Discussion
Has anybody tried these mods and do they offer any benefits to the cooling of the car on a chimera have a T reg 4.5. Other than changing the otter switch or fitting a manual override.
A - Moving the number plate down nearer to the road so more air enters the front of the car.
B - Fitting the new type Aluminium radiator.
Also has anybody fitted grills to the front on the later chimeras as they made one for the early cars but can't find any availible for the later models. Asking as my rad has been hit several times by stones entering the front of the car.
A - Moving the number plate down nearer to the road so more air enters the front of the car.
B - Fitting the new type Aluminium radiator.
Also has anybody fitted grills to the front on the later chimeras as they made one for the early cars but can't find any availible for the later models. Asking as my rad has been hit several times by stones entering the front of the car.
i would think a combination of the two would make a difference,i put a small plate on the front of my car as the standard plate really downsizes the front grill opening,all the drag racing boys use ally cored rads for that reason,they have a small rad that disipates heat quicker because its alloy,in fact i,ve seen VW golf 1.6 mk2 diesel rads keep 7.5ltr big block chevi,s cool,with one big fan.
I think that assuming everything else (thermostat etc) is OK then possibly the answer is to bite the bullet and fit the later rad.
I have been out today on the hottest one of the century (maybe), done just over 200 miles at varying speeds from traffic jams to motorway work.
Runs at 75 degrees at speeds of over 50, 80 if over 30, and 90 in stationary traffic.
Mine is a 2000 450 Chim with the later (Cerberea ) ally rad and fans.
My mates "S" reg 400 Chim with the older type rad runs about 10 degrees hotter than this.
I realise that this option will not be cheap, but presumably TVR changed the type of rad for a reason.
I suppose the other option is to upgrade the fans.
According to the "Bible" the Cerberas with air con had higher output fans.
If it was me I would buy a copy of Kit Car magazine and look at the adverts in there for fans, nothing special about a fan after all
I have been out today on the hottest one of the century (maybe), done just over 200 miles at varying speeds from traffic jams to motorway work.
Runs at 75 degrees at speeds of over 50, 80 if over 30, and 90 in stationary traffic.
Mine is a 2000 450 Chim with the later (Cerberea ) ally rad and fans.
My mates "S" reg 400 Chim with the older type rad runs about 10 degrees hotter than this.
I realise that this option will not be cheap, but presumably TVR changed the type of rad for a reason.
I suppose the other option is to upgrade the fans.
According to the "Bible" the Cerberas with air con had higher output fans.
If it was me I would buy a copy of Kit Car magazine and look at the adverts in there for fans, nothing special about a fan after all
Mines a 400 with recored (old style) rad, new thermostat and temp guage fitted in April.. (it wasn't getting hot enough in the winter) original number plate position and whilst on open road it runs at 75-80 it never moves above 90, even when in heavy traffic, albeit the fans are running like crazy...
This is what I think, and this is why......
I have read loads of these threads about cooling/overheating and people asking about mods etc etc.
In my experience, the standard cooling system is perfectly adequate (I have a griff 500 1996). If your car is getting too hot......there is something WRONG, or going wrong, so find the root cause and put it right, instead of wasting your money on mods.
My car is standard, has standard number plate, it has a 74deg thermostat from V8D.
Last weekend I was at the 'Back home' event in Blackpool, the Sunday morning 'rumble' involved me travelling from the Hilton (north pier) south along the sea front, which is over 2 miles, car travelling at walking pace most of the time, stuck behind horse and carriage, traffic lights on red every 100yds ...etc down to the Pontins camp where we all met, then back where i'd just come from, round the island....AND back again !!
The temp that day outside was about 35 deg, one of the hottest days ever in the UK.
I did not have any problems what so ever with the car getting too hot, it was fine (around 90deg on gauge), because the 'standard' cooling system is working correctly, surely, if it can cope with this it can cope with any situation on the road.
Ok a track day may be different, but you can remove the front number plate off road.
I have read loads of these threads about cooling/overheating and people asking about mods etc etc.
In my experience, the standard cooling system is perfectly adequate (I have a griff 500 1996). If your car is getting too hot......there is something WRONG, or going wrong, so find the root cause and put it right, instead of wasting your money on mods.
My car is standard, has standard number plate, it has a 74deg thermostat from V8D.
Last weekend I was at the 'Back home' event in Blackpool, the Sunday morning 'rumble' involved me travelling from the Hilton (north pier) south along the sea front, which is over 2 miles, car travelling at walking pace most of the time, stuck behind horse and carriage, traffic lights on red every 100yds ...etc down to the Pontins camp where we all met, then back where i'd just come from, round the island....AND back again !!
The temp that day outside was about 35 deg, one of the hottest days ever in the UK.
