Loss of coolant, what have I damaged?

[onthatB0MBSHELL]

Hi,

Had an incident in my Zed tonight, was entering a car park which had one of those lay flat bollard type things, basically just a piece of box iron. Entered the car park with no drama, but on exiting and going over this bollard I heard a fair old thud! Anyway about half hour later the wife was in car with it idling and noticed "smoke coming from engine bay" on inspection the coolant reservoir In engine bay is still full, but there is a stream of coolant on road beneath the car. Car has been lifted by recovery lorry and it will be late Monday before I find out what damage has been done, anyone know what I have hit or damaged? What is that low on car that could cause this? I did have look underneath but could see no damaged or marks but it was dark and was using torch on phone. To make matters worse I caught the underside of side skirts on an unusually high kerb leaving same car park. Bad night all round.

[JetSet]

A loose or damaged hose maybe? I had a leaky one years ago and the coolant level dropped quite slowly.

 

 

Pete

[onthatB0MBSHELL]

A loose or damaged hose maybe? I had a leaky one years ago and the coolant level dropped quite slowly.

 

 

Pete

Judging by the stream of coolant under the car I would rule out loose hose, wife is in turmoil over it, she doesn't like being parted from " her baby" she has been googling all evening to try to solve the problem herself.

 

[leonk]

Underside. Most likely bottom of rad. Click on image and scroll across to rad area.

Edited December 8, 2012 by leonk

[onthatB0MBSHELL]

Underside. Most likely bottom of rad. Click on image and scroll across to rad area.

WOW! Great picture, that's one clean underside of a Zed. Thanks for that.

Can't understand what's been damaged considering there is an under tray supposed to be protecting everything.

 

[rtbiscuit]

Something could have punctured the rad or torn the bottom of the rad.

 

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[JetSet]

Hmm, you describe the bollard as an iron box, did it have ramps on either side? Clutching at straws here but was the A/C switched on at the time, it can leave a considerable puddle and sometimes a bit of steam which is more noticeable on cold nights .

 

 

Pete

[onthatB0MBSHELL]

Hmm, you describe the bollard as an iron box, did it have ramps on either side? Clutching at straws here but was the A/C switched on at the time, it can leave a considerable puddle and sometimes a bit of steam which is more noticeable on cold nights .

 

 

Pete

No the bollard in question was just a single length of approx 2 inch box iron that is fixed to a pivot point inthe ground which can be manually raised and locked in place, no ramps.

[DaddyCee]

anyone else noticed that the mid section on that exhaust doesn't look right?

[ZMANALEX]

anyone else noticed that the mid section on that exhaust doesn't look right?

 

That is because the image is made up of 3 sections: :wink:

 

Alex. :smile:

[onthatB0MBSHELL]

Update! Have spoke to my mechanic tonight, seems the problem has been a Weak spot in the radiator that has failed resulting in coolant loss, it's just been a coincidence with my run in with bollard, pic below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[leonk]

I'd be worried driving the van over that, let alone a Zed! Glad you've got it sorted though.

[onthatB0MBSHELL]

Hi all,

Seems I still have a problem with cooling system, my Zed has twice more overheated resulting in coolant loss I'm thinking the fans are the problem ie not kicking in when need be, what is the procedure for checking if this is the case?

[ZMANALEX]

Just get the car up to normal working temperature and then just let it tick over and the fans should kick in.

 

Lift the bonnet and keep an eye on them and also keep an eye on coolant level in the bottle and also the temp. gauge.

 

New fan motors in stock as well as the Mishimoto fan shroud unit with motors:

 

All in stock and good to go same/next day:

 

http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/66473-350z-mishimoto-performance-fan-shrouds-18000/

 

http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/46683-radiator-coolant-fan-motors-now-in-stock/

 

Just give me a shout if you require any further help with your diagnoses.

 

Alex.

[onthatB0MBSHELL]

Hi Alex, thanks for help,

Let's say my fans don't kick in can I determine wethther it is fan motors or maybe a temp sensor at fault?

 

[ZMANALEX]

If the fans do not kick in, or intermittently do not kick in, or they run slow, check the following:

Wiring/block connectors to fan motors.

Fuses and relays.

Also take a 12v feed and ground direct to the fan motors as that will bypass all the above.

 

 

These schematics should help:

 

 

 

Alex.

[onthatB0MBSHELL]

Thanks Alex, very helpful as usual.

I'll have ago at the fault finding and get back with my findings.

[onthatB0MBSHELL]

Using Alex's diagram I have identified that one of my fan motors is faulty, I have read somewhere about a fix for the motor by dismantling and cleaning brushes? Looking into engine bay its looks a bit daunting to remove fan assembly. Has anyone done this or know of a guide on how to remove it, would like to try this fix first before ordering new motor.

Thanks.

[ZMANALEX]

The complete fan shroud, motors and fans comes out as one unit.

 

There are 2 wiring block connectors that require to be disconnected, which is easy once you remove the undertray to get access.

 

Then remove the 2 bolts at the top which secure the shroud.

 

Move the top radiator hose out the way and then the complete unit just lifts out.

 

The rest is benchwork and there is a guide in the guides section.

 

Good luck.

 

Alex.

[onthatB0MBSHELL]

Thanks again Alex, will try this ASAP.