Is This Normal ?

[Tesstuff 222]

Went for a 'spirited' drive earlier , it's first since the new head gasket fitted last month.

 

I was exploring the higher ranges of the revs for a change and manually choosing gears instead of letting the Gentry's auto box choose for me.

 

As the Gentry changes up around 5,000-5,250 as it's max it was the first time i had revved it to the red line in each gear and to be frank, i was disappointed.

 

It had no more 'surge' from say 4,000 to 6,000 revs than it did from 1,500 to 3,500 revs, so no point in pushing it and straining it.I wont do it again.

 

The strange thing was this, as it was a scorching hot day , as expected the fan was on a lot and it was just about to come on once more as i stopped to put some petrol in, but i turned off the engine just at that second.

 

I filled up , paid and came to start her again and the fan came on and i wasn't able to start the engine, i waited around 5 minutes for the fan to stop and then i was able to start her up.

 

Is it normal for the engine management to stop me starting it if it is too hot and needs to cool down ?

 

It is also the first time i have ever seen the oil temperature past halfway , but i did have a lot of fun and did stretch her legs at last.

 

If this is all normal , i now see the Gentry as a nippy car and not at all fast , i would imagine a standard family hatch would easily out accelerate me. But it is fun around the B roads and country lanes, a lot of fun

Edited June 8, 2008 by Tesstuff

[hodgy 0]

ive never heard of that before

[Tom Fenton 1,526]

No that is not normal on a manual 205 GTI, I wonder if there is something on the auto models to inhibit it starting if the 'box fluid gets too hot?

 

As for the power delivery, the Gentry has the smaller valve head and a milder cam to be tuned for low down torque, at the expense of top end power. So your description is exactly what I would expect from it.

[Tesstuff 222]

Tom what you have said all sounds like the right answers to me.

 

It is the first time i have ever used it like a manual , so it would be useage it has never had before nor been used to, so i can believe that my gearbox oil temperature would be a lot higher than normal.

 

The car did start the second the fan stopped so it is like it needed to just cool things down to stop me doing any damage.

 

The comment you make about the mild tune of the car with decent low down torque is how i see it too, it does seem to zip about at low revs which gives you the impression that taking it to higher revs might see some proper pace, but sadly it doesn't as you say.

 

Many thanks for that Tom

[steve@cornwall 100]

The lack of extra "surge" @ 4K of the 1.9 is the reason I prefer the 1.6 over the 1.9, even in 128 bhp guise

[danpug 1]

And also the reason you have to 16v yours steve!

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

The ECU has nothing to do with the starting, It's clockwork to say the least and just about runs the engine,

Sounds like the normal sticky starter syndrome than anything else, The Fan;s should carry on with the ignition turned off as the twin fan set up is different to the single set up.

Performace is as you;ve said with the std engine, One reason I stuck a GTi head and GTI Motronic on mine, Runs a treat and goes fairly well too now right upto 6800rpm.

[Tesstuff 222]

Miles , have you any idea of your bhp/torque with those subtle modifications?

 

I have heard and read so many tales of the Gentry destroying auto boxes when it has been given more power.

 

How easy is it to do the mods you mention?

 

I have just had my head gasket done, with all Peugeot parts so i would hope it is able to cope with a little upgrade?

 

I don't know if this is the same with your Gentry, but in 3rd i can see 105mph ( on a private farm road ) but as soon as i push it into 4th it doesn't seem to go much higher, maybe just under 110mph. I suspect i don't have my full quota of horsepower.

 

Also , my fan switches off when i turn my ignition off, is it wired wrongly?

Edited June 8, 2008 by Tesstuff

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

Your fan does sound like it's wired wrong, But if it works I would leave it alone, There's a saying that goes with that and it's right too.

The engine mods mean's a replacement head and complete loom/ECU swap and the need for high octane fuel, A new GTI or well recon one will be around £350.00 plus fitting it all so not a cheap mod if you have to pay for it to be done.

Box is OK so far, done about 6k with this engine, Got a spare one just in case, but it's the torque converter's I;ve had problems with

[Tesstuff 222]

Ok , i will leave my fan well alone

 

While i am talking to a knowledgeable person i must ask , why are the fans on so much with these cars?

 

I see every modification possible to 205's being discussed on a daily basis, but why has no one worked out a way to stop them getting so hot and thus the fans being on a lot?

 

I dont hear other cars fans on while in traffic so why do i hear the 205's so loudly?

 

Do all other cars have silent fans( like in my pc) and the 205 has a standard noisy fan?

 

 

The ECU and head upgrade is more than i am prepared to spend now, the £400 hit from the head gasket was a hard decision and i think it needs to pay me back and run nice and reliably for a while now

 

Cheers Miles

[johnsimister 10]

What state is your radiator in? If it's old it might have lost some of its cooling fins because they can corrode away. That will make the engine get hot more quickly, especially when stationary with no air flowing through the radiator or what remains of it. And that will make the fan come on more often and stay on longer.

 

Or maybe someone at some time has used a jetwash and aimed it at the radiator, which will blow the fins to smithereens. Guess how I found that out.

 

John

[Tesstuff 222]

Funnily enough, i have replaced virtually everything on this car except the radiator!!

 

I was reading another thread earlier and wondered if a change to a Turbo Diesel one might be a good decision.

 

Also i see alloy ones on the market which improve cooling, so i wont be replacing it with a standard one.

 

 

Alloy or turbo diesel ? What do you think?

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

A std Water system in good condition is more than enough to cope, It makes me laugh why people add 2 fans on Mi16's as it's only covering up a problem not curing it.

But a new nissens rad should do the trick, Also do you know what temp your stat is rated at?

[Tesstuff 222]

i can only go by the temperature gauge and which mark it gets to before the fan kicks in.

 

I dont know any more than that.

 

If i replace the radiator with a nissens one should i replace thermostat at the same time?

 

I know you say the standard set up should cope but why cant i hear any other cars fans today ? It was a scorching day and i was in a very slow moving queue for 20 minutes and my fan came on about 4 times.

 

If that is normal then i just think it is a terrible design flaw by Peugeot.

 

Using my common sense, if the radiator was twice as big using twice as much water would the temperatures be a lot lower? Is it really as simple as that ?

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

4 times in 20 min's with today's heat is not bad at all, The 205 fan's are loud compared with modern one's, Even when I fit smaller fan's to them of about 7" dia they cool better than the std one and half as loud too,

You think that's bad you should try driving my 406 fast, Now that does get HOT

[Tesstuff 222]

Miles thankyou for the reassurances

 

So when it comes time to replace the radiator, i will get a nissen alloy one , new thermostat and a smaller quieter fan

 

Now to source some nice straight sorrento green panels

[jackherer 543]

Its possible that your fans low speed resistor has fallen off so you only ever get the high speed operation which is much louder.

[Tesstuff 222]

My fan doesnt have two stages...its either off or loud.

 

How do i remedy that please ?

[jackherer 543]

The low speed fan resistor is a metal cylinder about 100x20mm that should be attached to the fan loom, follow the wiring from the fan switch and you should find it, or an empty plug. There is a brown multiplug that isn't meant to have any connections but the resistor plug isn't brown (might be black?). Also there is a similar resistor that is used by the headlight dim dip system so make sure you follow the fan loom to find it.

 

Actually, as its an auto, it might have dual fans, if so these are wired up differently with no resistor so troubleshooting is more complex. I believe they use a relay or two to connect the fans in series for low speed then parallel for high speed so lack of low speed could be due to either a failed relay or one dead fan as well as the wiring issues that the normal setup suffers from.