I did not have any problems what so ever with the car getting too hot, it was fine (around 90deg on gauge), because the 'standard' cooling system is working correctly, surely, if it can cope with this it can cope with any situation on the road.
Ok a track day may be different, but you can remove the front number plate off road.
i would agree with purple helmut although hes using a cooler t/stat but that wont improve the temp in heavy traffic only while moving,i have tip/top cooling system all stock and have no problems also even in the recent heat we have been having.but its vital to keep the system up to scratch,if your fussy you can use distilled water less impurities equals less corosion 50/50 with good quality antifreeze anything with a brand name,i use vauxhall 5 year.
Edited by That Daddy on Thursday 20th July 08:50
Edited by That Daddy on Thursday 20th July 08:55
Do your fans run a lot in this weather? Mine barely seem to cut out in stop start traffic ... When out of traffic for a short while at say 30mph the fans will cut out.
It's a bit of a contrast to my Excel in which the fans run for up to 30 secs and cut out for a couple of minutes ..
My Grif has never overheated, and temps never rise above the 90 degree fan cut in point, but subjectively it feels bloody hot!
It's a bit of a contrast to my Excel in which the fans run for up to 30 secs and cut out for a couple of minutes ..
My Grif has never overheated, and temps never rise above the 90 degree fan cut in point, but subjectively it feels bloody hot!
I also concur with Purple Helmut's comments about there is probably something wrong. The favourite and often the original cause of all subsequent problems is the radiator.
The radiator anti-shock mounting is not good enough for a car with such stiff suspension in my opinion (just a couple of small rubber grommets). After time the soldered joints in the radiator crack and allow coolant to leak out under pressure and air to enter under cooling. This is not really obvious other than sometimes a green bloom on the radiator core from the anti-freeze and the fact that you are always having to top up the radiator.
Failure to address this simple problem means that the coolant system does not pressurise, continues to lose fluid and cannot run at its optimum design condition leading to over-heating problems. Over heating then leads to gasket failures, warped & cracked cylinder heads and much worse. Incidentally, in my experience having the rad pressure tested is no guarantee. I had my Chimeara's rad tested and reported as being AOK, but it was still leaking coolant when hot.
The best solution I found was to replace the old radiator with the latest aluminium fabricated design available from any good TVR dealer (approx cost £250 + fitting kit + fitting). There is no need in the UK to spend £600+ on the fancy racing rad design - unless you intend to go racing! Since making this change some 18 months ago I never have to add any coolant, although I still do check the level regularly.
Incidentally, in my TVR the coolant level stabilises with the tank less than one quarter full and will expel any coolant I put in above that level. The temp gauge for most of the time is about 70C and climbs to 90C in traffic on hot days when the fans simply cycle on and off. I had no problems at all during the recent Back Home weekend trip to Blackpool.
The radiator anti-shock mounting is not good enough for a car with such stiff suspension in my opinion (just a couple of small rubber grommets). After time the soldered joints in the radiator crack and allow coolant to leak out under pressure and air to enter under cooling. This is not really obvious other than sometimes a green bloom on the radiator core from the anti-freeze and the fact that you are always having to top up the radiator.
Failure to address this simple problem means that the coolant system does not pressurise, continues to lose fluid and cannot run at its optimum design condition leading to over-heating problems. Over heating then leads to gasket failures, warped & cracked cylinder heads and much worse. Incidentally, in my experience having the rad pressure tested is no guarantee. I had my Chimeara's rad tested and reported as being AOK, but it was still leaking coolant when hot.
The best solution I found was to replace the old radiator with the latest aluminium fabricated design available from any good TVR dealer (approx cost £250 + fitting kit + fitting). There is no need in the UK to spend £600+ on the fancy racing rad design - unless you intend to go racing! Since making this change some 18 months ago I never have to add any coolant, although I still do check the level regularly.
Incidentally, in my TVR the coolant level stabilises with the tank less than one quarter full and will expel any coolant I put in above that level. The temp gauge for most of the time is about 70C and climbs to 90C in traffic on hot days when the fans simply cycle on and off. I had no problems at all during the recent Back Home weekend trip to Blackpool.
Edited by PeterC on Thursday 20th July 14:40
Edited by PeterC on Thursday 20th July 14:42
PeterC said:
I also concur with Purple Helmut's comments about there is probably something wrong. The favourite and often the original cause of all subsequent problems is the radiator.
Incidentally, in my TVR the coolant level stabilises with the tank less than one quarter full and will expell any coolant I put in above that level.
Incidentally, in my TVR the coolant level stabilises with the tank less than one quarter full and will expell any coolant I put in above that level.
Same. Never overheats even sitting on wednesday stationary in london traffic with an airtemp of 34C according to the cool guy in the merc sl600 who asked if I wanted to come and enjoy his aircon for a few minutes while the t lights were red!
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff