thermostat and cooling issues on 1600 Vx (again)

[wonkey eyed barmaid]

ok. further to previous posts about rough running, and very low water temp's on 1600 classic/beauleiu cars...

 

had a look under the bonnet this afternoon, trying to ascertain what set up I have. looking from the rad back to the cockpit...

 

1) submarine pipe is 8" long section patched into radiator hoses down left handside of engine. yes?

 

2) mine only has 1 vertical outlet - this feeds a pipe back along to the heater open/close mechanism. I believe the newer classics and academy cars have 3 pipes exiting the submarine. why is this? what benefit is there? how easy to upgrade?

 

3) thermostat location. at the top of my rad on the right handside there is something screwed into the rad. it has 4 wires coming out. 2 of which run back to the cockpit and connect with a fan override switch.

is this a thermostat? if not, what is it?

 

4) on the front of the engine, to the right handside above the alternator, there is a large dia pipe coming from the top of the rad - where this pipe enters the engine there is a brass coloured sensor of some kind screwed into the housing. removing this reveals that it is about 1" long, is made of solid material and is about the dia of a pencil.

is this the thermostat? if not, what is it?

 

sorry for all the questions. just trying to learn a bit, and figure out how all this works. (thats part of the 'fun' aint it?)

 

>grant.

p.s i have jacked the front of the car up and ran the engine with the radiator/expansion caps off until coolant came out - so there should be no air locks affecting the guage readings. even after idling in the garage for 10 mins, all rad pipes were hot but water temp guage still only reading 70. fan never kicked in, despite hissing from expansion cap, and steam from rad. *confused*

[wonkey eyed barmaid]

been at it again. have now removed the large dia pipe that runs from the top right of the rad to the right hand side of the engine (above the alternator).

where the pipe meets the housing at the engine end, I removed the plate with the 3 bolts through it, and expected to find something inside. but nothing.

 

is this where the thermostat SHOULD live? what does the thermostat look like - and how does it work? (is it mechanical? i have seen mention of it staying 'open').

 

 

[Lawrence_Z]

Grant

Never looked at an 8 valve Vauxhall but.......

 

Sounds like you don't have an engine thermostat under the 3 bolt cover.

3) is the fan electrical control thermostat.

4) is the temperature guage sensor

 

Lawrence

[N Longson]

Grant,

 

Apologies if I've set you off on the hunt for the thermostat!

 

You are right about where the thermostat should be in the housing where the large diameter pipe fits to the engine (above alternator). I had mine fitted about a year ago during the car's 3000 mile service so cannot offer any advice on fitting.

 

From memory it is round in shape with a spring in the centre which with the increase/decrease of water temperature moves in and out to restrict or increase water flow. Caterham sent me a thermostat FOC when I queried why one wasn't fitted.

 

When it was first fitted I did get some coolant being blown out of the coolant tank. I was originally filling this up to the line marked on it. Unfortunately the pressure was too much when caning the engine - now run the coolant level just above the base of the coolant tank with no problems. I have the submarine pipe with one outlet - i think the 3 outlet pipe helps resolve this pressure build up especially if running without a heater.

 

Cheers

Neill

 

 

 

 

[AndreK]

Further to previous posts on this and previous threads:

1. The triple outlet pipe does resolve the pressure problem forcing coolant out of the header/expansion tank.

2. The triple pipe and the correct new hoses to fit it can all be obtained from Caterham for around £30.

3. You will have trouble successfully running a 90 degree thermostat without this set up, if that it what you want.

4. Not having thermostat on this car leads to it running very cold in winter...brrrr!!! Also the faster warm up when a thermostat is fitted is better for the engine in the long run as the oil warms up quicker, therefore also more efficient.

Contact Simon Lambert at Catrham for the specific instructions on the triple pipe set up for the 1.6 Vx engine, I may have something I can send you if you wish it though?

[wonkey eyed barmaid]

check it out - my last 2 replies are from wales. quite appropriate, as Im heading there next week. (hopefully) in the Seven. maybe i'll get 'spotted'.

 

cheers to all who offered help on this cooling/thermostat issue. sorted now.

 

vauxhall thermostat part number disclosed by caterham (90486128) will be bought and fitted by the end of the week. plus I will also use a very fine mesh to create a screen behind the grille. this should serve 2 purposes. 1) to slightly reduce airflow to rad and keep temps up. and 2) to protect the rad from flying debris. 😬

 

and a little bit more was learned along the way...

 

>Grant.

p.s yes Neill, this was all your fault!

 

p.p.s I also had a go at tuning my webers balance/idle/mixture. with the indisposable guide by Dave Andrews at hand, its not as hard as it seems .

no more spitting

 

now I just need to stop the clamshells catching... 🙆🏻

[Heskyboy]

Grant,

 

Please let me know how it goes,as I will be next, have been out today and the engine never got above 50 deg.

 

Cheers

 

Heskyboy

 

6ft 4 squeezing into R996 VCH