Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing 2002 Zetec cooling issue

Thanks Sewin, to answer some of your questions:

- it's not aftermarket as far as I know - it is identical to the old one (which I no longer have), s fitted in the same place and has the same capacity. I did notice that the new cap is different from the old one. All was fine prior to the work being done - have had it for a year and it drove well without cooling issues.

You are right though to ask if the car is actually boiling - I think it is just that at 100 degrees it is not pressurised, therefore not keeping the coolant in.as it should. The car is not overheating and there is no white smoke in the exhaust, no mayo in the oil cap, and the coolant does not smell of exhaust fumes. NOw that the level of coolant has dropped, it is not actually venting coolant, just steam, which stops when the fans kick in. I might just see if I can get another cap tomorrow and test it that way. Would be quicker than taking it back to New Elms which is a 90 min drive.

I will keep you all posted.

Mark

Yep Its starting to look like the cap or damage to the tank threads or both, Either way lets hope its a cheap repair!
If it is thread damage that usually occurs when the cap has been refitted when the system is hot!

Yes it will be cheap - a new tank and cap is only £20 and it's a quick job to change, so all being well it should be fit again soon.

thanks all again for your help - I don't know about you but it always helps me to talk things through to see whether my initial thoughts are way off!

Mark

I'm a bit late to this thread, but yes I have had one of these caps fail whilst abroad and the loss of coolant via steam is significant, there's a tiny valve buried within the plastic that you can't access or test

My tips are...buy a genuine Ford one ! and make sure it's on really tight ! Full on rubber grippy glove tight ! You'll not cross thread unless really ham fisted as the thread is really coarse

Thanks Jon, I have ordered a new cap, so we will see how it goes. You are right the thread is coarse, but I have not been able to get the cap on anywhere near as tight as you mention, and which sounds perfectly correct to me. Also spoke to Tim who is more than happy to sort it for me if this doesn't work. The cap and expansion tank were brand new, which is disappointing.

Just to close this one off, the cap I bought did not fit (thanks ebay) so this morning I took the car back to New Elms. Thirty seconds after arrival it had a new cap fitted! That was clearly the problem, so I think all is well. As it had lost a bit of coolant, Tim is kindly flushing the system and refilling with fresh stuff, just to be on the safe side. I'll pick it up Wed I suspect.

Well that is good news.

Glad it was an easy cure, my No1 tip is...buy a genuine Ford one !

Had a further call from Tim last night, he wasn't happy with the neck of the tank, so has changed the complete unit. I am sure he would have bought from a decent supplier, but car parts don't seem to be made to last these days. I may look at replacing it with an alloy one if I keep the car long term.