23 replies to this topic

[richcrosse]

So, a little update.. today I fitted a new 11 blade fan, 82 degree stat, flushed the system and radiator again, then re-filled with fresh coolant (approx. 75/25 - water/coolant respectively)

 

I left the car to idle, it came up to temp and held just above N, went to take it for a drive and the same thing happened again - before I got to the end of my road (approx. 300 yards) the temp gauge had shot up over H. I turned around and rolled back outside the house, temp immediately started to drop and went back down to just over N.

 

I have an aux fan coming, hopefully will arrive tomorrow and I'll fit that, but clearly there is another issue here as the engine shouldn't be heating up (or cooling down?) that quickly. I'm minded to think Cooperman was right regarding the gauge reading incorrectly so I'll also get a capillary gauge ordered, though I do think it's also getting hot, even if the gauge is exaggerating that somewhat.

[imack]

Have you tried refitting the old sender unit yet?

[richcrosse]

Next on my to-do list, just waiting for the engine to cool back down 

[Richie83]

Check the fan is the right way and the heater matrix is free from blockages too.

[richcrosse]

Check the fan is the right way and the heater matrix is free from blockages too.

 

 

Fan is definitely the right way - smooth side towards the engine.

 

No heater matrix fitted so I can tick that one off too! 

 

 

So, I re-fitted my old temp sender and it has made a difference - the car still warms up and holds around N, but now doesn't shoot up as soon as I drive it, so that's progress! Must have just been a bad sender?

 

However, its not all good news as the temp did still creep up to about half way between N and H after a relatively short drive. When stopped though, the temp comes back down to N again, so this is a big improvement over my original issue (overheating when stopped/in traffic), but still not ideal as the temperature is fluctuating quite a bit during use. I'm really looking to get it into a position where it maintains a comfortable and constant temp.

.

Whilst I have ordered and will be fitting an aux fan which would help, I don't want to have to rely on it all the time so I think I may just have to bite the bullet and get a tropical fan in the hope it will put more/enough air through the rad to maintain a constant temperature. I did also consider fitting a larger pulley to see if that would give more consistent temps?

 

Before I do either though, does anyone else have any pearls of wisdom or better ideas to share that I could try? Open to all suggestions!

 

Big thank you by the way to everyone who has already taken the time to reply!

[Wiggy]

Did you actually take the radiator out, when you flushed it? Might be worth putting some water in and giving a damn good shake.

[Spider]

Only a guess here - It sounds like it's able to drop the heat through the cooling system OK, but that the engine is making too much heat in the first place.

 

What's the general tune on the engine like?

 

Distributor working OK?

 

Not Leaning out?

[richcrosse]

Did you actually take the radiator out, when you flushed it? Might be worth putting some water in and giving a damn good shake.

 

Yeah removed completely and flushed through with the hose pipe from the top. The water all ran clean and well, no apparent signs of blockages.

 

 

Only a guess here - It sounds like it's able to drop the heat through the cooling system OK, but that the engine is making too much heat in the first place.

 

What's the general tune on the engine like?

 

Distributor working OK?

 

Not Leaning out?

 

As far as I can tell, it's running well - no hesitation, misfires or general bad running, it pulls well through the rev range. Before I started upgrading the cooling system it only got hot at idle, or perhaps after a sustained motorway run, but I always considered that fairly normal for a highly tuned engine.

 

The distributor isn't very old and it's an upgraded Aldon fast road unit, again no obvious signs that it's not working, but anything particular I should be checking?

 

I will pull off a spark plug and check the colour just to be sure and then report back  Is there anything else I should look for to determine whether it's running lean?

[richcrosse]

So I pulled  a spark plug - Thoughts?

 

 

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