How hot is too hot??
Discussion
My 98 450 has started to run a little warmer than usual... and i am wondering if its a case of no problem.. or be a little concerned. I'm not talking major over heating here, just getting up around the 99 degrees mark when i'm sat in a bit of heavy traffic (like motor way slip road (10 mins or more). It seems fine when moving and happily sits around the 85-90 mark.
Am i just being a bit paranoid??
Its been to Fernies and they checked it over and said they couldn't find any problem. All the levels are nice and full and the fans are happily kicking in and out. It never gets above 99 so should i worry or is it another case of 'they all do that'
As always... the thoughts of the masses greatly appreciated!!
The key here is in your first sentence: 'warmer than usual'. That would suggest something has changed. It may be something innocent like the temperature sender or gauge, but I'd monitor it more closely than normal and keep an eye on the coolant level. Perhaps check it when cold each time you use the car.
hehehe as always, the advice is greatly appreciated 
When i say 'slightly higher than normal' i guess i should point out it has just had the ignition system overhauled - new coil, new amplifier, new leads etc so is probably getting a bit more oomph for its spark (definately feels quicker). maybe the change is as a result??
As long as it's not hitting the magic 100 i'm reasonably happy, it is just when it's stationary or very slow moving for longish periods! (10 minutes or more) However once its up there the fans only seem to be able to keep it constant... need a little bit of open road to get the temp back to 80. If it doesn't change then i will probably live with it until its next service (Big one in Mar) assuming the consensus is this an ok idea
When i say 'slightly higher than normal' i guess i should point out it has just had the ignition system overhauled - new coil, new amplifier, new leads etc so is probably getting a bit more oomph for its spark (definately feels quicker). maybe the change is as a result??
As long as it's not hitting the magic 100 i'm reasonably happy, it is just when it's stationary or very slow moving for longish periods! (10 minutes or more) However once its up there the fans only seem to be able to keep it constant... need a little bit of open road to get the temp back to 80. If it doesn't change then i will probably live with it until its next service (Big one in Mar) assuming the consensus is this an ok idea
Cider Andy said:
The key here is in your first sentence: 'warmer than usual'. That would suggest something has changed. It may be something innocent like the temperature sender or gauge, but I'd monitor it more closely than normal and keep an eye on the coolant level. Perhaps check it when cold each time you use the car.
I had same problem with mine. It started running warmer than usual, upto 100 in traffic. I tried all sorts of stuff, even drained and refilled the system.
Turned out to be integrity of the system, as pressure / coolant was leaking due to a poor fit on the blue coolant cap.
I repalced the blue cap and the problem is sorted.
I recently stuck a digital temp gauge to the cooling system to monitor the in car temp guage versus the actaul temperature. I was surprised to find the in car guage was actually accurate. It now runs at 90 maximum, even in traffic and hot weather.
I would also recommend the level cooling kit (consists of a different otter switch and thermostat), basically the fans come on earlier. My old chim never actually overheated as such just started running really hot, but by the time the fans came on the car was already getting warm! well worth 30 odd quid....
hugepiece said:
I would also recommend the level cooling kit (consists of a different otter switch and thermostat), basically the fans come on earlier.
Not having a go at you at all, but I am always amused at this being called the "leven cooling kit". You can buy the otter switch and thermostat from any of the TVR dealers direct, Leven merely bunged a bottle of water wetter into the basket added a £30 price tag and called it the "leven cooling kit".
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
Some of 'em always show 100 on the guage when car is slow moving. As already identified, it's when a specific car's read out start altering.
I'll go with that - normal running on my 400 is 70 - 75 on A roads, 80 or so on Motorways, got stuck in traffic following a motorway run the other day and saw it up to 100 and stay there, got moving again and it dropped over the next 5 or so mins back to 80. I'm okay with this.
Thats pretty much exactly what mine does... although it'll creep up over ninety if i'm sitting in any kinda heavy traffic.
As a test i thought i'd leave it sat on the drive for 20 minutes last night idleing away and see how bad the problem is. The fans held it at 90.
Motorway - 70-75
A roads - 80-85
Little roads - 90-92
Sat in traffic - 92-99
Never actually hit a hundred, and hope not to start now.
If this sounds ok then i'm happy, although obviously i'll keep an eye on it. It seems abot 5 degrees warmer than it used to be across the board, but with the work that was done maybe it's expected.
It doesn't loose coolant, no airlocks just likes it a bit warm i guess.
Thermostat sounds cheap, and maybe a new otter switch at the next service??
This sound ok??
As a test i thought i'd leave it sat on the drive for 20 minutes last night idleing away and see how bad the problem is. The fans held it at 90.
Motorway - 70-75
A roads - 80-85
Little roads - 90-92
Sat in traffic - 92-99
Never actually hit a hundred, and hope not to start now.
If this sounds ok then i'm happy, although obviously i'll keep an eye on it. It seems abot 5 degrees warmer than it used to be across the board, but with the work that was done maybe it's expected.
It doesn't loose coolant, no airlocks just likes it a bit warm i guess.
Thermostat sounds cheap, and maybe a new otter switch at the next service??
This sound ok??
M@H said:
Thats an enourmous leap of faith to get from a slightly over-reading temperature gauge to needing a recore !
Indeed. However, when he says all the levels are fine, fans are coming on etc.. then there may be a problem with the radiator.. Certainly is what happened with my old 350i......
But is also why I put a question mark rather than a statement, just another thing to check really.
If you think there may be an overheating problem then the first step should be to find out what temperature the engine is actually running at. IF that shows it's overheating, THEN you can start investigating potential causes. You're some way away from showing that the radiator is causing the problem though. Normally the only reason for replacing a radiator is because it is leaking.
Im with GreenV8S here.
Since you have recently had a major overhaul on your electrics it could be affecting the temperature sender...
At the end of the day you want to stay on the side of caution as allowing the RV8 to overheat is an very expensive cock-up.
So get an accurate reading of the actual engine temperature (not what the tvr guage thinks it is) and then you know whether its the guage telling porkies or you have a cooling issue to trace.
Since you have recently had a major overhaul on your electrics it could be affecting the temperature sender...
At the end of the day you want to stay on the side of caution as allowing the RV8 to overheat is an very expensive cock-up.
So get an accurate reading of the actual engine temperature (not what the tvr guage thinks it is) and then you know whether its the guage telling porkies or you have a cooling issue to trace.
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