**When is it too Hot!**

[carnutnathan]

Just a general quick question. At what temp on the gauge should I be worried about overheating my Chim...at the moment in thick traffic it runs to about 85-87 and seems to steady out at this...Just wanted to know what temp should I get worried...?

[incorrigible]

Hotter than that !!

Remember, the guage may not be completely accurate though

You need to get worried when it's rising at 105-110 but it should remain <100

As a matter of interest, when do the fans come on and off ?

[carnutnathan]

They come on at about 80-85, sometimes difficult to hear them though over the engine...

At the moment though in no traffic it runs at 65-70...

I used to have an S2 and that ran a lot hotter than the Chim...

[Beano500]

As the guage is unlikely to be accurate, I would get worried only when it did something unexpected. I would get anxious if it read 10 degrees higher or lower than normal, worried if it started climbing unexpectedly and go into full "don't panic Mr Mainwaring, don't panic Mr Mainwaring" mode if it kept heading into the 100-110 territory or dropped off either end of the scale......

[carnutnathan]

I have noticed a lot of people posting topics on running cold in this winter weather...Surely runnin g at 65-70 is optimum temp for a big old engine?

[apache]

carnutnathan said: I have noticed a lot of people posting topics on running cold in this winter weather...Surely runnin g at 65-70 is optimum temp for a big old engine?

as has been said before the temp gauge isn't reading true engine temp, which is a lot hotter than this. I 'read' my block with a hand held I/R detector and it read over 100 when the gauge was at 70 (gauges are not calibrated either)

[plotloss]

100 isnt too bad, but ideally keep it under that. If you see 105 then switch it off!

Matt.

[gbgaffer]

apache said:

carnutnathan said: I have noticed a lot of people posting topics on running cold in this winter weather...Surely runnin g at 65-70 is optimum temp for a big old engine?

as has been said before the temp gauge isn't reading true engine temp, which is a lot hotter than this. I 'read' my block with a hand held I/R detector and it read over 100 when the gauge was at 70 (gauges are not calibrated either)

Are you sure the reading was the block temp and not being increased by radiation from the manifolds, which will be a lot hotter than 100

Cheers

Graham

>> Edited by gbgaffer on Friday 7th February 10:14

[apache]

Graham, you're probably right, these things are a bit gimmicky, I was getting readings all over the shop, there's so much trapped heat in there that it's hard to know what to believe

[shpub]

The secret with the guns is to get as close as possible to what you are measuring. They will measure hot air if you are not careful!

Getting above 100 is trouble time and please don't forget that turning off the engine is an option that can save the day.


Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

[TVR57S]

90 or less is fine, as is 70 when the weathers cold, however 95 0r over just isn't good. You have to allow a tolerence of + 5 in heavy traffic on a hot day

[the dodger]

This has been covered so many times before. Running cold can do more damage than hot. If you're not dumping coolant out of the pressure cap then you are almost certainly OK. It has been shown that there is often inacuracies with the gauge readings. Ideal (real) top hose temp is around 90-95deg. for any engine.

[tantivy]

Remember that you can get the temp down 3-4 degrees in emergency (without modifications) by:

1 turning the heating full on and
2 opening all the vents in the car and
3 turning interior fans right up and
4 opening the windows both sides

Of course YOU boil but the engine's a bit cooler...! oh the joys of Tivving