Just checked the fuses,there's only 2 fuses sitting in the box,the one closest to the wing is missing,its as if the fuse that was once there has just decintegrated!Should there be 3 fuses?
As i said,i had the car ticking over for 15/20 mins,increased the revs to 3k for about a min,the temp jamp to 90 but never budged any higher and the fans never kicked in?

The coolant level is just roughly between quarter/half full

 

[Myki da Pyki]

Thats that solved then mate. Its the fuse on that fuse box thats to blame for it. If its too bad it'l need a new one but if not just get another fuse back in there, its the same ampage as the ones next to it

 

[nogutsnoglory]

This is what happened to mine

 

[Ninja]

yeah mine melted too.. so badly i had to replace the fusebox!

Whack a new fuse in then check the fans run when its hot.. Hopefully will be all ok!

Was going to say its not the waterpump as your car would have overheated when you let it idle for a while

 

[Tartanbeef]

Cheers for the Pic upload,thats exactly whats happened to me,exept i have no fuse there

How much does a fuse like that cost?and where from?

Ninja,your just up the road from me

 

[JIMYU]

they cost pennies, you can get them at any car shop and garages too.

The same melty fuse thing happened to me last summer and I had to replace the holder aswell...I always carry a couple of spare fuses in the car now!

 

[Tartanbeef]

Good stuff,hopefully that means that the £300 ive withdrawn from the Bank can go towards the Re-map,or my other secret plan

 

[Robbie C]

Mine did exactly the same a few weeks ago but with all the cold weather it never overheated. Just suddenly realised one night that I couldn't hear the water pump after switching the ignition off. Glad it hadn't melted as bad as the pic above though, that's nasty

 

[Tartanbeef]

Replaced the fuse,the car isnt over heating but the temp guage keeps flashing red and making the beepeing noise,the heat never exceeds 90 degrees

Anyone have any ideas?I dont wanna wanna stick it into a garage as they will sting me a small fortune!!

Ive been told the fuse box has maybe gone?

 

[Myki da Pyki]

Check the water level mate as it normally only flashs an beeps if its either over heating or not enough water

 

[JIMYU]

also try scraping the two metal prongs inside the coolant bottle with a knife or something...that worked for me.