Water Temperature??

[marts1]

Does this sound right?
Water temp sits just above 90 degrees on a run, when stationary goes up to just before the red bit then the fan comes on
Going away in the car for a few days and probably worrying over nothing but thought best to check
Mart.........: Paranoid about breaking down:

[19560]

Hi, 90 sounds right but should not rise to need the fans unless you've been thrashing it a fair bit or travelled at very high speeds. Most likely problems are 1. air lock, 2. leaking hose(s) and 3. blocked rad core, in that order. Check it out before you go away.

[peter m]

That does sound high, mine sits at 90°, and the fan comes on at about 92° not soon after sitting in traffic. It would be wise to check the coolant level, air locks, etc to make sure all is well.

[Rozza!!!]

There may be nothing wrong at all, just the dreaded TVR gauge accuracy at work.

Roy.

[Rower]

I have had a similar problem ,getting up to 90 fan cutting in even on a run in cool weather , I had a small weep at the bottom of the rad so decided to change it, re-cored unit £123.(inc vat ) easy job to do although b***std to re-fill, Now runs cool at about 85.The guys who recored the rad said the original was very crudded up.

[marts1]

I took it to work today and it did not overheat...it just gets hot in traffic very quickly, but the fan cuts in and keeps it cool
When moving it will sit just above 90 and when driving " A little harder" it will go up a little more to in between the 90 and the red
Dunno if i am just paranoid or what? Just need to make sure its going to be ok on a 1000 mile round trip??

[marts1]

Is there anything i can buy that will flush out the cr@p in the system?
Mart

[GreenV8S]

You can get Rad Flush stuff that you just tip in, run the engine for a while to let it disolve/dislodge the sediment and drain off. Holts do it, but there are lots of other brands. This is sort of the opposite of RadSeal, and has the opposite effect - in flushing the rad out you may find you re-open small leaks that had been sealed/clogged with sediment. If you're doing this, it is also worth stuffing a hose into the bottom hose and flushing the radiator itself out to dislodge as much as possible (flush backwards for best effect).

[marts1]

Thanks mate, i have the mechanic at work doing it this afternoon
I hope it works

[haggishead]

Mine was exactly the same as yours when I got it - you had to put the heater on full blast when you stopped, or the needles was well into the red.

I found that the two radiator type caps were on the wrong way round. I swapped the pressurised cap (with the spring) to the swirl tank at the front of the engine, and the unpressurised plain cap to the plastic overflow tank, and it's never been a problem since.

Worth a look!

[marts1]

Update,
Mechanic changed the water, did the flush thing and it was exactly the same! He could not find anything wrong with it
So, drove it home, check for air bubbles and hey presto the needle now sits at 90

[19560]

Magic.

[marts1]

Just tried it again.....fan comes on well before the red now
Result
Should all be ready for this magical mystery birthday pressie the mrs got for me .... involves taking the car somewhere

[gadgit]

Mine runs at 90 with a new rad. creeps up a bit when in traffic. I could'nt hack watching the temp rise so I fitted a override switch. Just buy a pair of piggy back spade connectors and run the wires through to a switch on the dash, or on the side wall of the centre consol from the fan switch on the pipe behind the rad. result, peace of mind, and you can turn the fan on when you want to not only cool the car but yourself as well!

Half the problem is in your mind, so the switch does it for me!

gadgit.

[Le TVR]

gadgit said:

Half the problem is in your mind, gadgit.

And the other half maybe the electrics?

Mine used to read various temperatures. Having put a digital thermometer in the same place as the temp switch it was clear that the problem was the gauge.
Cleaning connectors and earthing points resulted in gauge readings of optimistic/pessimistic/China syndrome...

End result the fans switch on exactly on the line (90°).... and slightly above when the lights are on. Actual temperature is always the same.

Maybe the mechanic moved some wiring?

[Roy C]

marts1 said:

Update, Mechanic changed the water, did the flush thing and it was exactly the same! He could not find anything wrong with it So, drove it home, check for air bubbles and hey presto the needle now sits at 90

So it was probably an airlock then.
Not uncommon with the S.