45 replies to this topic

[yeti21586]

Little tip for motorway driving:  Roll down hills.  Get up to speed then take it out of gear and roll down hill with the engine idling for as long as is safe and possible. Start at 70mph and when you have slowed to the point where wagons are catching you up, its time to put it back in gear and make normal progress.

Be careful doing this, make sure there is a lot of space around you. I can't say its a particularly safe thing to do but it will significantly reduce your coolant temperature.

I always do this on a long motorway journey in a mini (and other classics)

 

Al

 

Pleas do not give dangerous advice!!

 

http://www.highwaycode.info/rule/122

 

 

Rule 122

Coasting. This term describes a vehicle travelling in neutral or with the clutch pressed down. It can reduce driver control because

• engine braking is eliminated
• vehicle speed downhill will increase quickly
• increased use of the footbrake can reduce its effectiveness
• steering response will be affected, particularly on bends and corners
• it may be more difficult to select the appropriate gear when needed.

[Captain Mainwaring]

to be honest.... although there is nothing wrong with the temp on our car, I always have the heater on "hot" and when sat in traffic, I put the heater on, as this helps cooling,

 

I dont really need to but like Tesco's, every little helps

 

It was 32C earlier part of the week here and the car was at or just under N with the AC on....I don't have a heater, and if I had to run it under normal conditions I think I'd be doing something about it.

 

I had 6 week of a chinese bus driver doing that - he coast down and damned near stop going up, the select too a higher gear and then proceed to change up the box some more, just in case it did some good.

 

Oh, in the summer he wouldn't put the AC on...and in the winter the heater went on for 22 second at the beginning of the journey.

 

He was pretty much the worse driver I have every seen and I would have liked to rip the handbrake off and shove it up his armhole.

Edited by Captain Mainwaring, 20 July 2013 - 10:26 AM.

[Badboytunes]

I never said anything about coasting...........

 

As said, there is noting wrong with the cooling system on my car, I just like to ease the load on the cooling syaytem if sat in trafiic.....

[yeti21586]

no one said you did say anything about coasting

[krusher74]

 

to be honest.... although there is nothing wrong with the temp on our car, I always have the heater on "hot" and when sat in traffic, I put the heater on, as this helps cooling,

 

I dont really need to but like Tesco's, every little helps

 

It was 32C earlier part of the week here and the car was at or just under N with the AC on....I don't have a heater, and if I had to run it under normal conditions I think I'd be doing something about it.

 

I had 6 week of a chinese bus driver doing that - he coast down and damned near stop going up, the select too a higher gear and then proceed to change up the box some more, just in case it did some good.

 

Oh, in the summer he wouldn't put the AC on...and in the winter the heater went on for 22 second at the beginning of the journey.

 

He was pretty much the worse driver I have every seen and I would have liked to rip the handbrake off and shove it up his armhole.

 

Yeah whats up with there driving, a taxi bemo driver I had in bali once refused to use 4th gear, drove around in rd althe time and never down shifted till he had lost all momentum!!

[minilee94]

What about changing the coolant temp switch on the head

[petey81]

Little tip for motorway driving:  Roll down hills.  Get up to speed then take it out of gear and roll down hill with the engine idling for as long as is safe and possible. Start at 70mph and when you have slowed to the point where wagons are catching you up, its time to put it back in gear and make normal progress.

Be careful doing this, make sure there is a lot of space around you. I can't say its a particularly safe thing to do but it will significantly reduce your coolant temperature.

I always do this on a long motorway journey in a mini (and other classics)

 

Al

 

 

Edited by YetI21586

Pleas do not give dangerous advice!!

wow where did you get your licence from? back of a cereal packet?

[Captain Mainwaring]

 

 

to be honest.... although there is nothing wrong with the temp on our car, I always have the heater on "hot" and when sat in traffic, I put the heater on, as this helps cooling,

 

I dont really need to but like Tesco's, every little helps

 

It was 32C earlier part of the week here and the car was at or just under N with the AC on....I don't have a heater, and if I had to run it under normal conditions I think I'd be doing something about it.

 

I had 6 week of a chinese bus driver doing that - he coast down and damned near stop going up, the select too a higher gear and then proceed to change up the box some more, just in case it did some good.

 

Oh, in the summer he wouldn't put the AC on...and in the winter the heater went on for 22 second at the beginning of the journey.

 

He was pretty much the worse driver I have every seen and I would have liked to rip the handbrake off and shove it up his armhole.

