Coolant Issue - Temperature Data
Coolant Issue - Temperature Data
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Discussion

Craig!

Original Poster:

349 posts

220 months

Sunday 9th October 2011
quotequote all
Right had chance to run the car today and this was my logs of the temperature;

13:15 - Start car from cold, 11 degree water temp and 15 degrees ambient temp.

13:17 - Water 25 / Oil 16 / Pressure 50
13:19 - Water 38 / Oil 18 / Pressure 48
13:21 - Water 50 / Oil 21 / Pressure 42
13:23 - Water 63 / Oil 26 / Pressure 35
13:25 - Water 72 / Oil 33 / Pressure 29
13:27 - Water 83 / Oil 42 / Pressure 26
13:29 - Water 92 / Oil 51 / Pressure 23

1st Fan Clicked in @ 92

2nd Fan Clicked in @ 96

13:31 - Water 99 / Oil 58 / Pressure 19
13:33 - Water 106 / Oil 65 / Pressure 17

Gauge starting to flicker

13:35 - Water 99 / Oil 70 / Pressure 17

Water then stabilized and held 99/100, both fans running.

Set of on a small road test; at 30mph in third gear I was seeing 99/101/103/99 flicker on the temp, oil was holding 69 and the pressure was 37. Parked up to write my notes and at idle it was water 106, oil 78 and pressure 14. Set back off and had a short blast through the gears, then held the car at 70mph in fifth gear where it was showing 99/102/108/99 on the water temp, oil was 69 and pressure 44.

After another short blast home, park the car and let it idle for a short while and water temp was 108, oil was between 89/90 and rose no higher and oil pressure was at 13. No sign of blow by from the tower, going to let it cool then check the level. I can see a very small sign of leakage from the drivers side end tank on the radiator.

How do the oil temp and pressure sound compared to everyone else's cars?

m4tti

5,485 posts

178 months

Sunday 9th October 2011
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If you havent got the software have you put a multi meter on the temp senders and checked whether they've gone open circuit. I think you need to tackle these things in a logical order.

Craig!

Original Poster:

349 posts

220 months

Sunday 9th October 2011
quotequote all
Its definatley got a water problem, another short drive and its come loosing water from underneath and obviously a slight bit of steam.

m4tti

5,485 posts

178 months

Sunday 9th October 2011
quotequote all
Craig! said:
Its definatley got a water problem, another short drive and its come loosing water from underneath and obviously a slight bit of steam.
I'd stop the driving experiments and get it up on stands and pin point the leak.

I'd definitely stop driving it till resolved now to prevent any serious damage. Either swap out the offending part or get it aa or rac'd to a specialist.

BCA

8,651 posts

280 months

Sunday 9th October 2011
quotequote all
Sounds like it is running a little hot, but the irratic temperature reading points to air in the system/ a leak. The hose you describe is exactly what looked to be leaking on ours - getting to the jubilee clip was a bit of a problem, so I guess it was overlooked in the past.

Fans and such sound fine, it shouldn't really have the temp rising any further than when the second fan kicks in. I would do a very thorough visual inspection/ spanner check on all the jubilee clips at a minimum, but as per the other thread, my advice would be to replace everything for piece of mind if you can afford to. Rads on these cars are weak (standard ones atleast) - the hoses don't seem too great either and they're certainly not always tightened up enough IMHO.

Oil temp is fine, it should be above 70 before hitting high revs, both for the engines sake and also the change up lights come on earlier if it is below this figure. smile

LeeT350c

575 posts

204 months

Sunday 9th October 2011
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Just a quick question as I can't find the answer in your posts.

Was the AC switched on?

Cheers. Lee.

Craig!

Original Poster:

349 posts

220 months

Monday 10th October 2011
quotequote all
Minds a little more at ease, just got home and checked the level whilst stone cold and it's bang on at the bottom of the tower elbow again. When I bled it yesterday I filled it so that it was midway up that elbow pipe so maybe it was just self leveling again!?

Either way, going to spend Tuesday looking for potential faults.

Craig!

Original Poster:

349 posts

220 months

Tuesday 11th October 2011
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Well, there has been progress... no matter how much we bled the system, we could not initiate a flow of coolant. Now coolant was coming up the tower to the elbow giving the effect (hot pipe) that the thermostat was opening but upon further investigation with an infra-red and digital thermometer there was certainly no substantial flow running through the car.

Decided to whip the thermostat out and re-filled the system and it now holds a steady low 90's temp when sat idling, the fans click in separately and click out separately too so hopefully it was just a minor problem. Get a thermostat on order and all should be well.

Slightly concerned that the engine has run warmer than normal for the last few miles but guessing if it was seriously over heating it would have gone over 105 degrees for a prolonged period and then blown a pipe / gushes out the cap. Least the oil temps have been kept in the low 70's too.

BCA

8,651 posts

280 months

Tuesday 11th October 2011
quotequote all
Bit of an odd one, hopefully this will be the end of the issue? If so, result! smile

Craig!

Original Poster:

349 posts

220 months

Tuesday 11th October 2011
quotequote all
Just to confirm, I've had the thermostat in a pan of boiling water and it does not open what so ever so is presumably at fault!


BCA

8,651 posts

280 months

Tuesday 11th October 2011
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Craig! said:
Just to confirm, I've had the thermostat in a pan of boiling water and it does not open what so ever so is presumably at fault!
It cant be helping... hehe

Craig!

Original Poster:

349 posts

220 months

Tuesday 11th October 2011
quotequote all
Knowing my luck, i'll get the stat sorted and find out the HG is pressuring the cooling system aha.