Running temperatures..

[mrzigazaga]

Hi chaps..I had my system flushed out..Rad..Matrix and all pipe work and a lot of rusty water and bits of creap came out..re-fitted hoses and topped up with the correct viscosity of anti-freeze..Before this the temperature was just over 165 on gauge or where normal would be..but since the flush it is just under 210, About 1/8th" above where it used to be..Is this normal..I can actually take the expansion cap off and it doesnt overflow when its at temperature..Cheers..Zig

[jeff m]

That's a bit high.
I suggest you buy two new pressure caps.
Probably low on coolant after the refill, it should self bleed if your system is tight. Keep checking the level cold, it should suck it back as it cools. (Keep your heater on)
Mine runs at just over 80 (180) and is fairly constant even if idling on a hot day.

Assume you have a clutch fan. Mine was tested by a friend with a leather welding glove, yep, he just stuck his hand in to try to stop it.

[keatsie]

Zig,

You may have an airlock somewhere that is to high

[mrzigazaga]

Cheers chaps..Could the temperature sensor have got damaged as the water definately is not as hot as it suggests..I have run the engine up to hot with the expansion cap off which is new and the fan on hot setting to try to eliminate any air locks...Is there any thing else i can do without draining it all out and starting again?..Cheers..Zig

[dixiebabes]

keatsie said:

Zig,

You may have an airlock somewhere that is to high

Zig that is engine damaging high.

Dix

[jeff m]

Mark,
Your temp sender is not reading water temp....it is reading a combination of steam and surrounding metal.
Overfill your expansion tank, run until needle passes 170, switch off. Let car cool. It should self bleed. You will see the level in the expansion drop as the system sucks it back during cooling. ( a couple of hours)

If it drops....repeat, until the level does not drop anymore.

If it doesn't then you may have to loosen one of those small hoses at the highest point. Loosen clip, then gently ease back hose to allow trapped air to get pushed out. Car hot, thermostat open.

Maybe you should jump straight to the bleeding. Have a mixed 50/50 gallon before you start. Keep expansion tank full whilst bleeding.
You may have to sacrifice a couple of pints.

PS check rad is full first, before starting the bleeding.

[mrzigazaga]

Hi peeps..The water temperature gauge is already on 165-170 before starting so is the gauge faulty?..The reason i think this is because of the measurement of movement from where it should be to where normal is 165..Instead of starting at 165 and finishing on 210..Or could an air lock keep the gauge at 165 even without ignition on?..Have done what you suggested jeff,Cheers..Ziga

[jeff m]

Ah....understand now
Needle on the gauge not returning to rest...correct.

Disconnect one battery terminal....report back
Replace batt terminal and pull the sender wire....report back

[mrzigazaga]

Ok..Just going out now to do it...Sorry just seen your post..Not sure where the sender wire is?..Ok done that..
Right..took earth lead off battery..Put back on..pulled wire off..Single red n white,Put back on,Still the same..??

Edited by mrzigazaga on Monday 24th January 15:34

[mrzigazaga]

Ive just ordered a new sensor..Hopefully that is the problem..My gauge was ok untill i had the system flushed and re-filled...

[Comadis]

sorry....these investigations are totally un-logic:

you had a correct reading, than you flushed your system, afterwards the reading is too high...so why suddenly a sender, cap, gauge should be the reason of high reading?

the system is not well bleed, there is an airlock.

you may fit a new sender...and everything seems ok...because when the car was standing the system bleed itself.

Edited by Comadis on Monday 24th January 19:00

[mrzigazaga]

Thanks mate..would an air lock cause the gauge to stay on the normal position even when the car is cold and no ignition is on??...If so that would resolve the problem..Ive run the car with the expansion cap off and the heater on the hot setting and over filled the expansion tank..Ive squeezed all the hoses,They are all hot and so is the rad..I have hot air coming from the heater..with the cap on some comes out of the overflow and settles where the marker is..There is no excess pressure on the top or bottom hoses..Advice please..Thanks..zig

[Wedg1e]

mrzigazaga said:

Thanks mate..would an air lock cause the gauge to stay on the normal position even when the car is cold and no ignition is on??...

