Engine temps when sitting in traffic
Discussion
Had a trip to Glasgow this weekend in the Tusc. Lovely weather for it and an enjoyable day.
Anyway, on the way to the hotel had a lot of start/stops due to traffic lights and the water Temperature got to about 104 degrees. There was a couple of puffs of steam from the engine bay but as I got to the hotel I turned it off to cool down. Checked it later and it was fine.
On the way home, got stuck in a 20 min traffic jam and again the water temperature steadily rose from it's 80 degrees or so to about 108 max before it began to cool down to high 90's. Again got a couple of puffs of steam but then nothing. Oil temp was also touching the 100 degrees or so as well on the second time.
Having never really been stuck in traffic for this length of time before, i've never seen the temps this high? Is it normal or something I need to have looked in to?
Anyway, on the way to the hotel had a lot of start/stops due to traffic lights and the water Temperature got to about 104 degrees. There was a couple of puffs of steam from the engine bay but as I got to the hotel I turned it off to cool down. Checked it later and it was fine.
On the way home, got stuck in a 20 min traffic jam and again the water temperature steadily rose from it's 80 degrees or so to about 108 max before it began to cool down to high 90's. Again got a couple of puffs of steam but then nothing. Oil temp was also touching the 100 degrees or so as well on the second time.
Having never really been stuck in traffic for this length of time before, i've never seen the temps this high? Is it normal or something I need to have looked in to?
Seems a touch high to me... my Water hits 96 reguarly until fans cut in and drop it immediately to 90/92, Oil will always rise eventually to be the same as water minimum...90/92.
TVR temp sensors aren't too accurate, may be worth getting new sensors.
My old Oil pressure sensor used to tell me I had 80 Psi if I put my foot down, put a new one in and its now a more realistic 40-50 PSI when accellerating.
TVR temp sensors aren't too accurate, may be worth getting new sensors.
My old Oil pressure sensor used to tell me I had 80 Psi if I put my foot down, put a new one in and its now a more realistic 40-50 PSI when accellerating.
I think that the two fans are supposed to kick in at 93° and 97°.
It could be your second fan isnt kicking in. Easy to check, let your engine run and wait to see if it stats up.
There is a temperature sensor on the side of cylinder 4 or 5 ? under the air filter box.
The contacts can get dirty. So its a clean or change job.
I think the TVR one is about 30 quid but I have used a Range Rover one in the past which costs 10 quid.
The only difference is that the RR one kicks the fan in at a lower temperature.
It could be your second fan isnt kicking in. Easy to check, let your engine run and wait to see if it stats up.
There is a temperature sensor on the side of cylinder 4 or 5 ? under the air filter box.
The contacts can get dirty. So its a clean or change job.
I think the TVR one is about 30 quid but I have used a Range Rover one in the past which costs 10 quid.
The only difference is that the RR one kicks the fan in at a lower temperature.
The fans run on seperate circuits including seperate relays. If only one is kicking in, try swapping the two relays over to make sure that it isn't a duff relay. If you have a relay fail whilst you out and about, the one for the headlights dipped beam is the same so can be used to make sure you don't boil...
All found out from recent experience...
Paul
All found out from recent experience...
Paul
Cheers for the replies guys, i'll have a check on the fans. I thought I read somewhere the second fan came on at 105 or so? Obviously something kicked in then because it started to cool once it hit that and I was still in the trafic for about 10 mins after that.
On a different note, it's oil usage is still amazing me. It's used hardly any since April when I got it back from it's service. I've done over 1000 miles and it's still indicating about a centimeter above the max level on the dipstick. Not complaining or anything, just expected to have to fill it up by now.
On a different note, it's oil usage is still amazing me. It's used hardly any since April when I got it back from it's service. I've done over 1000 miles and it's still indicating about a centimeter above the max level on the dipstick. Not complaining or anything, just expected to have to fill it up by now.
Nobby Diesel said:
Why 2, you're thread has arrived!Come on Stu, tell these people what you know.
I think I've said enough about my cooling system woes but AFAIK the sensors should bring the 1st fan on at 94 and 2nd at 97/98 degrees. If this doesn't happen it can be due to a number of things but likely it's a faulty sensor or an air lock in the system, bleed the radiator by undoing the nut on top right as you look at the rad (for an ali rad not sure if its the same for a std rad) stood infront of the car. This should get rid of any air locks.
