Discussion
colin mee said:
Just thinking about jobs I have done this year.one question I have is why are our cars prone to over heating.is it the grill is to some for the engine.or the radiator to small.what do you think
Neither my 350i or 390SE overheat. I did have both radiators re-cored over the last few years and I run a 16psi pressure cap on the expansion bottle. The 350i has a manual fan override and the 390 has an oil cooler which also seems to help though.my 350i has the opposite problem even with a good and correct stat it just dosent really get properly warmed up unless its on track but even then the single fan copes admirably ,it is a recored rad and the engine was ultrasonically cleaned when rebuilt 3 years ago so almost certainly helps.
john
john
I had my radiator replaced with a like for like from a pre-serp Griff..I have a manual fan switch which I only need to keep an eye on in traffic..The adage of just a single cold air intake hose from the nosecone to just under the air filter drops my running temperature considerably on a run...
Chris Shirle said at this years Wedgefest that the answer to a lot of Wedge cooling issues would be solved by alloy radiators...I totally respect what Mr Shirle said and agree in a lot of cases but if the system is kept in good fettle then the original copper ones are adequate....personally I think the routing of the coolant hoses leaves a lot to be desired...
Chris Shirle said at this years Wedgefest that the answer to a lot of Wedge cooling issues would be solved by alloy radiators...I totally respect what Mr Shirle said and agree in a lot of cases but if the system is kept in good fettle then the original copper ones are adequate....personally I think the routing of the coolant hoses leaves a lot to be desired...
colin mee said:
Was the vented bonnet added to help cooling. The grill on the range rover is a lot bigger
Whilst speaking with Oliver Winterbottom one year he kindly explained that the series 3 Tasmin and early V8 bonnets were the best design at removing the heat from under the bonnet....Then TVR go and fit ones without any vents...
When I fitted a Radtech alloy 3 core rad and an 18in Kenlowe turbo boost fan on Delilah you could feel the hot air being expelled from the top vent....cool man...
I've had two Radtec alloy rads in my V8S which both failed due to small cracks. I've now gone back to a re-cored OE copper rad and I'm sure it runs cooler. I have two fans which were on nearly all the time with the alloy rads. Since fitting the copper rad I've modified the fan wiring so that one is activated by the otter switch and the other from a switch under the dash. I only use the second fan if I get stuck in traffic on a hot day. Even then though it has to be a very hot day for the needle to start nudging above the thick white line. Old Skool copper for me.
Don't forget that in traffic with a fan in the nose, sloped towards and close to the road surface, the fan(s) will be pulling hot air off the tarmac. Added to this we have a big hot engine running in a confined space with very few outlets for hot air. Add to this a cooling system which TVR probably didn't bother to do much R&D on and you have a recipe for a hot running car.
Don't forget that in traffic with a fan in the nose, sloped towards and close to the road surface, the fan(s) will be pulling hot air off the tarmac. Added to this we have a big hot engine running in a confined space with very few outlets for hot air. Add to this a cooling system which TVR probably didn't bother to do much R&D on and you have a recipe for a hot running car.
I think the cooling system was marginal when new, and any tiny leaks in the system will result in airlocks and overheating. If you look at the cars over the years you'll see various iterations of hose routing and factory bodged overflow tanks.
Basic problem is twofold - the car is fibreglass so much worse heat dissipation than the SD1, secondly the SD1 has a viscous fan on the water pump nose so constantly pushes air over the engine.
Basic problem is twofold - the car is fibreglass so much worse heat dissipation than the SD1, secondly the SD1 has a viscous fan on the water pump nose so constantly pushes air over the engine.
just a few words on alloy rads in road cars, they have come to prominence largely because they look cool, pardon the pun, but the reality is they where initially designed for race cars which buy nature are very low volume and can easily be made in any shape and size by a competent tig welder, the truth is though ally albeit a good conductor of heat is nowhere near as good as copper and if you look at an ally rad compared to its copper brother it has nowhere near as many cooling fins or gills as the ally version so for the same amount of heat removal the alloy rad needs to be at least 25 percent bigger, plus they really need fitting to a properly designed frame which is rigid this frame can then be flexibly mounted but in most race cars with stiff chassis this isnt required ,so for our cars a well made or original rad in copper is by far the best item you can have.
john
john
http://www.cgj.com/2013/07/16/aluminum-vs-copper-b...
Very interesting read.
I've tried different radiator types over the years trying to get TVRs to run cool. I wouldn't dream of fitting anything but an alloy rad.
Very interesting read.
I've tried different radiator types over the years trying to get TVRs to run cool. I wouldn't dream of fitting anything but an alloy rad.
pwd95 said:
Had 9 TVR's since 2004. All on original rads. As long as the cooling system is in good shape & your fans are strong, you shouldn't have trouble.... 
Generally agree. But some Tivs are marginal - often its about air preventing water doing it's thing (ally and copper don't distinguish...).Track use and asking for more horses shows the limits of the system though.
Oddly enough, last two project cars have had Griff/Chim rads fitted.
Race car has been fine, we'll see how the 5.4 V8 in the 3000m copes.
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 12th November 11:09
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