Unfortunately the rod which connects from the thermostat beneath the engine, up between the cylinder heads (1 + 2), has disconnected from the cooling flaps/veins. I think the rod is sort of hooked at the top (to hook onto to veins, and then you bolt the thermostat onto the bottom. Is there anyway to access the top half to reconnect the rod to the cooling flaps (without dropping engine etc?). I am hoping I can potentially access it in some way, or even remove the alternator to access it? I could remove the fan belt, bolts holding the fan housing and lift it up to access.. but I’m unsure if there’s enough head room in the engine bay to lift it high enough to access? I’m due to go on a long trip from Sunday so any fix would be greatly appreciated! — Alternatively, if I cannot get the rod to reconnect, I’ll pin the cooling flaps open. Are they open when the flaps are pulled to the right hand side (if you’re looking at the engine bay — pulled towards cylinder head 1)?
There should be a spring around the back of the fan housing to hold them open if the thermostat fails (or the rod comes off). Google for a diagram or photo.
Perfect I have just refitted the spring in the back - so that keeps it open rather than closed? - as a side note, I found a picture online of the part which has disconnected. This is the rod disconnected from the cooling flaps - which is what has happened to me!
Yes, holds them open. Maybe your rod need a bend adding so it can't fall out. It passes through a pretty tight gap in the cylinder head which can act like a pivot point so maybe it didn't line up with your thermostat and making it do so forced the the top out of the flap thing. Might be bas memory but I'm sure others I've see have a sort of spring clip on the flap and the rod end has a blob on the end so it can't do that.
Firstly its fail safe so it should drive OK with the wire disconnected, the spring round the front of the fan housing should be pulling the flaps fully open. However - I have managed to refit that wire ONCE with the engine in by lifting the fan housing about 2cm . Its horrible as it involves wedging the fan housing up off the top of the engine enough to see what you are doing, and holding the flaps closed so the little eye the wire hooks in is visible in a slot in the skirt of the fan housing, then poking around. Much less frustrating to pull the engine out completely and do the job by lifting the fan housing up, fitting the wire and calmly lowering it . All without dropping fan housing plus alternator and damaging the oil cooler or engine block by dropping it so it levers the oil cooler to the right.. My fail has been tweaking the rod after installing the engine before fitting the thermostat, to check it was connected to the flaps, letting go of the rod and it popped up and jumped out.. The rod by that time was not the right shape, it had at least once jammed in the closed position in the cylinder head, so I probably had bent it too far in the wrong direction to compensate.
Very annoying that it’s difficult to reconnect! I guess for now I’ll leave the flaps pinned open with the spring around the back of the engine, and in the future I’ll slightly drop the engine again so I can pull up the fan housing and hook the rod on!
You can see the little slot in the fan housing in @Zed's top picture , just beside the bend in the thermostat connecting wire, allows it to go through .. looking at it mine must be in backwards ... I did say it was pretty bent when I got the bus.