It was a feature of the Stewart-Warner instruments that they retained the last reading when you turned the ignition off... that's why the fuel gauge indicates as well (usually).

[mrzigazaga]

Thanks wedg1e..I was under the impression i have smiths gauges though..Am i panicking over nothing then or is my engine going to seize..Do i take it back to the garage and get them to drain and re-fill again and this time make sure they bleed it properly...I do need the car the weekend as i have a meeting to go to and it means travelling down the motorway and i dont want to be calling out the RAC to come to pick up a dead car..Cheers,,Mark

[mrzigazaga]

Can anyone tell me if an air lock would cause the temperature gauge to read high even when cold and ignition off please..I think ill take it back to the garage and let them sort it..After all they flushed and re-filled it..Ws..Cheers..Ziga

Edited by mrzigazaga on Monday 24th January 21:38

[adam quantrill]

Mark - make sure the wire is OK to the sensor. Try taking the wire off the sensor and touching it to ground with the ignition on - it should go to 0 degrees C. If not, there's a break in the wire, or it wasn't plugged in properly.

[Comadis]

ok...here we come closer...as i understood from your descrbing i thought YOU did the flushing and refilling.

now it seems that a garage did it.

local garage, cheap-cheap, no experience in nothing and they did something but maybe touched everything, you paid the bill, garage happy about money, client not!!

so your car is a 2.8L with a reg.date from 01.08.1982
so it still could have SW gauges...and they show the last reading.
do you already have an header tank or its the system with the upright radiator in enginebay without an expansion tank?

normally the 2.8l does not tend to have such a problem. but there is a rubber-plug, on a junction, fixed with a hose clip somewhere on front top of the engine. openening this clip with engine running should bleed the air. i marked it yellow in the below pic.

[TOPTON]

mrzigazaga said:

Can anyone tell me if an air lock would cause the temperature gauge to read high even when cold and ignition off please..I think ill take it back to the garage and let them sort it..After all they flushed and re-filled it..Ws..Cheers..Ziga

Edited by mrzigazaga on Monday 24th January 21:38

Hey mrZ

The gauge as its electric, should zero itself when the ignition is switched off, regardless of engine temp. An air lock in the system would not cause a wrong reading with no electric on. Sounds like an electrical problem to the gauge itself

[Comadis]

as there are given fahrenheit values, i pressume we have a fahrenheit scale, therfore we DO NOT have smiths gauges!!

ergo: SW gauges
and some SW gauges keep showing the last value when ignition is OFF...so everything fine in your matter
but if you turn the ignition on it should drop onto zero (if engine is cold)

again from the begining...logic fault analytics: if you only flush the system it cannot result in a damaged sender afterwards. it has to do with flusing and refilling the system...nothing more..

and i can assume what happens if you bring the car back to garage:if they dont find the bleeding problem, they will start to hotwire a new cable from sender to gauge, than they will change the gauge to a differnt one, as SW´s arent obtainbable, than they will connect it with new wires and finally you have, on top, a mess in the electrics. a typical day of a british backyard garage.

Edited by Comadis on Monday 24th January 23:08

[mrzigazaga]

Mine is a 1982 and has an expansion tank..The only reason i had it flushed and re-filled was because it was rusty looking and when tested for strength it showed hardly any anti-freeze in there..When they flushed it i was there watching all the time and he took off most if not all of the hoses..He didnt take out the engine drain plug..He did refill quite quickly and didnt have the heater on when he started it...I will try the earthing out to see if that does anything...Zig

P;S.They charged £114 so no so cheap next time ill do it myself...i just didnt have a 100ft worth of hose..

Edited by mrzigazaga on Monday 24th January 23:35