Engine Temp Went Up To 110 Degrees.

Engine Temp Went Up To 110 Degrees.

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beano500

20,854 posts

274 months

Saturday 9th August 2003
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Mine peaked at an indicated 110 on Wednesday. Otherwise over 300+ miles it was running at about 95.

It was pretty obvious that sitting running it on a concrete runway going nowhere very fast in sweltering temperatures and with no breeze the needle could only go one way! Returning via the car park (mysteriously given the code name "M25" as if it were some sort of road) around London it was well behaved at about the 95-100 mark.

chris watton

22,477 posts

259 months

Saturday 9th August 2003
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Mine has just peaked at 100!!! But oh my God what a great day for serious driving on the B roads, We have been to Stow on the wold, looked at a castle (Sudeley), stopped off at a pub for a ploughmans,,, all in all a great TVR day!
I must stress that the 100deg temp was completely my fault, as I kept the Chim in 3rd, occasionally 4th gear most of the way on the fantastic roads!! Even parked next to another Chim 450 at the car park in Stow, even cought up with them coming back to the car and had a little natter.
Now, we are back home, and giving the Chim a rest,, it still looks pretty hot sat on the driveway!!! lol
Today has been a perfect example of why we buy these superb cars in the first place, despite the constant glances at the temp readings!!!

Chris

mattrsv

50 posts

248 months

Saturday 9th August 2003
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I have a 96 500 (Same as Chimpy Bob), and on a trip through London I also got to the hand on gear knob buring temperature of 120. This did not come down even with the car on tickover and the heater on (no aircon!)

It must have been around this temp for around an hour!!
It ran OK, however I was constantly concerned about it going bang. It wouldn't cool down at all until I got on the motorway at 90 degrees.

Could this just be a design feature (mis-reading temp guage) with nobody anticipating these temperatures and anyone wanting to be sat in London (or Croydon) traffic in this, all too rare,heat??? Indeed, would the car run on 120 degrees for this long with no coolant loss without going pop?

Anyway, I am booked into see Mark Adams on Tuesday to have it chipped, so I will get his view. I hope whatever it is, or isn't, won't be too costly.

I will post any additional info on Tuesday.



david beer

3,982 posts

266 months

Sunday 10th August 2003
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griffless said:
We had a similar problem with our Chim, & referred it to my brother Alasdair, a mechanic & garage owner. No more problems since, highest temperature has been just over 90C, even in slow-moving traffic in this weather.

Here's what he reckons:
Problem was caused by a faulty radiator fan switch, the TVR-fitted one being of a brand unfamiliar to him. He was of the opinion it was probably of sub-standard quality. The original part switched the fan on & off between a temperature range of 93C and 88C (IIRC), & has only 5 degrees difference between switch on / off, thus causing wear to the part due to arc across contacts when the fan is turned on / off. The part therefore degrades more rapidly, due to its inferior quality.

He recommended & used a Lucas replacement switch, part number SND723, which operates between temperature range 92C & 87C, cutting in earlier & out later, and since replacement we have never seen the temperature rise above 92C, so it appears that this now works exactly as intended

Other options which Alasdair suggested are Lucas p/no: SNB717, which runs the fan for longer still, operating between 92C & 82C. He would recommend this part to anyone experiencing overheating problems.

In any case, he suggests that anyone running a V8, especially in this weather, should replace the original TVR switch as a matter of course, as it will be prone to failure.

Part no SNB723 cost us £6, and although Alasdair fitted it for us, it's an easy DIY. All that's required is an adjustable spanner for the job (think it's 27mm, but not certain), & ensure that the new switch is in your other hand when replacing, in order to minimise coolant loss (about 1/2 a pint can be expected).

Replacement switches can be obtained from motorfactors, possibly Partco, but they may need to cross-reference the part number. Additional information that may be helpful to ID the correct radiator fan switch is: thread size M22 x 1.5, & it has 2 spade terminals. Price will be under £10, & the job takes less than 10 minutes, so there's little to lose by trying this.

Having just re-read Corin Denton's post, I see that this is the otter switch that I've seen mentioned so many times, but didn't realise that it was the same thing. D-oh!

Additionally, we bought some Water Wetter from Leven while at PistonFest (£10) and this brought the temperature down another 5 or so degrees, giving more time before the fan needs to kick in. Without the antifreeze in the radiatior, this would make even more difference, but as the Chim's now running at 70C -75C in normal running, we wouldn't want to go any lower than this anyway.

Sorry this is so longwinded, but hope it helps.
Mairi

ray_von

2,913 posts

251 months

Monday 11th August 2003
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david is this a stunned silence or has my computer knacked

jonnyb

2,590 posts

251 months

Monday 11th August 2003
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Mine got up to 98 on wedensday, usually sits at about 75-80, 90 on a hot day.

