It was worth the wait

[davehammerton]

I picked up my Griff thursday night, bit of an experience driving back to brum from Essex in the wet (first time i've driven one)!

All I can say is, oh my god what a car

It has a few small niggly problems that need sorting out, nearly all of which were spotted when the car was inspected.

The main problem i'm having is the coolant temp on the gauge can sit at around 100degC even when cruising at 60mph. I'm not sure if it's a gauge problem or something else?

I know that the rad has a very slight leak (will be getting a re-core this week) but not enough for the coolant to drop significantly (didn't drop at all over 200 mile trip).

I've bled the system twice so it's not that. The alternator/water pump belt is at its max adjustment and it's still not tight enough (can move the w pump by hand inside the belt) and the voltage on the volt meter reads low (11.8ish Volts) most of the time.

The symtoms indicate to me a slipping belt but i'm not sure it is this. Can I buy this belt today from a motor factors or Halfrauds?

Also when I turn on the heater blower the temp gauge goes up and down with the blower speed!! So that when the blower is on full the temp reads almost 110degC.

I know thermostat failures are rare but are the lower temps stats available from a motor factors or just TVR?

But all that aside I'm absolutely loving the experience, I can't believe they let these things on the road!! I'm happy

[UpTheIron]

Assuming its a serpentine, is the belt on the right way? Mine came back from a service once with the belt on incorrectly. No harm done as it still turned everything the right way, just made is a little loose fitting.

Pic of correct routing here: www.rpiv8.com/engine-1.htm

>> Edited by UpTheIron on Saturday 10th April 10:56

[davehammerton]

Whoops, forgot to mention it's a pre-serp 1994 500.

[FlipFlopGriff]

Dave,
We had a small leak - Radweld cured it - £5.99 well spent.
FFG

[Paul V]

If the gauges move when you turn the heater on it’s most probably due to a poor earth, the gauges will also move with the stereo on and the lights on, mine were doing this but I fixed it at the weekend by cleaning the earth under the centre consul, that might mean the gauge is over reading.

Does the alternator bracket have different mounting holes, maybe you could move it out a bit. Sometimes the right length belt is hard to get (I had to get mine ordered in) so someone might have fitted a slightly longer one.

Does you car have air con or PAS?

[davehammerton]

I've replaced the alternator belts with one that is the correct length and the problem still exists.

I have the low temp stat, water wetter kit and otter switch on order.

I'll defo be taking a look at all the earths tomorrow hopefully.

Any more tips

[davehammerton]

I recieved my low temp kit today and went to remove the old stat only to discover that there wasn't one in there (alarm bells ringing), so I fitted the new low temp (74degC) one and obviously it still runs too hot.

I've also now noticed that the coolant pipes are slightly pressurised (although not rock hard) on both sides of the rad (the system has been bled). There is no mayo in header tank or in the oil.

The next step is a compression test I suppose, because I don't have access to nitrogen testing facilities.

Any suggestions guys/gals.

[HeyAndy]

I'm surprised you never checked all this out before you bought the car!

Essentially any overheating problems as read are likely to be in order of checking.

First, check is to see the car is actually boiling over. If not its likely to be related to a faulty sensor. Otherwise its likely to be one of the following.

a) Water leak (lack of coolnant)

b) Loose fanbelt

c) U/S Thermostat

d) Airlock

e) Faulty otter switch

f) Knackered radiator

g) Blown headgasket

h) Dodgy Temp gauge

i) or all of the above!!

[AllTorque]

Quinny said:

Hi Dave, Firstly the problem was that the fans blew the 40 amp fuse on a regular basis. Have you checked this? on my car it's the first one on the left of the fuse box.

I had this as well on my Griff. Couldn't believe that the fans drew so much current! They literally used to melt the 40A fuses!! Wish I had known that Dave Beer's kit did exactly what I needed by taking the fusebox out of the loop. Oh well, the car is just a memory now....

[davehammerton]

Thanks for the helpful post HeyAndy christ. Try reading MY posts before spouting off.


But genuinely thanks for the comments AllTorque and Quinny. I sure it has nothing to do with the fan though because it does it when cruising along and the fans cut in fine,

I think it may be the Hgasket, ah well I'll find out tomorrow. Doesn't really bother me too much aslong as the head isn't cracked, it'll give me a chance to clean things up a bit under there

If if does turn out to be the Hgasket does anybody know the best place (best quality) to buy the set from? Head bolts as well?

[spend]

Sounds more like electrical problems to me. For peace of mind check temps with an infra red temp gun.

