steaming - should I worry?...
Discussion
Hi guys,
I must have a candidate for most underused Tuscan - it (tuscan 2S conv) has sat for about 2 months unloved and unused (and as if that wasn't bad enough, it was filthy, too). I went to start it and the battery was completely dead - not even enough juice to open the doors. I (thankfully) always leave the windows down when in the garage so it was easy enough to reach in and open the doors manually and call out the RAC to come and get it started (note to self - I really must invest in (a) a battery charger and (b) a set of jump leads that will fit the Tuscan).
The RAC guy was great, but it took ages to get it going - over an hour of the alarm going off and getting nowhere - halfway through, we managed to burn through the main 16A fuse, but thankfully the very nice man from the RAC was able to make (yes - really!) a new fuse, and eventually we got it going. Once it started, it didn't want to idle at all (but from history, this seems to be pretty normal - it seems to take a few minutes to settle down after the battery has been dead). Anyway, after another 10 mins of holding the revs above 1500 so it didn't die (and delighting the neighbours who'd already had an hour of the alarm going off - they must just love me!), it eventually settled down and I left it idling for 10 mins before going for a drive.
My concern is that after it was up to temperature (by the gauge on the dashboard it was up to mid-90s)and before I drove off, a bit of steam started to come up through the front bonnet - is this something I should worry about - it stopped when I started driving and the temperature came down a little.
(I had an Elise for years and because the Elise has it's radiator mounted horizontally, this was it's party trick when it had been parked in the rain, as the radiator got up to heat, all the standing water turned to steam and it would come pouring out the top of the radiator - looking pretty spectacular, but obviously nothing to worry about).
Should I worry about the steam coming out of the TVR, or is this just the same thing (yes, last time I put it away, it had been raining)?
I didn't think much of it at the time (especially since it stopped once going, and given Elise history), but it's been playing on my mind a bit, and I wanted to check if this is something any of you guys have seen?
Cheers,
Richard.
I must have a candidate for most underused Tuscan - it (tuscan 2S conv) has sat for about 2 months unloved and unused (and as if that wasn't bad enough, it was filthy, too). I went to start it and the battery was completely dead - not even enough juice to open the doors. I (thankfully) always leave the windows down when in the garage so it was easy enough to reach in and open the doors manually and call out the RAC to come and get it started (note to self - I really must invest in (a) a battery charger and (b) a set of jump leads that will fit the Tuscan).
The RAC guy was great, but it took ages to get it going - over an hour of the alarm going off and getting nowhere - halfway through, we managed to burn through the main 16A fuse, but thankfully the very nice man from the RAC was able to make (yes - really!) a new fuse, and eventually we got it going. Once it started, it didn't want to idle at all (but from history, this seems to be pretty normal - it seems to take a few minutes to settle down after the battery has been dead). Anyway, after another 10 mins of holding the revs above 1500 so it didn't die (and delighting the neighbours who'd already had an hour of the alarm going off - they must just love me!), it eventually settled down and I left it idling for 10 mins before going for a drive.
My concern is that after it was up to temperature (by the gauge on the dashboard it was up to mid-90s)and before I drove off, a bit of steam started to come up through the front bonnet - is this something I should worry about - it stopped when I started driving and the temperature came down a little.
(I had an Elise for years and because the Elise has it's radiator mounted horizontally, this was it's party trick when it had been parked in the rain, as the radiator got up to heat, all the standing water turned to steam and it would come pouring out the top of the radiator - looking pretty spectacular, but obviously nothing to worry about).
Should I worry about the steam coming out of the TVR, or is this just the same thing (yes, last time I put it away, it had been raining)?
I didn't think much of it at the time (especially since it stopped once going, and given Elise history), but it's been playing on my mind a bit, and I wanted to check if this is something any of you guys have seen?
Cheers,
Richard.
I've seen this the day after I washed the car. Not immediately but afer braking (assume water ran out from somewhere) so there must be some nooks and crannies for water to pool in.
Then again if your car's seeing as little use as you say it might do to check a few hoses and seals for perishing.
Then again if your car's seeing as little use as you say it might do to check a few hoses and seals for perishing.
Couple of thoughts -
1) temp should generally not be higher than low to early mid 90's; first fan comes on @ 92c, second @ 94c, which ideally brings things down thereafter into the 80's.
2) I have had little amts of steam arise from the front service bonnet for 3 primary reasons; first was the most serious and was a holed radiator, detected by a leak at the front of the radiator under the car and "tasting" the fluid underneath as acrid (and therefore including coolant).
Second reason (and most common in my personal experience) is overfilling the coolant. I did this last week in Le Mans, filling up a little bit too much with Coolboost and suffering steaming @ 88c. The excess water/steam appeared directly underneath the coolant/water cap and not to either side of the radiator. No issues thereafter.
Third is as mentioned - driving after washing!
1) temp should generally not be higher than low to early mid 90's; first fan comes on @ 92c, second @ 94c, which ideally brings things down thereafter into the 80's.
2) I have had little amts of steam arise from the front service bonnet for 3 primary reasons; first was the most serious and was a holed radiator, detected by a leak at the front of the radiator under the car and "tasting" the fluid underneath as acrid (and therefore including coolant).
Second reason (and most common in my personal experience) is overfilling the coolant. I did this last week in Le Mans, filling up a little bit too much with Coolboost and suffering steaming @ 88c. The excess water/steam appeared directly underneath the coolant/water cap and not to either side of the radiator. No issues thereafter.
Third is as mentioned - driving after washing!
Mustang Baz said:
Couple of thoughts -
2) I have had little amts of steam arise from the front service bonnet for 3 primary reasons; first was the most serious and was a holed radiator, detected by a leak at the front of the radiator under the car and "tasting" the fluid underneath as acrid (and therefore including coolant).
2) I have had little amts of steam arise from the front service bonnet for 3 primary reasons; first was the most serious and was a holed radiator, detected by a leak at the front of the radiator under the car and "tasting" the fluid underneath as acrid (and therefore including coolant).
exact same thing happened to me which resulted in a new rad being fitted. Saying that, sounds like it is just water from washing/raining finding its way to somewhere hot enough to boil it.Andy
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