Bear in mind the reading you see on the dash might not be the true reading. Apparently my dash reads about 6 degrees hgher than the actual temp
My plan is to instal a manual switch so I can bring the fans on when I want to. I'll do this once the under lying problem has been found and sorted just for peace of mind
My fans have generally always kicked in at 92c for the first, 94c for the second. After two new temp sensors in over 4 yrs of ownership, these are the temps I generally look out for and unless something is up, I am rarely surprised. Fans coming on in the high 90's and low 100's seem to be to be somewhat on the high side and shortly followed by either the need for a replacement sensor or a steaming engine (again from personal experience!).
Fan operation is controlled by the ECU s/w, standard settings are documented in HELP Realtime Display on Speed Six ECU Diagnostic S/W. TVR Power did sell an ECU chip that would bring the fans in earlier and keep them on longer... a bit like the old Otter switch Leven mod for V8s. Could always hook up a PC to the diagnostic plug and and get a mate to sit in the passenger seat watching everything happen on a PC.... but still relies on the sensors giving the correct return values...Below is an extract from the HELP Docs...
QUOTE
FUEL PUMP
This denotes if the ECU has turned on the fuel pump. It does this by grounding pin 25 of the
ECU, which completes the circuit for the fuel pump relay, thus turning the relay on. If the
pump appears turned on by the ECU but does not work, check to see if the inertia switch has
tripped (the MIL lamp will turn on for 3 seconds when ignition is turned on.) The inertia
switch is located in the boot above the fuel tank. If the fuel pump still doesn’t work, check on
a cerbera that the relay No. 4 has a 12V supply to pins 85 & 30/51, if it does not check fuse
19.
NOTE! The fuel pump relay must be a twin make (brown) relay.
RAD FAN
This denotes if the ECU has turned on the radiator cooling fans. It does this when the water
temp input is above 92°C for Fan 1, 94°C for Fan 2, or if a fault is present in the water temp input.
ECU pins 6 & 41 are grounded, to turn on the cooling fan relay(s). If the fans appear turned
on by the ECU but do not work, check, on a Cerbera, that:
the fan relay 1 & 7 has a 12V supply to pins 85 & 30/51, if it does not, check fuse 1 , 3 and
20.
Screen 2 - ELECTRICAL FAULT STATUS SCREEN
QUOTE
N.B. There are two water temp sensors, one that supplies the ECU and another for the Dash reading.. and they invariably will measure different temperatures.
QUOTE
FUEL PUMP
This denotes if the ECU has turned on the fuel pump. It does this by grounding pin 25 of the
ECU, which completes the circuit for the fuel pump relay, thus turning the relay on. If the
pump appears turned on by the ECU but does not work, check to see if the inertia switch has
tripped (the MIL lamp will turn on for 3 seconds when ignition is turned on.) The inertia
switch is located in the boot above the fuel tank. If the fuel pump still doesn’t work, check on
a cerbera that the relay No. 4 has a 12V supply to pins 85 & 30/51, if it does not check fuse
19.
NOTE! The fuel pump relay must be a twin make (brown) relay.
RAD FAN
This denotes if the ECU has turned on the radiator cooling fans. It does this when the water
temp input is above 92°C for Fan 1, 94°C for Fan 2, or if a fault is present in the water temp input.
ECU pins 6 & 41 are grounded, to turn on the cooling fan relay(s). If the fans appear turned
on by the ECU but do not work, check, on a Cerbera, that:
the fan relay 1 & 7 has a 12V supply to pins 85 & 30/51, if it does not, check fuse 1 , 3 and
20.
Screen 2 - ELECTRICAL FAULT STATUS SCREEN
QUOTE
N.B. There are two water temp sensors, one that supplies the ECU and another for the Dash reading.. and they invariably will measure different temperatures.
Edited by glow worm on Tuesday 7th July 22:48
WhyTwo said:
Nobby Diesel said:
Bear in mind the reading you see on the dash might not be the true reading. Apparently my dash reads about 6 degrees hgher than the actual temp
Exactly - mine on a laptop reads a steady 88, first fan on at 92, second at 94. My dash display meanwhile is around 94 for first fan and 98 for 2nd at this time and is also constantly flicking about, laptop reading is pretty steady.Gassing Station | Tuscan | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff