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Running a Trifle Hot *FIXED*


Dick Whittington

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On the blat up to Stoneleigh and whilst trying to follow Tony Whitly *nono*, my oil and water temperature on my 1.6 K-series Supersport (no heater) crept up to 100°C, perhaps a tad over. *eek*

 

It seems to be higher these days than I care to remember, maybe I'm driving it harder.

 

Basically from cold it does this nad all as I expect:

 

1. Water temperature builds to around 88°C with the J tube cold.

2. Thermostat then appears to open and all pipes are hot

3. Standing idling the temperature increases a little until the fan comes on which then pushes the temperature back down.

4. The oil temparature is much slower to come up to the water temperature, but eventually catches up and follows the water temperature.

 

The oil was slightly overfilled by ½ pint but that does not seem enough account for the temperature rise. BTW: It has an Apollo.

 

The oil is also around 3000 miles old, so I was wondering if a change would make a difference and whether the 5w-50 motorsport oils would be good or bad?

 

Do I need a bigger radiator? Got a standard one at the moment.

 

Or is it a case of TADTS

 

Dick

And all I ask is a fast car and a momo to steer her by

 

Edited by - Dick Whittington on 6 May 2008 23:09:54

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5. Check water temperature sender... These fail often, giving false readings.

 

Is this a combined temp gauge with the switch for oil/water?

If so, check the switch and the wiring.

 

A standard rad should be fine, as long as it is working properly and is not blocked.

 

Only dead fish go with the flow....!

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I can't see why changing the oil type will resolve your problem, which seems to be that your car has started to run hotter.

 

Since the fan switch is fairly accurate, can you confirm that when the fan kicks in your water temperature gauge has a similar reading.

 

Should this not be the case then it is perhaps worth investing in a new temperature sender. This will at least enable you to confirm that the car is getting hotter, not just the gauge reading higher.

 

... and if the temperature sensor is reading accurately and you are not showing signs of coolant lost, then could the water pump has indigestion?

 

JH

Deliveries by Saffron, *thumbup* the yellow 230bhp Sausage delivery machine

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You will probably find the sponge from the Trifle is blocking the waterways, although the jelly and custard should remain in a liquid state.

 

Hope that helps. *cool* *thumbup*

 

See you on Friday.

 

Brent

(aka Arfur Nayo)

 

2.3 DURATEC SV You know when you've been AMMO'd *eek* 😬

R470.69 😬

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CageyH: It is a combined dial with the flick left/right switch. The switch is definitely correctly switching between sensors and the sensors follow each other perfectly so that would mean both sensors are failing in the same way which is unlikely. I suppose if the switch were adding its own resistence that this would effect both readings. however the tickover temperature seems fine.

 

Is a temperature is 100°C uncommon when pressing hard?

 

Steven: Are you Kev and Brian winding me up 😬

 

Dick

And all I ask is a fast car and a momo to steer her by

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John: I think the fan is working OK and switching in at the right temperature. But I don't think the fan has much effect at speed, only as a way for the car to cool quickly when subsequently running slower or stationary.

 

It seems that throughput through the radiator could be an issue, either the pump is not pumping or the radiator is resisting flow. If the latter were the case would the header level rise significantly?

 

Dick

And all I ask is a fast car and a momo to steer her by

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Dick,

 

I had similar issues with my 1993 1400Kss a couple of years ago. It was o.k on 'A' roads at around 88 deg C but the temp kept going up to around 100 deg C at anything over 70mph on motorways.

 

I ended up putting an 82 deg stat in and flushed the system which helped. I then stuck an alloy rad in which cured the problem.

 

On my recent engine swap, I noticed that the 1 way valve in the inlet manifold pipe that goes to the header tank was rusted in the closed poition. I removed the ball bearing completely and the engine stays bang on 82 deg all the time the car is moving now.

 

I also took the opportunity to fit an R500 fan switch (75 - 85 deg & £9 from CC) so I don't get the cyclic heating/cooling as the fan kicks in and out when stuck in traffic.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Bruce.

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The fan will have negligible affect at tspeed, due to the large air flow that already happens.

 

If it was me, I would flush the cooling system out, and check the condition of the radiator. (When you say standard, do you maen the alloy one, or the older black one?)

 

If the flow through the radiator seemed fine, I would probably change the water pump, as this may not be working at higher revs, but appears fine at tickover.

 

Only dead fish go with the flow....!

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Dick,

 

I had a quick look on the website. Mine doesn't have the little pipe on the top.

 

Be careful as I've seen some reports on BC of new Caterham ally rads prematurely failing at the seams around the top and bottom, although I have no personal experience of this.

 

I got mine from a wanted ad (about £80) as quite a few people upgrade their std ally rads to tripple bypass rads. The fan assy from my old rad fitted with a few minor mods.

 

Finally, I should mention I gave my old std rad away for a donation to NTL. I then met the guy at Lydden Race Track who was using it with no problems in his Caterham Race Car! The moral is...... try the cheap fixes first!

 

Bruce.

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try the cheap fixes first
I couldn't agree more.

 

On the way home the car started to overheat in traffic, which it has not done before and the oil temperature had not not up to temperature yet. I was right outside Halfrauds, so I popped in. Thinking that it was the thermostat, I guessed at the Rover 214 as it mentioned the plastic casing, it was a 82 degree type too *thumbup*. Cost £5.

 

Got home without too much trouble, managed to undo the housing (nasty job, one bolt was not tight) and swap old for new in the blink of an eye, so that there was minimal loss. Spent a long time trying to do up the lower bolt again. I refilled and bled the system a couple of times and hey presto - fixed. *smile*

 

Now stays at just above 80 degrees even when pressing on hard. 😬

 

I dumped the old thermostat into boiling water and it is jammed solid. I think I caught it just in time. *rolleyes*

 

Now just need to go to A&E to get my hands skin grafted. *eek*

 

Thanks to everyone for the help; much appreciated *thumbup*

 

Dick

And all I ask is a fast car and a momo to steer her by

 

Edited by - Dick Whittington on 6 May 2008 23:13:24

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So wasn't the sponge or blancmange then? *rolleyes*

 

Well done on getting it fixed - and I hope the skin graft doesn't affect your skittle placing skills! *wink*

 

Brent

(aka Arfur Nayo)

 

2.3 DURATEC SV You know when you've been AMMO'd *eek* 😬

R470.69 😬

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Dick,

 

Glad you got it sorted *thumbup*

Been there with tying to change the stat in situ. I took ages trying to refit the J hose to the stat housing until someone told me to ditch the o ring on the housing to stop the hose popping off every time you do the jubilee clip up!

 

You will feel a lot more comfortable with the 82 deg stat fitted although the temp will go up into the mid 90's in traffic until the fan switches on.

 

Bruce.

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Graham: It was the thermostat, it looks like it was getting progressively stuck.

 

Bruce: The R500 thermostat is a possibility, that thermostat probably will need replacing too at some point anyway. I think I'll monitor it for a bit so that I can understand how this fix pans out.

 

Dick

-----And all I ask is a fast car and a momo to steer her by

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