Too hot?

[Waynester]

My 350i (bought yesterday) i think is overheating. The temp needle stays just below the red zone at 91 degs. There is a slight leak under the nose of the car just back from the right spotlight. (Radiator?)
Also during the journey the oil pressure gauge and the fuel gauge on the dash misted up!! (bit gutted)
Waynester

[Stig]

Guage misting is very common on wedges - don't worry too much about it. My 500 Griff did the same too. It's more noticable when it's humid which it seems to be at the mo.

The leak will not help the overheating as the fluid can boil. The system needs pressure to work efficiently. It may be worth changing the pressure tank cap too as this can wear out in time.

Try to find the leak and if not too serious, wang in some radweld. Sounds more like a hose though which should be simpe enough to replace.

Good luck and don't get too downhearted! These cars need a little tlc before they reward you

[2 sheds]

Sounds like the leak is causing loss of pressure in the system giving the higher reading , not as high as it could be though, keep it out of the red if you can, it might be a leaking hose check that the clips are tight.
The gauges always mist up ...
Tim

[nick heppinstall]

My 350i (bought yesterday) i think is overheating. The temp needle stays just below the red zone at 91 degs. There is a slight leak under the nose of the car just back from the right spotlight. (Radiator?)
Also during the journey the oil pressure gauge and the fuel gauge on the dash misted up!! (bit gutted)
Waynester

Welcome to the fold. Gauge misting ! Yeah they all do that. Don't worry about it. 91 degs. Sounds a bit high but mine also runs at that temp. Never overheats and stays pretty constant at 90-91. ( although I have some proba at the mo ! see other thread ) If there's a bit of coolant on the floor check all your hoses / clips carefully. Feel around the bottom of the rad. Pay close attention to the Otter Switch. Is their coolant in the Swan Neck / expansion tank ? I personally think Rad Weld or anything like that is a bad idea. I've heard it can glog galleries etc and would not use it myself.

>> Edited by nick heppinstall on Tuesday 10th June 14:47

[Waynester]

Have checked and topped the expansion tank, it was low. Still a constant drip, i will get dirty hands and check for loose clips. Don't think i will try radweld, i used it once on an SD1 Vitesse and caused me more problems. Thanks everyone!!
(Waynester the new Wedge owner)

[danny hoffman]

An upgraded 3 row recon radiator is about £150 from your local Serc Martson dealer. Well worth if your rad is on it's last legs

Danny

[tcpc]

welcome to the ozone frienly club

if you are losing water some where then the cooling system will mis behave,if water can get out then air can get in which cause air locks and water sometime blows out off the expansion tank when hot,
i have had water loss and it turn out to be the water pump with a very small weep.

hope you can sort it, and make the most off the summer


Tony

[planman350i]

Waynester, my 350i guages mist up occasionally as well. It seems to be a common problem. Have you checked what temp the electric fan is kicking in?-my kicks in bang on 90, so would of thought yours should be kicking in at 91 if the otter switch is the correct one and working...?

[jmorgan]

When you have sorted it, it would be a good idea to fit a fan overide switch. Piece of mind and cheap. But use it as a just in case not a fix.

[montegogt]

My 350i overheated the day after I bought it! Turned out to be a U/S Otter switch, combined with clapped out pressure cap. I wired in a manual over ride for the cooling fan. Must get round to replacing the Otter switch some time though... Anyway, since I replaced the pressure cap and the one on the swan neck, I haven't had any problems and the temperature only just creep out of the blue segment. I prefer cool...

Misty gauges are a TVR trademark...

[seamus]

Following similar leak on the 400 - replaced rad with a 4 core and have been able to sit in traffic in height of the summer without panicking (and no override switch) - still find myself occasionally looking left to check the old gauge (old habits die hard) - which is normally misted

[skyrocketship]

my gauges sometimes mist up too - apparently you can sort it out by removing the dash and messing about with the heater and ventilation ducts (someone else will be able to tell you how to do it properly)

also - the gauges...... may not be accurate, sometimes my temp gauge sometimes goes from 80 to 120 degrees and back again in the space of a few seconds...

edited to say: I have a mate with a 390se and his mate has a 350i (neither are PH'ers) round here too - 4 local wedges!!! now that's cool
I see from your profile you're local to me - if you want to meet up for a blast and a general "don't worry they all do that" session - give me a shout (I have '86 350)

>> Edited by skyrocketship on Thursday 12th June 11:28

[jmorgan]

I fitted the overide switch as a just in case as the motor is a bit "not normal". A tell tale fitted by the builder shows my gauge showing low so when traffic appears and I am going to be stuck in it I turn the fan on. Also handy if the otter fails. £9 or so.

[arcturus]

Welcome to the fold. I also had overheating probs on my 350i when i bought it. The cause turned out to be a faulty relay failing to switch power to the fan when required. I also had a number of other cooling related issues which are too long to mention here, but if you go and have a look at the car in my profile, you will find all the gory details there.

Good luck.

Sniffer

>> Edited by arcturus on Friday 13th June 10:25