Running hot

[Chunky Dave]

I was taking my 4.0 Chimaera to Lloyd Specialist Services Friday for my Canem ECU to be fitted, when I got caught up in the traffic on the A303. It took over an hour to do one mile at Amesbury to get to the next roundabout to get off the poxy road. The temperature gauge on the car was reading around 100 degrees with the fans going full tilt. I have a couple of questions.

Will that have caused any damage to the engine? My TVR service provider told me I should have turned the engine off as soon as it hit 90 to stop potential engine damage as at that temperature the block could warp…. Not being a mechanic I would have thought that keeping it running so that the water pump was working still was the way to go but I’m hey I'm open to be told differently.

Secondly, would adding “Coolboost automotive coolant additive” make any difference at all?

Once I got out of the jam and drove the car normally she was running around 70 with no apparent issues.

Appreciate any advice.

Dave

[K4TRV]

Now running normally...........Doubt you've any issues.

Proper Antifreeze and water (no other additives) create a mixture that doesn't boil at 100 C - under 15 psi it will boil up around 115 C.

Plus, your temp readings are not-necessarily-that-accurate IMHO. I'm sure Lloyds will confirm - v knowledgable guys.

T

[Chunky Dave]

K4TRV said:

Now running normally...........Doubt you've any issues.

Proper Antifreeze and water (no other additives) create a mixture that doesn't boil at 100 C - under 15 psi it will boil up around 115 C.

Plus, your temp readings are not-necessarily-that-accurate IMHO. I'm sure Lloyds will confirm - v knowledgable guys.

T

Thanks Trevor, that’s what I was hoping to be told.

[Harrytsg]

For what its worth, my temperature gauge reads 10 degrees lower than the water temperature indicated by Ecumate, I adjusted my 2 stage cooling to suit the ECumate readings given the distrust of the gauge temps spoken on here (primarily with the location of the gauge sender).

I did try different resistors on the LR sender but couldnt get anything to match the Ecumate temp reading, though, TBH, I dont know if this is better than the gauge one or not.

[Chunky Dave]

The guys at Lloyd Specialist Services did a block test on the car this morning. They said after getting the engine to full operating temperature, it passed. There was no combustion gas in the coolant system. Happy days

[Chunky Dave]

The guys at Lloyd Specialist Services did a block test on the car this morning. They said after getting the engine to full operating temperature, it passed. There was no combustion gas in the coolant system. Happy days

[Chunky Dave]

The guys at Lloyd Specialist Services did a block test on the car this morning. They said after getting the engine to full operating temperature, it passed. There was no combustion gas in the coolant system. Happy days

[QBee]

they had to run the test three times?

[Julesprivate]

Chunky Dave said:

My TVR service provider told me I should have turned the engine off as soon as it hit 90 to stop potential engine damage as at that temperature the block could warp….

I really don't like that advice... The heat soak from lack of circulating water is more likely to cause damage, now if the gauge was still heading up into the high zone rapidly I might agree..... But only after I'd tried raising the revs a bit to see if making the water circulate more quickly helps.

If I turned mine off at 90 every time I'd never make it to work....

[QBee]

The temp gauge on my Audi sits at 90 the entire time.

[NailedOn]

QBee said:

The temp gauge on my Audi sits at 90 the entire time.

Best get it checked then!

[Chunky Dave]

QBee said:

they had to run the test three times?

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

I'd be fascinated to know which TVR specialist told you that severe engine damage would result when your temp gauge reaches 90 degrees!

90 degrees is a fairly normal engine temperature for pretty much everything under the sun, including the RV8. The gauge varies quite a bit because of its poor positioning, but you really shouldn't be worried at 90. Mine sometimes nudges up towards 100 under some circumstances, but never goes further - if it did, that would be the point I'd stop.

[QBee]

NailedOn said:

QBee said:

The temp gauge on my Audi sits at 90 the entire time.

Best get it checked then!

On the contrary - as Dr Mike says (and he's a doctor, so he should know;) ) 90 is standard, which is the point I was making. My Audi was at 90 at 6am today at 70mph on the A1

[jamienshelly]

Dr Mike Oxgreen said:

I'd be fascinated to know which TVR specialist told you that severe engine damage would result when your temp gauge reaches 90 degrees!

90 degrees is a fairly normal engine temperature for pretty much everything under the sun, including the RV8. The gauge varies quite a bit because of its poor positioning, but you really shouldn't be worried at 90. Mine sometimes nudges up towards 100 under some circumstances, but never goes further - if it did, that would be the point I'd stop.

So would I.
I was starting to worry as mine has been sitting at around 90 since the hot thing in sky has shown its face and TVR specialists are never wrong.
Most engines sit at about 90 so its absolutely fine until it stars creeping over 100, or near the red then you may need to stop and check the fans are both working and (I know sardonicus had this problem) both are going the correct direction. then let it cool down or find a clear road and get up to a decent speed to cool it down.

[Chunky Dave]

jamienshelly said:

So would I.
I was starting to worry as mine has been sitting at around 90 since the hot thing in sky has shown its face and TVR specialists are never wrong.
Most engines sit at about 90 so its absolutely fine until it stars creeping over 100, or near the red then you may need to stop and check the fans are both working and (I know sardonicus had this problem) both are going the correct direction. then let it cool down or find a clear road and get up to a decent speed to cool it down.

I don't really want to name and shame them, however, they did say that if my Chim hit 100 degrees I should stop and let it cool down as engine damage is distinctly possible! Those of you who are familiar with the A303 near that pointless pile of rocks know that there are few places to stop. For the record the fans were working as I have the override switch fitted and I had the fans checked out before I took the car to Le Mans.

Anyway the Lloyd brothers have given the engine a quick once over before fitting their ECU and gave it a clean bill of health. They also said that the TVR temp gauge is the most accurate ever fitted and not to overly worry. As I originally said, once I got out of the jam the temp soon dropped back to 70 so I know that even in the recent hot weather unless Im in a jam the car wont overheat. Lets hope i haven't put a hex on the car now...