weather getting warmer Car getting hotter!!

[wole0911]

Hi...any advice on how to keep Super Sprint cooler?
Getting very warm nearer red zone when in traffic ... should i remove the thermostate?
Ive just ordered some water wetter from Ebay any idear will this keep temp down?
Getting bit paronoid about driving it just incase i get stuck in traffic..
I keep having to top up radiator...
Kenlow fan working ok..
Any advice Thanx

[Aeroscreens]

Is that Super Sprint as in 1700 x/flow?

When I had mine I don't recall overheating problems and I certainly didn't have to keep topping up the rad, so something sounds amiss to me.

Are the top and bottom hoses both hot? If not maybe thermostat isn't working. Best way to check is take it out and stick it in a saucepan of water on the cooker and as it reaches up to temp you should see it open. Not unheard of for them to fail.

Another possibility, thinking about it, is that if you're losing coolant perhaps the water pump has failed and is leaking, that's happened to me.

They're my starters for ten....

PS Not wishing to worry you but (worst case scenario) overheating problems can eventually lead to this

[Eugene7]

Loosing water is never good or normal.

I suspect another problem - HGF?
Do you ever see 'steam' out of the exhaust just after shutting down?

Any other signs of a leak?

[BertBert]

if you keep topping up, you need to work out where the coolant is going. It wont be just a case of it running a bit hot.
Bert

[Eric Mc]

I have a 1600 Crossflow in mine and last week I got was stuck in some heavy traffic on the Basingstoke ring road. Even though it was a hot day, the engine never overheated. However, at one point I let the engine revs drop a bit too much and the engine stalled. It took me a few goes before the engine fired up again - accompanied by a bit a of popping and banging from the carbs and a puff of blue smoke out of the K&N filters.

[Upnor]

As already mentioned you got to find out where the water is going, you don't say how much your topping up. Run her up outside your house on a warm day, bonnet an nose one off an see if you can see where the water is getting out keep an eye on the temp gauge though. Treat any dampness as suspicious, leak may be so small that it dries somewhere on the car before falling to the floor..

[sundance002]

Are the top and bottom hoses both hot? If not maybe thermostat isn't working. Best way to check is take it out and stick it in a saucepan of water on the cooker and as it reaches up to temp you should see it open. Not unheard of for them to fail.

Another possibility, thinking about it, is that if you're losing coolant perhaps the water pump has failed and is leaking, that's happened to me.

They're my starters for ten.

+1 I had this problem to, check for cold spots on radiator and hoses.
Mine turned out to be water pump leaking. Also check for small pin size holes in hoses. Sounds to me like it's not flowing through the engine so only cools down when your moving.

[Stridey]

I had similar issues with my Crossflow, Temp creeping up to red in stopped London Traffic.

One trick is to put on the heater to full (if you have one).... But boy is that comfortably hot in th cabin.

I have an oil radiator in front of my water one, so I upraded the fan from a 9" to an 11" Spal. They run about £75. Plugged and played, fitted in ten minutes. Theory being it would suck air over a wider radiator area.

I also bought a bottle of Water Wetter.

I wrapped the exhaust with Titanium wrap , from the manifold to the outside of car.

Lastly I fitted some insulation sheets intended for an S3 with modification to retrofit as best I could.

I can report the car is definitely running cooler, it's been nowhere near the red, staying under 100 all the time even in queues. Mostly nearer 80-85. On the temp dial.

I know some people will say water wetter is snake oil, but I'd try that first as its the cheapest.

Edited by Stridey on Wednesday 24th June 14:55

Edited by Stridey on Wednesday 24th June 14:57

[wole0911]

Thanx for advice .... im topping it up about a pint (can we all remember what a pint is? lol) every 200 miles and it hasnt hit the red yet and living out in the country side its always run normal temp .... thought topping up was just part of the norm running an older car... i just got cought in school traffic the other day and it just crept up very very slowly towards the red but managed to get moving again before i was about to try and pull over and let it cool down.
Just remembered i bought the car in the winter and couldnt get it warm so the heater was rubbish and on investergation found no thermostate fitted so had one fitted.... im just wondering weather they have fitted a higher temp one...im not a mechanic and just having a guess..

[Eugene7]

A pint in 200 miles is way too much (actually, ANY water topping up is too much!).
You most definitely have a separate and potentially major issue...

[Eric Mc]

Have a feel of the radiator too. They do clog up over time. I've had mine replaced once in my 19 years of ownership.

[sundance002]

Imo I do not think it's thermostat,
As I had said above, when the car is hot, check the rad for cold spots,
You should not have to top up with coolant. It really sounds like the water pump imo, You could also have air in the system caused by the leak. So even when you top up it's not filling the whole system. All the symptoms I had when faced with a faulty pump, which also caused the belt to slip and fall off.

[harry b]

Forget thermostat, waterwetter and all other means.

If you have to fill water, first thing to do is check where it goes.
If you don't find a puddle of coolant under the car, you will smell a sweet odor (if coolant is used). In that case your headgasket is probably about to go.

[Sbend]

harry b said:

Forget thermostat, waterwetter and all other means.

If you have to fill water, first thing to do is check where it goes.
If you don't find a puddle of coolant under the car, you will smell a sweet odor (if coolant is used). In that case your headgasket is probably about to go.

Agreed

[sundance002]

Sbend said:

Agreed

This would be worst case scenario.

Pressure test the system first, then do a chemical test on the water to see if any traces of oil it will change color.
You can buy a test kit at Halfords

[harry b]

sundance002 said:

This would be worst case scenario.

Pressure test the system first, then do a chemical test on the water to see if any traces of oil it will change color.
You can buy a test kit at Halfords

It's not an uncommon thing or big tragedy to have a headgasket failing. A cracked liner or block would be a real tragedy for your wallet.
Only way to eiminate that is to loosen the oil drainplug and see if coolant comes out. (oil floats on coolant)
The coolant you loose can go two ways.
leaking outside the engine,
leaking inside the engine block.

A blown headgasket will not leak coolant into the combustionroom, the gasses will push the coolant away into the expansionbottle which will overflow.
A waterpumpseal, hose, hoseclamp or radiator can have a leak
A cilinderhead,liner or block has a crack. the coolant will get into the sump. The oil will get opaque light brownish from color.

[wole0911]

Found it a tiny leak in top hose conection when thermostate opened it trickeled out the side of the jubille clip ...every thing tightened up now and seems to be running ok....so thanx