Water temps high when heater on!?
Discussion
Hi all
I'm delighted to have joined caterham
Ownership and have a lovely little 1.6 K roadsport that is an absolute delight.
One full track day under its belt and by the end of the day we were one of the quickest things out there, confidence inspiring!
However....
I notice that if I pull the lever to open the heater matrix, my water temperature reports that it's at 100 degrees all the time. Never goes up or down.
Close the valve and temps come down
And are reported correctly.
Is this normal behaviour?
Any advice appreciated
I'm delighted to have joined caterham
Ownership and have a lovely little 1.6 K roadsport that is an absolute delight.
One full track day under its belt and by the end of the day we were one of the quickest things out there, confidence inspiring!
However....
I notice that if I pull the lever to open the heater matrix, my water temperature reports that it's at 100 degrees all the time. Never goes up or down.
Close the valve and temps come down
And are reported correctly.
Is this normal behaviour?
Any advice appreciated
Thanks for coming back to me!
Yep heater works a treat, all pipes warm.
As above if I push the lever for heater in my temps read normal (80 ish degrees) and the dial goes from cold to hot as the engine increases in temp.
But open the heater valve and all of a sudden temps rise to 100 and then stay there rock solid.
One full track day and temps didn't waver or go above that. Just very odd
Yep heater works a treat, all pipes warm.
As above if I push the lever for heater in my temps read normal (80 ish degrees) and the dial goes from cold to hot as the engine increases in temp.
But open the heater valve and all of a sudden temps rise to 100 and then stay there rock solid.
One full track day and temps didn't waver or go above that. Just very odd
also worth noting that even when it reads 100 degrees, the front radiator only feels reasonably warm, and the fan isn't kicking in. So it's not like I think the engine is actually getting too hot.
as soon as i close the heater valve, the temps fall back down to 80 degrees within a few minutes.
odd!
as soon as i close the heater valve, the temps fall back down to 80 degrees within a few minutes.
odd!
I think I get you!
So unplug top Hose from heater valve and attach something to it which gives it an upward facing fill point.
Then with bleed cap and expansion tank top off, fill one or both the open hoses with cool and until it comes out bleed valve.
Seal up bleed valve and make sure level is right in expansion tank.
Then try not to make a total mess plugging the hose back into the valve?
So unplug top Hose from heater valve and attach something to it which gives it an upward facing fill point.
Then with bleed cap and expansion tank top off, fill one or both the open hoses with cool and until it comes out bleed valve.
Seal up bleed valve and make sure level is right in expansion tank.
Then try not to make a total mess plugging the hose back into the valve?
So to further this!
Last night I took it out and got it up to temp.
-radiator top hose hot
-both sides of heater pipe work hot (don't think heater has air lock)
-when radiator bleed opened, coolant comes out.
-bottom hose on radiator only mildly warm.
-return path on cooling system back into block only moderately warm.
Could it still be a problem at radiator? It seems that everything is fine until this point. The return path is never hot enough for thermostat to open. Something is stopping the hot water getting from top
Of radiator back out.
However when squeezed, all hoses cause movement in expansion tank including the bottom radiator!
Stumped!
Last night I took it out and got it up to temp.
-radiator top hose hot
-both sides of heater pipe work hot (don't think heater has air lock)
-when radiator bleed opened, coolant comes out.
-bottom hose on radiator only mildly warm.
-return path on cooling system back into block only moderately warm.
Could it still be a problem at radiator? It seems that everything is fine until this point. The return path is never hot enough for thermostat to open. Something is stopping the hot water getting from top
Of radiator back out.
However when squeezed, all hoses cause movement in expansion tank including the bottom radiator!
Stumped!
Interestingly everyone keeps talking about a bleed on top of the rad! I don't have one... what i have is:
the only thing that looks like a bleed, is the 4 inch rubber hose that comes out between the electric switch and the large rubber inlet hose.
Should I be bleeding from there?
best pipes to massage to get it all clear?
the only thing that looks like a bleed, is the 4 inch rubber hose that comes out between the electric switch and the large rubber inlet hose.
Should I be bleeding from there?
best pipes to massage to get it all clear?
Air lock was actually in radiator.
Both sides of heater circuit were roasting, no issue there. But one half of radiator was noticeably cooler.
Bled it and now temps read around the 90 degree mark which is much better given it'll be on the 88 degree stat!
I'll buy and fit the 82 degree stat with drilled hole mod in the new year.
Both sides of heater circuit were roasting, no issue there. But one half of radiator was noticeably cooler.
Bled it and now temps read around the 90 degree mark which is much better given it'll be on the 88 degree stat!
I'll buy and fit the 82 degree stat with drilled hole mod in the new year.
So to close this one off.
Turns out everything was working fine. If the car sat still on the driveway with engine on, temp would climb to mid 80's stat would open and temp would hover around 80-90 for ages, fan occasionally cutting in. No problems there.
The issue is when the car is moving with the heater open. I think the cold winter air, is cooling down the water in the circuit too much. So that as the water moves back round to the thermostat on the intake side, its now too cool to cause the stat to open up properly. Sit at a standstill and all of a sudden temps sort themselves out again.
The answer is probably going to be a lower temp thermostat, with a couple of wee holes drilled in it for flow through the system.
All that's happening now is one half of the circuit is cooled down by the radiator / heater matrix, and therefore nothings opening and it's not moving anywhere.
Irritating, but not terminal!
Will sort out an 82 degree stat with drilled hole mod early next year.
Turns out everything was working fine. If the car sat still on the driveway with engine on, temp would climb to mid 80's stat would open and temp would hover around 80-90 for ages, fan occasionally cutting in. No problems there.
The issue is when the car is moving with the heater open. I think the cold winter air, is cooling down the water in the circuit too much. So that as the water moves back round to the thermostat on the intake side, its now too cool to cause the stat to open up properly. Sit at a standstill and all of a sudden temps sort themselves out again.
The answer is probably going to be a lower temp thermostat, with a couple of wee holes drilled in it for flow through the system.
All that's happening now is one half of the circuit is cooled down by the radiator / heater matrix, and therefore nothings opening and it's not moving anywhere.
Irritating, but not terminal!
Will sort out an 82 degree stat with drilled hole mod early next year.
So last but not least!
Came to my garage the other day to find a large puddle of water on the floor. Ends up that my cooling issue is a constant airlock being created by water leaking from the bottom hose of the radiator, leaving air in the top of the system.
PT sports have been in touch and have resolved any issues to my satisfaction, and we've found a way to resolve it all that suits us both.
A new set of silicon hoses will be going on the car ASAP and i'll be replacing all the coolant in the system and probably popping a fresh thermostat on for good measure.
Came to my garage the other day to find a large puddle of water on the floor. Ends up that my cooling issue is a constant airlock being created by water leaking from the bottom hose of the radiator, leaving air in the top of the system.
PT sports have been in touch and have resolved any issues to my satisfaction, and we've found a way to resolve it all that suits us both.
A new set of silicon hoses will be going on the car ASAP and i'll be replacing all the coolant in the system and probably popping a fresh thermostat on for good measure.
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