My Griff growls again
Discussion
It's been a while since I posted on here, it's been a while since I had anything to post about but yesterday was a good day for my Griff 
After 7 yrs, yes 7 yrs in my garage in various states of disrepair yesterday it passed it’s MOT and is now fully road legal, the day wasn’t without dramas however, I suppose after sitting unloved (well not unloved more unused) for so it was to be expected it would have some teething problems.. In fact it very nearly didn’t make to the test station at all, it was booked in for 1 pm so a quick trip to the garage for fuel before hand seemed a good idea not only to refresh the tank ( nothing changers) but to give it bit of a shake down before its MOT, within a couple of miles it was obvious all was not well the temp simply rocketing up to a whisker off the red zone on the gauge, not a good start, I managed to get it fuelled and back home and check it out, I knew it had sufficient coolant as I’d check this previously, also the fans weren’t cutting in at all,
so I quickly rigged up a override switch to give me control of the fans (one of which wasn’t working at all appearing to be seized up but I worked it free and it seems fine now) with a appointed test time approaching I’m in 2 minds as whether to risk the journey with the obvious cooling issues, I decided to bite the bullet and go for it, the car made it there and back and passed the MOT with no problem but the temps were far from OK the needle hovering around the upper reaches of the gauge, my Griff and I’m sure quite a few others are borderline on the cooling as long as I’ve had the car I’ve always felt the need to be constantly glancing at the temp gauge and traffic queues filled me with dread, the car used to run at 85-90 in normal conditions, but yesterday it was nearer 110 !!!
I know it was one of the hottest days of the year so for but something was definitely amiss, so once the engine had cooled sufficiently to work on I proceeded to remove the hoses and flush out the rad, swirl pot, expansion tank etc, I found some ‘crud’ in there but it wasn’t to bad certainly not enough to restrict the flow to the point it was causing the overheating, next job was to check the thermostat with a view to removing it completely, and here I found a problem, the ‘stat’ didn’t look good, I’m pretty sure it should have a bar running up the middle to keep the spring straight, well mine doesn’t and the spring as a result is not straight which I guess means it’s not opening properly, so I removed the stat and refilled the system I got a bout 5 litres in it and took it for a drive temp shot up again so I returned and it sounded like a espresso machine bubbling and gurgling I’m pretty sure this it just the trapped air escaping and once it had cooled enough to open the swirl pot it took another 2 litres of fluid I’m not sure of the capacity but so for it’s got a good 7 litres of G3 coolant in it, that’s pretty much where I left it last night and went off for a well earned beer.
Today I’m going to recheck the levels and take it for another run, hopefully the overheating will be resolved and I can then give it a service and concentrate on the paint which inevitably is covered in ‘storage’ marks, these scuffs and light scratches should come out with the buffer and some 3M compound.
After 7 yrs, yes 7 yrs in my garage in various states of disrepair yesterday it passed it’s MOT and is now fully road legal, the day wasn’t without dramas however, I suppose after sitting unloved (well not unloved more unused) for so it was to be expected it would have some teething problems.. In fact it very nearly didn’t make to the test station at all, it was booked in for 1 pm so a quick trip to the garage for fuel before hand seemed a good idea not only to refresh the tank ( nothing changers) but to give it bit of a shake down before its MOT, within a couple of miles it was obvious all was not well the temp simply rocketing up to a whisker off the red zone on the gauge, not a good start, I managed to get it fuelled and back home and check it out, I knew it had sufficient coolant as I’d check this previously, also the fans weren’t cutting in at all,
so I quickly rigged up a override switch to give me control of the fans (one of which wasn’t working at all appearing to be seized up but I worked it free and it seems fine now) with a appointed test time approaching I’m in 2 minds as whether to risk the journey with the obvious cooling issues, I decided to bite the bullet and go for it, the car made it there and back and passed the MOT with no problem but the temps were far from OK the needle hovering around the upper reaches of the gauge, my Griff and I’m sure quite a few others are borderline on the cooling as long as I’ve had the car I’ve always felt the need to be constantly glancing at the temp gauge and traffic queues filled me with dread, the car used to run at 85-90 in normal conditions, but yesterday it was nearer 110 !!!
I know it was one of the hottest days of the year so for but something was definitely amiss, so once the engine had cooled sufficiently to work on I proceeded to remove the hoses and flush out the rad, swirl pot, expansion tank etc, I found some ‘crud’ in there but it wasn’t to bad certainly not enough to restrict the flow to the point it was causing the overheating, next job was to check the thermostat with a view to removing it completely, and here I found a problem, the ‘stat’ didn’t look good, I’m pretty sure it should have a bar running up the middle to keep the spring straight, well mine doesn’t and the spring as a result is not straight which I guess means it’s not opening properly, so I removed the stat and refilled the system I got a bout 5 litres in it and took it for a drive temp shot up again so I returned and it sounded like a espresso machine bubbling and gurgling I’m pretty sure this it just the trapped air escaping and once it had cooled enough to open the swirl pot it took another 2 litres of fluid I’m not sure of the capacity but so for it’s got a good 7 litres of G3 coolant in it, that’s pretty much where I left it last night and went off for a well earned beer.
