Overheating & Stalling
Overheating & Stalling
Author
Discussion

drthkern

Original Poster:

58 posts

313 months

Monday 24th July 2006
quotequote all
Has anybody experienced a Griffith stalling upon overheating?

I recently tested a Griffith which once it had reached the 90 degrees where the fans jumap in started to overheat and eventually stall completely. It seemed to go all funny with its revs. and even started to hunt on the revs. Once restarting the car it then got stuck at 2000 revs. and would not go down again.

Has anybody had similar experiences?

Thanks

GreenV8S

31,017 posts

313 months

Monday 24th July 2006
quotequote all
I don't know what's causing that specific behaviour, but periods of very high underbonnet temperatures are often followed by electrical/electronic problems in my experience. One benefit of the exhaust lagging was that the engine management system suffered far few sensor failures afterwards.

Edited by GreenV8S on Monday 24th July 13:04

bluebottle

3,498 posts

269 months

Monday 24th July 2006
quotequote all
My 2nd Griff did that not long after purchase.
mine was caused by the poor condition of the cooling system, had the radiator recore'd and flushed the system out and it never did it again, but i did send it to my garage for a service before hand so i dont know what was making it hunt and revs stick at 2k rpm. Nothing needed replacing so i just assumed it was probably the stepper motor clogging up when it overheated.

Edited by bluebottle on Monday 24th July 16:34

drthkern

Original Poster:

58 posts

313 months

Monday 24th July 2006
quotequote all
Bluebottle

how many miles did the car have?

Did you have to change the steppermotor?

Thanks.

bluebottle

3,498 posts

269 months

Monday 24th July 2006
quotequote all
drthkern

It is not so much dependant upon mileage as general condition and age of the car(mine had done 50K ish when i bought it). My car is a 95 and mechanically was pretty much untouched except for basic servicing when i bought it. The airodynamic and limited air intake space on TVR's make them far more sensitive to poor fluid circulation or minor damage to the fins on the radiator than most cars. Its a relatively cheap fix with about £100 for a recore.

I'm still running the same stepper motor now 18 month later. (they are about £50 if it does need replacing).

The main thing is not to look at the symptoms but the cause. ie. is the car overheating cos of the cooling system is in poor condition or does the engine have problems (ie knackered cam etc etc). AS you mentioned "test drive" i assume you are looking to buy? in which case i would suggest getting an experienced rv8 specialist to give it good inspection it will be worth it if you are serious about this car and will give you peace of mind.
AS i said above these cars are VERY sensitive in the cooling department so don't be put off by it, just have it inspected to rule out a more serious cause of the overheating.

crackedfinger

1,569 posts

258 months

Tuesday 25th July 2006
quotequote all
drthkern said:
Has anybody experienced a Griffith stalling upon overheating?

I recently tested a Griffith which once it had reached the 90 degrees where the fans jumap in started to overheat and eventually stall completely. It seemed to go all funny with its revs. and even started to hunt on the revs. Once restarting the car it then got stuck at 2000 revs. and would not go down again.

Has anybody had similar experiences?

Thanks


How exactly did it start to over heat? (was there steamcoming out of the pressure cap?)

I have a lumpy engine when the fans kicked on and off, with hunting and threatening to stall. Was really easy to fix as it was the earth strap from the block to the chassis (behind drivers front wheel)

drthkern

Original Poster:

58 posts

313 months

Tuesday 25th July 2006
quotequote all
I wanted to check that the fans come on before actually driving the car. They did come on and go off without a hitch, but then the problems started.

Cooling has always been an issue. Would a switch for the fans help here?