Dave

[shpub]

If it is a head gasket, it is quite possible that the heads have warped. Worth getting them checked and skimmed. Also worth checking the cam as well just in case and most of the engine is already in bits. Worth doing both sides as well. Budget around £350 for bits and you won't be far off. It is surprising how it can all add up.

If the stat has been taken out that does indicate a big bodge I have to say. The car should not overheat if the cooling system is in good condition. You may have a blocked rad or water ways that would benefit from a good clean or replacement.

The head gasket failure will either mayo the oil or pressurise the water system so that it spills out as well as getting hot. Might be that the lower water levels are then contributing to the problem.

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

[davehammerton]

Thanks again for your comments guys.

Spend, I'm not sure it is an electrical fault due to the slight pressurisation of the cooling circuit and the fans cut in fine.

Quinny the rad and all the coolant hoses are heating up so i'm not suspecting the water pump although I know this test isn't fool proof and it could still be suspect. I'll try the test with letting it get up to temp and watching inside the header tank (and thanks for your concern for my health )

The rad is suspect and has a slight leak at the outlet elbow this may have been helped by the system pressurising or it could have been the cause of the pressurising!

Steve, yeah I was going to do both heads at the same time and have the smallest clean up skim and pressure tests performed on them. I wish it was just more clear cut so I could get on with it and get the car in perfect fettle

Quinny, I presume V8 development do the head bolts/studs as well? Are there an uprated set (higher tensile) out there?

I'm away working for two weeks come Mon morning so that'll be plenty of time for the parts to arrive (rad, gaskets, bolts, cam?, anything else?), I just want to get everything stripped and prepared ready for when I get back. I didn't have chance to do a compression test today.

Steve/anyone else with good knowledge of car engines, how definative are them coolant testers that you can buy to check if there is exhaust gas in the cooling system?

While the heads are off and camshaft access is easy I may replace it with something a little wilder, any suggestions on a good cam for hydraulic tappets?

Sorry for the long post.

P.S sorry for snapping HeyAndy, it was late

[davehammerton]

Thanks for the fast reply Quinny.

The car has done 40000miles

I don't expect a big skim off the heads to be required. Increase in compression would be a problem if this was the case. But thanks for the info I didn't know the clearance to the inlet man was so critical.

I'll probably leave the cam alone then, i was getting the impression it would be easy when the heads were off. Ta for that.

As for them rads in the classified, I emailed the guy immediately and secured the Grif one but it got damaged before being shipped. Doh.

Any idea where I can get a rad re-core? Will a re-core fix the prob if it's leaking from the outlet elbow?

[davehammerton]

Thanks Quinny. Your help is much appreciated.

[davehammerton]

Did a compression test today and all seemed ok. Got between 137 and 148 psi. Tested with throttle butterfly shut, stone cold engine, no oil poured into cylinders.

These look ok to me.

So I started it up went for a spin to get a feel for how pressurised the system is getting and to be honest (hopefully) I was worrying about nothing. The pressurising doesn't seem any more than is should be, the coolant hoses aren't hard at all really.

So I then removed the rad. What fun that was! The origonal alarm gets in the way a little doesn't it? Anyway it's out now and apparently there's a place local that do re-cores so i'll speak to them tomorrow.

It may just be the rad which needs replacing anyway because of a leak (which reduced the cost of the car).

Any ideas/comments guys?

[davehammerton]

If I leave it idling it's ok, it gets upto 90ish the fans cut in and it reduces temp till they cut out (although the do take ages to reduce temp).

When i'm on the move it will just about hold at 90-95degC until I even remotely put my footdown, then it'll slowly rise upto 100+ and take a while of steady driving to reduce it back to a comforting 90ish. If I did continue to drive briskly (not fast) then it would continue to rise.

[davehammerton]

And remember i've got a 74deg stat in so it should run real cool when just cruising along in top at say 60mph ish.

[Blue Flash]

Hi Dave I expirenced the same problems with my rad/temperatures on my 4.0 pre-cat Griffith. Had a brand new rad fitted today by Offord TVR. Cost of brand new Rad-£189 +Vat. (Re-core was going to cost £130!) Car runs no hotter than
80 deg c now. Very good guys/service at Offord Motors.


Cheers Phil

>> Edited by Blue Flash on Friday 16th April 21:56

[davehammerton]

It's nice to know someone else has had the same symtoms Blue Flash.

£189+vat for a new rad sounds superb, i'll have to get in touch with them. Are the 500 rads the same?

Really want to get it sorted out, just wanna drive it