Today I’m going to recheck the levels and take it for another run, hopefully the overheating will be resolved and I can then give it a service and concentrate on the paint which inevitably is covered in ‘storage’ marks, these scuffs and light scratches should come out with the buffer and some 3M compound.
Edited by budd on Saturday 13th July 13:01
7 years! Christ, that's about as long as I've owned my Griff and I think of myself as a 'seasoned' owner.
You picked a great time to get back on the road.
Be sure to get us some pics once it's polished. This is a car I have probably never seen so I'm curious about how it looks.
I have a 4.3 pre-cat and have no cooling problems, even in traffic in this heat. So stick at sorting those cooling problems and you'll count it as time well spent.
7 years. Good god.
Edited to correct the stupid iPad autocorrect farce.
You picked a great time to get back on the road.
Be sure to get us some pics once it's polished. This is a car I have probably never seen so I'm curious about how it looks.
I have a 4.3 pre-cat and have no cooling problems, even in traffic in this heat. So stick at sorting those cooling problems and you'll count it as time well spent.
7 years. Good god.
Edited to correct the stupid iPad autocorrect farce.
Edited by Barreti on Saturday 13th July 16:31
yeah 7 yrs is a long time, very nearly 1/2 the time I've owned it it it's been sat in the garage unused but that's what happens when you have kids it's no coincidence that its 7 yrs of non use is exactly the same as my daughters age, kids come along and it’s very difficult to justify a 5.0 ltr 2 seater !!
As for the cooling it now appears resolved, it still goes up and down dependent on traffic conditions but it always did, but it’s not getting silly hot like it was Fri, I think it was definitely the thermostat causing the problems, I’ll give ait a few weeks and fit another one plus replace the coolant with some ‘old school’ blue anti-freeze, BTW what is the best thing for flushing the cooling system? because I may as well give it a flush through if I'm changing the coolant again.
Next job is to get it idling properly, the engine pulls fine once it’s going but the idle is very rough, but I suppose it’s well overdue for a service
As for the cooling it now appears resolved, it still goes up and down dependent on traffic conditions but it always did, but it’s not getting silly hot like it was Fri, I think it was definitely the thermostat causing the problems, I’ll give ait a few weeks and fit another one plus replace the coolant with some ‘old school’ blue anti-freeze, BTW what is the best thing for flushing the cooling system? because I may as well give it a flush through if I'm changing the coolant again.
Next job is to get it idling properly, the engine pulls fine once it’s going but the idle is very rough, but I suppose it’s well overdue for a service
Edited by budd on Sunday 14th July 14:22
Had a lovely few weeks with the Griff after it's extended lay up, obviously the fantastic weather help here, although it’s re-commissioning wasn’t without issues I was concerned that the previously mentioned cooling issues I experienced when taking it for its MOT could be serious even terminal, I can now say without certainty these cooling issues are a distant memory thank god, and to find it was only a dodgy stat eased my fears no end. Now the big V8 following a full service, new plugs, Motul 10w60 Le Mans oil etc is in rude health, and running great, I'm surprised how much I've missed the 'growl', the instant response and push in the back that a big V8 in a light shell gives, it truly is a special car !!!
budd said:
Had a lovely few weeks with the Griff after it's extended lay up, obviously the fantastic weather help here, although it’s re-commissioning wasn’t without issues I was concerned that the previously mentioned cooling issues I experienced when taking it for its MOT could be serious even terminal, I can now say without certainty these cooling issues are a distant memory thank god, and to find it was only a dodgy stat eased my fears no end. Now the big V8 following a full service, new plugs, Motul 10w60 Le Mans oil etc is in rude health, and running great, I'm surprised how much I've missed the 'growl', the instant response and push in the back that a big V8 in a light shell gives, it truly is a special car !!!
Nice one Budd, welcome back on the road. Now stand chastised mate, use that Griff more often, even if you lay it up over the worst of winter months (mine is off the road Jan and February), use it whenever you can. All the best, PetePeteGriff said:
Nice one Budd, welcome back on the road. Now stand chastised mate, use that Griff more often, even if you lay it up over the worst of winter months (mine is off the road Jan and February), use it whenever you can. All the best, Pete
your quite right it should be used more, I've been guilty of letting it sit in the garage for far to long, however in my defence when it was just me and the wife it was happy days, trips to Le Mans and Isle of Man, outings with the TVROC etc but now having two young children(and a big dog)limits it's usability somewhat,so with this in mind I'm probably going to be selling it 
which is rather sad but it's probably better for the car that it goes to someone how will use it, but I'd still like to stay within the TVR fold so maybe a Cerbera would be the answer, we could take the kids out in one of those, although the dog will be staying at home.Gassing Station | Griffith | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff