Smaller front number plate?
Discussion
Yes, I switched to the latest (narrower) font and got the supplier (fancyplates) to use as small as possible plate to legally display the characters. It helped that I had a 1 in there. Result was quite a bit smaller than standard but 100% legal (I think!) to display on a '92 car. Can't comment on cooling as mine's a pre cat and the point of the change was purely cosmetic.
If its any help I got a new front plate made ,one with the EU emblem on the end because it closes the digits up ,I then I mounted a router in a vice and removed all the excess material including the EU emblem and just left 1mm of white outside the digits you end up with what I think is a leagal plate as small as you can get , it runs cooler and was well worth the effort ,good luck Steve.
I drove home from work today, parked up and thought I'd wait for the fans to stop ... they didn't! It seems my 500 is right on the ragged edge of cooling capacity. The temperature gauge stayed just above the line where the fans kick in. The fans were kicking out loads of heat - I have no doubt that the water is circulating well for that much heat to be expelled. The fan cut in point has always been the same for my car, except when the otter switch failed years ago so I believe the otter switch is correct.
The fans are working well, shifting lots of air. It has the SPAL VA10-AP6-47A fans which are rated at 2600m3/hr (1533 cfm) each. I've tested them off the car tonight and sand blasted myself .. they sucked every bit of dirt of the ground and threw it at me! Both fans sounded similar, and were running fast.
The header tank cap was well sealed, there was LOTS of pressure in the system, no sign of leaks, coolant was clean and pink - no nasty "head gasket blown brown stuff".
I pulled the radiator out, it isn't bad at all really .. it's 11 years old and has covered 40k miles but virtually all fins intact. A hose on full blast flowed straight through inlet to outlet, running clean from the start.
It seems that everything is in pretty good nick. So now what??? Will I gain much by a re-core, perhaps trying a higher density/thicker core? Or is an aluminium rad the way to go (OUCH ££'s)? Even higher powered fans perhaps?
To be honest I'm stumped at how much heat the car is generating at tickover - my Lotus Excel radiator had 130k miles on it and 1/3 fins missing when replaced - and the fans didn't even run continuously then! With the re-core they run for 15 secs and turn off for 2 mins!
I've ordered a smaller number plate - that should help flow at speed but it seems until I can get rid of more heat at tickover in traffic I've still got a problem.
Has anyone done anything major to their cooling systems in the way of updated fans / ali rad / uprated recore? Could you comment on the improvements in traffic?
Thanks!
Steve
The fans are working well, shifting lots of air. It has the SPAL VA10-AP6-47A fans which are rated at 2600m3/hr (1533 cfm) each. I've tested them off the car tonight and sand blasted myself .. they sucked every bit of dirt of the ground and threw it at me! Both fans sounded similar, and were running fast.
The header tank cap was well sealed, there was LOTS of pressure in the system, no sign of leaks, coolant was clean and pink - no nasty "head gasket blown brown stuff".
I pulled the radiator out, it isn't bad at all really .. it's 11 years old and has covered 40k miles but virtually all fins intact. A hose on full blast flowed straight through inlet to outlet, running clean from the start.
It seems that everything is in pretty good nick. So now what??? Will I gain much by a re-core, perhaps trying a higher density/thicker core? Or is an aluminium rad the way to go (OUCH ££'s)? Even higher powered fans perhaps?
To be honest I'm stumped at how much heat the car is generating at tickover - my Lotus Excel radiator had 130k miles on it and 1/3 fins missing when replaced - and the fans didn't even run continuously then! With the re-core they run for 15 secs and turn off for 2 mins!
I've ordered a smaller number plate - that should help flow at speed but it seems until I can get rid of more heat at tickover in traffic I've still got a problem.
Has anyone done anything major to their cooling systems in the way of updated fans / ali rad / uprated recore? Could you comment on the improvements in traffic?
Thanks!
Steve
scoule said:
I drove home from work today, parked up and thought I'd wait for the fans to stop ... they didn't! It seems my 500 is right on the ragged edge of cooling capacity. The temperature gauge stayed just above the line where the fans kick in. The fans were kicking out loads of heat - I have no doubt that the water is circulating well for that much heat to be expelled. The fan cut in point has always been the same for my car, except when the otter switch failed years ago so I believe the otter switch is correct.
