Engine Pre-warmers???
Discussion
Looked into it. I am still keen but TVR at the factory said no way and I did not want the warranty invalid. Interestingly Kenlowe supply the cooling fans so you would think TVR would be open to supporting it. I have my eye on this too www.accusump.com and in fact I am about to talk to TVR about it.
>> Edited by maddog-uk on Saturday 20th November 17:25
>> Edited by maddog-uk on Saturday 20th November 17:25
>> Edited by maddog-uk on Saturday 20th November 17:25
>> Edited by maddog-uk on Saturday 20th November 17:25
maddog-uk said:
Looked into it. I am still keen but TVR at the factory said no way and I did not want the warranty invalid. Interestingly Kenlowe supply the cooling fans so you would think TVR would be open to supporting it. I have my eye on this too www.accusump.com and in fact I am about to talk to TVR about it.
>> Edited by maddog-uk on Saturday 20th November 17:25
>> Edited by maddog-uk on Saturday 20th November 17:25
Fitting a Kenlowe pre heater would be a good idea especially for the winter weather but where could you put one without major plumbing problems.
The fans fitted by TVR are Spal not Kenlowe.
maddog-uk said:
Anyone interested in the accusump to help get over issues on dry sump cars?
Just out of curiosity, what are the issues you are addressing with this? Are you using it as a pre-oiler, or to prevent oil surge? (I wouldn't have expected oil surge to be a problem on a dry sump system.)
Looking at it I thought the idea would be to provide lubrication to the top end during start up. It seems to be suggested that the oil drains out of this area when the car has been standing, and hence increasing the wear rates during the first few moments until the oil pump can supply oil to this area. The Accusump would (I presume)give instantaneous oil feed to the head (and all important finger followers)thus decreasing any potential wear
thought about one myself, should prehaps look into locating it somewhere, the actual unit isn't that big and i'm sure it'd squeeze in somewhere!Antwerpman said:
Looking at it I thought the idea would be to provide lubrication to the top end during start up. It seems to be suggested that the oil drains out of this area when the car has been standing, and hence increasing the wear rates during the first few moments until the oil pump can supply oil to this area. The Accusump would (I presume)give instantaneous oil feed to the head (and all important finger followers)thus decreasing any potential wear
Yes got it in one. Thats why I am interested and also why I am trying to get TVR interested.
I cannot recommend Kenlowe preheaters. I had one fitted to my Range Rover, and one morning the thermostat in it failed short circuit. It then boiled the coolant out of the RR, then the wiring in it melted and it tripped the house RCD, so the alarm clock failed to go off. Having to go back inside, call the office to say I wasn't coming in, change out of suit and into overalls, then rmove the damn heater in the blowing snow ws no fun at all. And to top it all, Kenwood were pissy about replacing it. When they eventually did, I sold it.
I'm looking for something similar for a competition car at the moment. The Kenlowe approach seems to be to fit a water heater and electric pump. Is there any mileage in fitting an oil heater and pump instead? This would also act as a pre-oiler to some extent (i.e. getting a small amount of oil circulated, but not providing any significant oil pressure while cranking), which could be useful for an engine which is left standing for extended periods and has an expected life measured minutes rather than thousands of miles. (No similarity to TVR engines here then
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)zumbruk said:
I cannot recommend Kenlowe preheaters. I had one fitted to my Range Rover, and one morning the thermostat in it failed short circuit. It then boiled the coolant out of the RR, then the wiring in it melted and it tripped the house RCD, so the alarm clock failed to go off. Having to go back inside, call the office to say I wasn't coming in, change out of suit and into overalls, then rmove the damn heater in the blowing snow ws no fun at all. And to top it all, Kenwood were pissy about replacing it. When they eventually did, I sold it.
Well that settles the heater question for me! Just need the accusump question answered!
been doing a bit more looking round
Cant see warmers are a problem they look almost compulsary in places like canada, However they would presumably make the oil problem worse by decreacing the viscosity of any remaining oil and allowing it to drain away. In terms of failure perhaps they have more robust units over there.
With the dry sump wouldnt an oiler cause a problem. pump an extra couple pints oil into the head, drains to the dry sump, as soon as the engine fires this oil is pumped into the resivoir which is then over full and it leaks out everywhere
Cant see warmers are a problem they look almost compulsary in places like canada, However they would presumably make the oil problem worse by decreacing the viscosity of any remaining oil and allowing it to drain away. In terms of failure perhaps they have more robust units over there.
With the dry sump wouldnt an oiler cause a problem. pump an extra couple pints oil into the head, drains to the dry sump, as soon as the engine fires this oil is pumped into the resivoir which is then over full and it leaks out everywhere
russian rocket said:
been doing a bit more looking round
Cant see warmers are a problem they look almost compulsary in places like canada, However they would presumably make the oil problem worse by decreacing the viscosity of any remaining oil and allowing it to drain away. In terms of failure perhaps they have more robust units over there.
When I rented a car in Finland with a warmer, it was a heating element submerged in the sump, not a water heater/pump like the Kenlowe one. Dunno what they do for dry-sumped cars - perhaps they assume that no-one is going to drive them in the winter?
Fitted a Kenlowe pre-heater in my old 350 a few years ago. It's basically a 3kw heating element with an impeller pump which brings the coolant temp up to about 30-40 degrees. I used to set mine on a timer in the garage, so I had instant demisting and heat. The only problem is locating it low enough in the coolant system so that any trapped air does not accumulate in it. Also cuts down on engine wear as the majority of wear take place during cold starts - fuel condensing o cylinder walls and washing bores etc.
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