 

Yeah whats up with there driving, a taxi bemo driver I had in bali once refused to use 4th gear, drove around in rd althe time and never down shifted till he had lost all momentum!!

 

 

 

Those Daihatsu's are becoming quite collectible now...I'm on the look out for one to put in the stable with the rest of the junk...

 

As for 4th gear, he probably didn't know it had one........

India and China has some **** driving, but I think we take the prize here....amazing more people aren't ground to a pulp every day......

[krusher74]

 

 

 

to be honest.... although there is nothing wrong with the temp on our car, I always have the heater on "hot" and when sat in traffic, I put the heater on, as this helps cooling,

 

I dont really need to but like Tesco's, every little helps

 

It was 32C earlier part of the week here and the car was at or just under N with the AC on....I don't have a heater, and if I had to run it under normal conditions I think I'd be doing something about it.

 

I had 6 week of a chinese bus driver doing that - he coast down and damned near stop going up, the select too a higher gear and then proceed to change up the box some more, just in case it did some good.

 

Oh, in the summer he wouldn't put the AC on...and in the winter the heater went on for 22 second at the beginning of the journey.

 

He was pretty much the worse driver I have every seen and I would have liked to rip the handbrake off and shove it up his armhole.

 

Yeah whats up with there driving, a taxi bemo driver I had in bali once refused to use 4th gear, drove around in rd althe time and never down shifted till he had lost all momentum!!

 

 

 

Those Daihatsu's are becoming quite collectible now...I'm on the look out for one to put in the stable with the rest of the junk...

 

As for 4th gear, he probably didn't know it had one........

India and China has some **** driving, but I think we take the prize here....amazing more people aren't ground to a pulp every day......

 

Oh he knew it had one, we cheered one day when he used it, but 5secs later he was back in 3rd!

[Badboytunes]

no one said you did say anything about coasting

 

And your point is....................?

 

I was merely commenting on a post by captain manwaring.

[smev]

regarding the coasting, apart from being dangerous, surely it would be better to keep the revs higher so the mechanical fan is spinning faster pushing more air through In which case the happy medium would be to go slower.

Back to the OP, I think it's down to the hot weather! I thought that electric fans were less effective at speed but my sources might have been wrong, you could try an export fan (selling one if you're interested ) which I hear work a treat, as long as you can get clearance (does yours have a crank case breather?)

[1989mayfair]

 

Little tip for motorway driving:  Roll down hills.  Get up to speed then take it out of gear and roll down hill with the engine idling for as long as is safe and possible. Start at 70mph and when you have slowed to the point where wagons are catching you up, its time to put it back in gear and make normal progress.

Be careful doing this, make sure there is a lot of space around you. I can't say its a particularly safe thing to do but it will significantly reduce your coolant temperature.

I always do this on a long motorway journey in a mini (and other classics)

 

Al

 

Definitely the worst piece of driving advice i have seen for a long time. There is obviously something not right with your cooling system and needs to be checked out if the temp is getting way too high. 

 

First things to check if you are sure the system is generally good and the fan is the correct way round, but still running hot is that the radiator fins are clear. The best way to do this is to remove the rad and see if you can look through it with no parts blocked and if so a good blow through with an airline is due. If and when they are clear, flush the rad and the rest of the system to make sure there is no crud in the system. Once this has been done, you may notice a big difference. If not, then it will be time to look further.

 

Assumptions are usually to do with the water flow, but the airflow through the rad is just as important if not more so.

 

 

 

Not a novice but i'm having cooling issues as well, agin the water pump is working fine and the rad is fairy new. ive just cleaned and back flushed it, the timing is good (and been checked) so is the carb setup but its still running hot. Im thinking an auxiliary fan but to be honest it should be cooling itself without the need of extra fan support.

 

You mention is the fan on the right way around. Mine is blowing out through the wing. On most cars the sucks the air through the radiator but this is blowing out. I think this is right but i have no way of checking. Can you please confirm that it should be pushing the air out into the wing or sucking it into the engine bay.

 

Thanks.

[Yoda]

If you have the standard plastic fan, the smoother side should face the engine if that makes sense! it looks wrong, which is why a lot of people install it the wrong way round to make it "look" right and yes it pushes air through the rad

[leroy26]

how olds your oil to look from another view? if you have cheap crap oil in surly thats causing more friction specially at speed which would warm things up a little?

[Tobyrm1]

Changed the coolant temp switch too!
The fan on my mini is deffo the right way around blowing the air through the rad and out through the wing. The oil was changed only 3 days ago for good quality 20/50 and hasn't made any difference at all.

Thanks.