Over heating/gauge reading hot?
Turbo Mini Forums

Right then im convinced my coolant temp gauge in my dash (factory type in two pod thingy) is not showing the true reading..

i have exhausted almost every thing i can think off ive swapped from the clubby the following

radiator was 4 core really dense fin pack changed to 3 core much more open fin pack was hoping to gain more air flow/volume rads are about the same thickness 3 core seams to have bigger tubes vs the 4 core one?

fan was a bent messed up plastic 12 blade one swapped it for a metal 5 blade "tropical" one again to hopefully gain more air flow/volume witch it sure dose the thing howls like a tornado..

pump was a folded steel one had kinder big gaps between impeller-housing swapped for a cast impeller "high flow" one nice tight gap impeller to housing probaly half the gap id say it was a big diffrence the one i removed felt more stiff to turn over by hand?

thermostat was a hacked up mess installed a 75c one that i know works

flushed the cooling system mayy times as it was full of nasty crud but now nice clean also has coolant now the inside of the head and block look clean and smoth not all junked up nasty ness that can sometimes get from no inhibitor thats not to say its not blocked up feather down where i cant see..

pulled timing out of the 123 electronic dissy by the strobe at idle set it at tdc at this setting it was well down on power so moved it back to the base setting 6btdc

plugs gaped at 25 tho

valve lash set for 12 tho cold

did a leak down test came out with good results at like 10-15% exhaust valves leak a tad intakes are good and rings good coulend hear anything nasty out the filler cap or air box but could hear a litle bit out the exhaust so ex valve leak a touch

compression test came out at a fairly equal 120 kinder low i think?

what i will do in the morning is change the sender in the head to see if that makes any change?

its never boiled while ive had it so not sure its actually getting all that hot? makes me think the dash gauge is telling lies making me freak out haha

when key off it shows what id expect right at the stop/lowest point off the dial
key on it shows dead cold on the c mark as it worms up the needle moves nicely past mid way past the 3/4 mark where the clubby would be at then up to the start of the red bit and continues to almost the top side of the hottest marking
from experiences this place on the gauge should be bloody hot/boiling

this van has go me stumped! i need to find me a thermometer that will fit in the rad with the cap off !!

The 3 core rad is a standard. Most people run a 2 core for better cooling.

I guess you need to get more of an accurate reading on the water temp?

I run a supercharger and I don't care the TB is on the wrong side.
VEMS + 12 PSI + Liquid Intercooler = Small Bore FUN!

Best bet is to get hold of some form of bi-metallic temp gauge that you can place on the engine when warm to give you an accurate number reading. Or a posh laser temperature reader.

That way you can eliminate one of the two causes

13.95 1/4 mile on a 2.95 fd. Carnt be that hard to beat!

is the rad aftermarket/ good?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Digital-Non-Cont...=item3cd8a5a447

Done now needs redoing lol

ohh didn't know the 3 core was a std type?
its a minisport aus one bought it about 4-5 years ago been used for about 3 of that no build up in it always had inhibitor in it so figured it was good to use perhaps ill swap it back for the 4 core one witch has more dense fin pack its also quite a bit heavier to so has more metal to dissipate heat?

not sure what makes a good rad but they are both the brass kind inc top/bottom tanks that are brazed? on looks like the tubes are joined the same way to?

the car dosent have the rubber between rad and body atm ether as i dont have one to put there but will get on as its no good drawing hot air back into the fan

think thats my next move prove the gauge reads true perhaps ill chage the cluster from the clubby to see what that one shows?

off to the drug store for a thermometer

that seems cheep for a non contact them thinggy could it read the correct temp? or anywhere near it?

The feeling is the 4 core gave more water capacity where the 2 core gives more flow.

The rubber surround will help with flow into the rad.

Most people successfully run the 2 core but then we are not in the sun as much as you.

The other option is a larger front mount rad from the fiat. That seems to have better results on tm.

I run a supercharger and I don't care the TB is on the wrong side.
VEMS + 12 PSI + Liquid Intercooler = Small Bore FUN!

ahh,

well ive bought an aftermarket gauge kit with what i thought was the correct adapter ha wrong..

so anyone know what thread is in the head? ill have to find a way to make the 1/8ntp sender fit in the mini head

ok so i have the temp gauge installed and its showing the van gets up to temp rather fast as it has a thermostat in so sits at idle around 80 for quite some time but continues to go up to 95 100 Evan just sat on idle no choke aside from a small bit of fast idle just to keep it going from cold

now i set the mixture to be lean by the plugs this has not changed the temperature at all just dropped the power off
so i set it rich to the point of black plugs same deal as expected not the best power but still the same temps

pulled the ignition out set at tdc to make it burn more in the exhaust putting less heat in the block/head this didn't really work ether just made it lack power mostly

this things got me stumped why it gets so hot

when i stopped for fuel it was on 95 at shut down then on restart it was 105-110 this i beleve is the heat soak it went back to the 95 or so when the rpms got up there

so since i cant really get this thing to be in the range id call normal/comfortable 75-85 will i hurt this thing driveing it in this state 85-105 sort of thing?

it hasent boiled (yet) as its got anti freeze/boil and perhaps luck lol

Some suggestions:

First establish whether your gauge gives a good reading, set up a water cooker in/near the engine bay and drop the temp probe in boiling water to see whether your gauge reads a true 100C (don't tell the GF )

If the gauge in fact reads true:

105C is not a problem when the engine is not under load, e.g. Part throttle traffic. Under load it's a different story, as 105C needs about 3 points more octane to combat knock compared to running at 85C

You say you're running anti freeze.....drop it! Glycol has a much lower heat index than plain water (65 vs 100) so it's much less capable of removing heat from your engine. Run distilled water with water wetter, mocool or equivalent and see temps drop about 10C. That is unless you absolutely need antifreeze protection during summer.

As others have said the 3-core rad is only so-so. Next to changing it for a super 2-core or 4-core item, you could try plumbing in a small auxiliary rad into the heater outlet / radiotor hose.....clubman has plenty of room for doing so and it really works a charm.

Drive as fast as you can, the more airflow the better the cooling

will check both gauges when its light and i rember to
didnt know coolant/aniti freze had such effects lol id only put it in to stop rust ill drop it and fill with water and a splast of it back in to stop rust
if i can be arsed ill put the 4 core back in bit of a back ache to change it
rather not do a front rad in the van or any thing non std/period looking

Your system should be able to function with an antifreeze mix, antifreeze also increases the boiling point of the fluid, a property i find very usefull with my engine. (non a-series). Running another working fluid (water +water wetter etc) may work but its masking a root problem you ought to address. whatever it is :/

turbo 16v k-series 11.9@118.9 :)

Denis O'Brien.

A 50/50 antifreeze mix only increases the boiling point from 120C @ 15psi to about 128C , the fact that it is 25% less efficient at transferring heat from your engine compared to plain water is a rather large price to pay....