cooling / fan type problem..advise please..
Discussion
filled the coolant level up last night, as was a little low.. now today, instead of kicking in at 88 as It did yesterday, its noe coming on at about 90 , stays on for a few minutes, the temp guage doesnt really move , fans cut off, sits at about 90-92 and same process happens allover agin...
now having only had the car for a few months , no cooling probs so far but weather has been cooler.
could this change be attributed to the warm weather or something a little more sinister?
thought might have some air in the systme but appart ftom that cant think what it might be..
just had a thought as well, on a slightly different area, does the stepper motor only contribute when idling , cause its hunting a little at idle and also when constant revs are applied and not in gear? cleaning the motor this weekend so will see if that makes any difference, but anything else to check whilst i'm under there?
thanks guys...
S.
now having only had the car for a few months , no cooling probs so far but weather has been cooler.
could this change be attributed to the warm weather or something a little more sinister?
thought might have some air in the systme but appart ftom that cant think what it might be..
just had a thought as well, on a slightly different area, does the stepper motor only contribute when idling , cause its hunting a little at idle and also when constant revs are applied and not in gear? cleaning the motor this weekend so will see if that makes any difference, but anything else to check whilst i'm under there?
thanks guys...
S.
As long as your temp don't go to much above 90-ish - you're ok - just very hot! Not much air to circulate under that bonnet - but when you stop - lift the bonnet to give it somewhere to go - or you could suffer the dreaded overheated starter motor which will cause a non-start for 15 minutes of so - normally in petrol stations! 
the fans on mine don't really get the temperature down much. They tend to come on at 90ish and keep the car thereabouts.. once I'm moving along, the air blast then brings the temperature back down...
...of course mine overheated this morning so I'm quite interested in following this one.. I'd love to know where the steam was coming from too as it had stopped by the time I opened the bonnet..
Cheers
Matt.
>> Edited by M@H on Friday 30th May 15:13
...of course mine overheated this morning so I'm quite interested in following this one.. I'd love to know where the steam was coming from too as it had stopped by the time I opened the bonnet..
Cheers
Matt.
>> Edited by M@H on Friday 30th May 15:13
taking into account its a tvr, it wouldnt surprise me if I came out in the morning and it was a different colour to then I locked it up the night before....
you know something like a starmist blue fading out to a crystal topaz....TADTS....hmm... I wonder if i left it out in the sun long enough, quite like crystal topaz......
>> Edited by funinthesun on Friday 30th May 15:56
you know something like a starmist blue fading out to a crystal topaz....TADTS....hmm... I wonder if i left it out in the sun long enough, quite like crystal topaz......
>> Edited by funinthesun on Friday 30th May 15:56
If the temp doesn't drop below 87 (otter cut off ?) does this mean that your fans run constantly?
Does the relay have some overload / overheat protection... which will cut the fans?
I have been running 90-95 degC consistently lately, short term inserted 72 deg stat (little impact) - remounted no. plate (now cools to 75/80 on move & <90 in traffic). I believe the root of my problem is that the rad is marginal - recore to be scheduled.
Personally I would like to feel confident that thermostat is cycled more that once a day...
Dave
Does the relay have some overload / overheat protection... which will cut the fans?
I have been running 90-95 degC consistently lately, short term inserted 72 deg stat (little impact) - remounted no. plate (now cools to 75/80 on move & <90 in traffic). I believe the root of my problem is that the rad is marginal - recore to be scheduled.
Personally I would like to feel confident that thermostat is cycled more that once a day...
Dave
When i got my Griff,my water stat opened in the morning and stayed open(in summer). Thats because it was a 72 which there is no way you hold that temp unless it was a cold day.My 500 wants to sit at 86-88(digi temp guage) and the water stat opens and closes even in the summer as indeed every other car i have had,does. Incidently, my otter was 96 on and 92 off, but my car would overflow at 98, so it was very marginal. Of course there is nothing wrong with the system if all is ok, its just a bit too close for my liking. Common faults as we all know are air locks, dodgy fan connectors, relays, fuses, and of course the otter!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but we seem to discuss at length all the control systems, whereas I suspect a cooler rad is needed.
If as a test you remove stat, bypass otter, ensure coolant (& pressure) is OK and then still have marginal cooling effect this would suggest to me that the rad is the weakness in the system.
Having a rad that can 'overcool' should only allow the control systems to work effectively. However would this inadvertently affect other systems?
If the rad is to be refurbished should it also be upgraded? It may be that many rads are very cakked up, or that the original design was marginal.
Dave
If as a test you remove stat, bypass otter, ensure coolant (& pressure) is OK and then still have marginal cooling effect this would suggest to me that the rad is the weakness in the system.
Having a rad that can 'overcool' should only allow the control systems to work effectively. However would this inadvertently affect other systems?
If the rad is to be refurbished should it also be upgraded? It may be that many rads are very cakked up, or that the original design was marginal.
Dave
I would say the rad is up to it,the fans ability is up to it, but, the fan control should be better. If you look at the original engine it had a great big fan running all the time, at varying speeds, alowing the water stat to control the engine temp, not air temp and the otter. It is the most revisted subject on forums and still is of great interest seeing different view points.
David,
I'm not convinced that rads are up to it when cars have been used infrequently - it seems often that daily-use cars cool better simply because they are used and system has not clogged up. Personally I will bite the bullet and upgrade my rad.
With regard to Rover derivatives, my measly KW output Discovery has a rad twice the size (including Oil & A/C). The viscous coupling is 'semi' continuous - but the major difference seems to be the cowling to flow air out of the fan. This also seems to direct the air drawn into the engine bay at the engine / manifolds rather than flowing into empty spaces around the engine.
Being an 'old fart' I do notice that rads seem very small these days, but it is becoming more common to see shaped ducting around the fans. I believe that with efficient design that they not only aid water cooling, but also engine cooling. I would suspect some kind of air flow analysis is done on the complete engine bay.
I'll try chain-smoking in front of the grill, but think a more hi-tech approach will be required.
Dave
I'm not convinced that rads are up to it when cars have been used infrequently - it seems often that daily-use cars cool better simply because they are used and system has not clogged up. Personally I will bite the bullet and upgrade my rad.
With regard to Rover derivatives, my measly KW output Discovery has a rad twice the size (including Oil & A/C). The viscous coupling is 'semi' continuous - but the major difference seems to be the cowling to flow air out of the fan. This also seems to direct the air drawn into the engine bay at the engine / manifolds rather than flowing into empty spaces around the engine.
Being an 'old fart' I do notice that rads seem very small these days, but it is becoming more common to see shaped ducting around the fans. I believe that with efficient design that they not only aid water cooling, but also engine cooling. I would suspect some kind of air flow analysis is done on the complete engine bay.
I'll try chain-smoking in front of the grill, but think a more hi-tech approach will be required.
Dave
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