M@H

11,296 posts

271 months

Monday 11th August 2003
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On Friday morning we had some really stifling heat here and I was sat stationary in traffic watching the needle wander up over 90, then 95, then 100, and still climbing, so I stopped the car and took my trusty emergency paperclip out of my wallet, shorted out the otter switch and have been driving the car in this heat for the whole weekend with a running temp of 75-80 I wouldn't advise anyone to do this on a longterm basis at all as normally this wouldn't let the engine get hot enough, however for me it has worked a treat in these very hot days, I'll remove it when we get below 30 degrees again I reckon.

Cheers,
Matt.

>> Edited by M@H on Monday 11th August 13:28

zumbruk

7,848 posts

259 months

Monday 11th August 2003
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Just another data point, but as we sat stationary behind the slow load on the M1, sweltering on our way back from Mania (too hot, not enough to see) the gauge never went over 90 on my 450, even though one of the fans is busted. So the Chim cooling system does work when properly set up.

mattrsv

50 posts

248 months

Monday 11th August 2003
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Oh yeah, forgot to mention, my 500 has an over-ride switch for the fan, so they were on the whole time.

Rules out the otter switch problems for my car!

N17 TVR

2,937 posts

270 months

Monday 11th August 2003
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Am becoming more & more convinced I have a faulty temp gauge or sensor. Was showing 100-110 yesterday in 30 mph stop-start traffic

I've fitted Davids (Mod Wise) excellent 2 stage fan kit (& have set them to come on early), there is no coolant loss, there is no air block, the radiator gets hot, but the gauge still says 100-110.

Have just ordered a multi meter (with temp sensor) to try and test the temp of some of the components.

pies

13,116 posts

255 months

Monday 11th August 2003
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Cant you just measure the resistance at the ecu.The bible for the V8S shows where to poke the leads,this gives you the resistance and the table tells you the temp.then you can tell if the gauge is out

N17 TVR

2,937 posts

270 months

Monday 11th August 2003
quotequote all
pies said:
Cant you just measure the resistance at the ecu.The bible for the V8S shows where to poke the leads,this gives you the resistance and the table tells you the temp.then you can tell if the gauge is out


I shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the ECU or anything electrical or mechanical....

Does the temp of the coolant get measured in the swirl pot or from the radiator ?

M@H

11,296 posts

271 months

Monday 11th August 2003
quotequote all
Do you chaps tap the guage front in an authoritive ww2 fighter plane stylee from time to time.. I notice that the guage sticks a little some days..?

Cheers
Matt.

shpub

8,507 posts

271 months

Monday 11th August 2003
quotequote all
pies said:
Cant you just measure the resistance at the ecu.The bible for the V8S shows where to poke the leads,this gives you the resistance and the table tells you the temp.then you can tell if the gauge is out


There is an even better decsription in the bible 2 including how to test temp sesors in the kitchen and a temp/resistence chart for a good and a bad sensor.

The coolent temp is taken inside the engine block.

N17 TVR

2,937 posts

270 months

Monday 11th August 2003
quotequote all
M@H said:
Do you chaps tap the guage front in an authoritive ww2 fighter plane stylee from time to time.. I notice that the guage sticks a little some days..?

Cheers
Matt.


Matt, tap it ? I nearly punched it's ing lights out !

N17 TVR

2,937 posts

270 months

Monday 11th August 2003
quotequote all
shpub said:

There is an even better decsription in the bible 2 including how to test temp sensors in the kitchen


Steve - everything in the kitchen has been fine during the heatwave, we are lucky because it's very shadey

Only joking - I received my copy of the new version last Friday - looks a very good second edition and will follow it to the letter

M@H

11,296 posts

271 months

Monday 11th August 2003
quotequote all
N17 TVR said:


M@H said:
Do you chaps tap the guage front in an authoritive ww2 fighter plane stylee from time to time.. I notice that the guage sticks a little some days..?

Cheers
Matt.





Matt, tap it ? I nearly punched it's ing lights out !




>> Edited by M@H on Monday 11th August 15:03

chimpy_bob

41 posts

247 months

Thursday 21st August 2003
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Just found out why my chim is going beyond 120. Looks like my cylinder head is cracked. It did have an engine rebuild about 10 weeks ago by TVR Power but it looks like they $%&*ed it up. Still, could be worse. Could be dead.

chimhunter

906 posts

248 months

Friday 22nd August 2003
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Mate that's tough. Have you spoken to TVR P? Are they going to sort it 'under warranty'?

IPAddis

2,470 posts

283 months

Friday 22nd August 2003
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chimpy_bob said:
Just found out why my chim is going beyond 120. Looks like my cylinder head is cracked. It did have an engine rebuild about 10 weeks ago by TVR Power but it looks like they $%&*ed it up. Still, could be worse. Could be dead.


Could it be that the engine has been getting to 120 degrees because of another reason and the fact that you let it get that high without shutting down has cracked the block? Hopefully not.

Ian A.