The fans are working well, shifting lots of air. It has the SPAL VA10-AP6-47A fans which are rated at 2600m3/hr (1533 cfm) each. I've tested them off the car tonight and sand blasted myself .. they sucked every bit of dirt of the ground and threw it at me! Both fans sounded similar, and were running fast.
The header tank cap was well sealed, there was LOTS of pressure in the system, no sign of leaks, coolant was clean and pink - no nasty "head gasket blown brown stuff".
I pulled the radiator out, it isn't bad at all really .. it's 11 years old and has covered 40k miles but virtually all fins intact. A hose on full blast flowed straight through inlet to outlet, running clean from the start.
It seems that everything is in pretty good nick. So now what??? Will I gain much by a re-core, perhaps trying a higher density/thicker core? Or is an aluminium rad the way to go (OUCH ££'s)? Even higher powered fans perhaps?
To be honest I'm stumped at how much heat the car is generating at tickover - my Lotus Excel radiator had 130k miles on it and 1/3 fins missing when replaced - and the fans didn't even run continuously then! With the re-core they run for 15 secs and turn off for 2 mins!
I've ordered a smaller number plate - that should help flow at speed but it seems until I can get rid of more heat at tickover in traffic I've still got a problem.
Has anyone done anything major to their cooling systems in the way of updated fans / ali rad / uprated recore? Could you comment on the improvements in traffic?
Thanks!
Steve
Have you tried the Mod Wise twin speed fan kit. It runs the fans a slightly higher power than normal, kicks in half speed at a lower setting and keeps them running with the ignition off to prevent heat soak.
Check out the post 'Fan Over Ride' thread running on the Chim forum for some more info and a pic from my car with it installed
>> Edited by puffsorted on Monday 20th June 22:22
The bit I still can't get my head around is that the fans and radiators shift an amazing amount of heat, yet the temp doesn't drop and the fans keep running!
As you say, the modwise kit will slow the temperature rise, but in my case I don't think it will stop the problem once it hits 90 deg because I'll be back where I am now :-(
As you say, the modwise kit will slow the temperature rise, but in my case I don't think it will stop the problem once it hits 90 deg because I'll be back where I am now :-(
Quinny said:
Not really cos from 90C the fans only have to get it down to 85C which on mine they do pretty quickly then from 85 back up to 90 seems to take quite a while.
My fans cut in at 90 but they only seem able to stop the temperature rising in the 28 degree heat today at a standstil, they did not reduce the temperature at all - just about maintained a steady 90 deg when running continually.
When cruising the temp was dropping back and the fans cut out, but it seems there is no extra capacity left at idle .. any more heat or any less cooling and the temperature will start running away.
The radiator is out now, so I'll take it to Serck's tomorrow to see if they can uprate it with a thicker/denser core.
Do you have fan cowls fitted? My car doesn't have these, just the fans clamped to top and bottom rails attached to the radiator.
Quinny said:
just left 1mm of white outside the digits
Not quite legal Steve, the border top, bottom, left & right should be 11mm I think.
Andy.
Number plates fitted after 1st Sept 2001
Characters:
Height 79mm
Width ( except for the figure 1 of letter I ) 50mm
Stroke 14mm
Space between characters 11mm
Space between groups 33mm
Top, bottom and side margins ( minimum ) 11mm
Space between vertical lines 19mm
Number plates fitted before 1st Sept 2001
Characters: Group 1/Group 2 (not sure what these groups are!):
Height 89mm/79mm
Width (except for the figure 1 of letter I) 64mm/57mm
Stroke 16mm/14mm
Space between characters 13mm/11mm
Space between groups 38mm/33mm
Side margins ( minimum ) 13mm/11mm
Space between vertical lines 19mm/19mm
All info lifted from the DVLA website
I was stopped in a previous vehicle with 3/4 size plates (the policeman had a tape measure with him!!), and I was let off with a warning. For peace of mind (I do not want to give anyone a reason to pull me if I can avoid it), I had Fancyplates make some up to the minimum requirements above. It is surprising how small a perfectly legal plate can be.
Steve (scoule), I don't want to sound alarmist, but given that the cooling system seems to have passed a pretty thorough test, might the problem not be inability of the cooling system to get rid of heat, but rather the engine putting out a bit too much heat? Not an area I'm familiar with, but perhaps there's a problem somewhere other than the cooling system, causing the engine to run a little hotter than it should, thus overworking the cooling system. Good luck, whatever it is.
Pum.
Pum.
I guess that it's possible there is excess heat, but I can't think of anything that would cause it ... what could cause the engine to run too hot? Blocked cats? Ignition timing miles out? Bad lambda sensors causing the mixture to be out?
The cooling has been marginal on hot summer days since I bought it around 7 years ago. It has never overheated but the fans used to run a lot with only short breaks, now the fans run flat out without a break on really hot days in traffic.
One thing I have heard is that the fan shroud makes a big difference to cooling, since at the time when the system is most stressed, the fans can then pull air through the complete radiator area, not just the area covered by fans. This should double the area through which air is pulled - albeit at a slightly lower speed! Does anyone have a fan shroud fitted? Is it plastic, alloy? My early 94 500 doesn't have one, but it is tempting to make one up to try!
The cooling has been marginal on hot summer days since I bought it around 7 years ago. It has never overheated but the fans used to run a lot with only short breaks, now the fans run flat out without a break on really hot days in traffic.
One thing I have heard is that the fan shroud makes a big difference to cooling, since at the time when the system is most stressed, the fans can then pull air through the complete radiator area, not just the area covered by fans. This should double the area through which air is pulled - albeit at a slightly lower speed! Does anyone have a fan shroud fitted? Is it plastic, alloy? My early 94 500 doesn't have one, but it is tempting to make one up to try!
Hi Chaps...
for what its worth, my griff is similar, on a normal day runs at about 85, hot day 90 with fans almost constant on. I personally dont see this as a problem, its a 'feature' of the engine, sure if it blows somewhere then i would be worried but has been like this since I got it (just over a year) and like others it seems the norm. My old Elise (brand new in 2002) used to run at 92c and the fans kicked in at 102c so I am not overly worried about the engine. A colleague of mine works as an engineer at Jag and the engine should be running at late 80s to achieve optimum fuel efficiency....
my advice....stop worrying..keep enjoying...(well until a hose splits or the radiator explodes
)
Lig.
for what its worth, my griff is similar, on a normal day runs at about 85, hot day 90 with fans almost constant on. I personally dont see this as a problem, its a 'feature' of the engine, sure if it blows somewhere then i would be worried but has been like this since I got it (just over a year) and like others it seems the norm. My old Elise (brand new in 2002) used to run at 92c and the fans kicked in at 102c so I am not overly worried about the engine. A colleague of mine works as an engineer at Jag and the engine should be running at late 80s to achieve optimum fuel efficiency....
my advice....stop worrying..keep enjoying...(well until a hose splits or the radiator explodes
) Lig.
After reading this thread, I'v just ordered a 3/4 size front plate for my Griff 500 from fancyplates. If there is a chance that this will help the heat distribution then I'm all for it.
Oh BTW...not too expensive,easy to use the site as well and delivery in 2 days! Worth a try for 30 quid!!
Oh BTW...not too expensive,easy to use the site as well and delivery in 2 days! Worth a try for 30 quid!!
I'm too nervous for that! ... I'm happy with running in the high 80's / low 90's in traffic if the fans had the ability to cool the engine enough so they could cut out, but they don't!
The current state implies to me that there is absolutely no spare capacity left in the system. If the outside temp rose 5 degrees, so would the engine, if the outside temp rose 10 degrees, so would the engine.
I'm hoping the core has just clogged up a bit with age even though it was flowing freely with a hose
The current state implies to me that there is absolutely no spare capacity left in the system. If the outside temp rose 5 degrees, so would the engine, if the outside temp rose 10 degrees, so would the engine.
I'm hoping the core has just clogged up a bit with age even though it was flowing freely with a hose
I ordered my small front plate from www.framptons.net/ ...
£14.95 inc delivery. It's going to be around 12" x 3"
£14.95 inc delivery. It's going to be around 12" x 3"
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