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Oh the Heat

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PATR8

PATR8

Jedi Knight
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For the past two weeks I have been driving my 8 to and from my new job, a round trip of over 140 miles a day. The morning ride is always beautiful even though I traverse downtown Pittsburgh, I usually beat all the traffic (imagine that, no traffic if you leave at 0530). The I have about 40 miles on the interstate which is fine.

Now the ride home, I have resorted to working later, just to avoid the traffic or staying on the interstate and adding 20 miles ot my trip to avoid the bumper to bumper traffic. I have come to the conclusion Pittsburghers so love the tunnels they have to slow down to 10 mph every time they drive through to appreciate them one more time.

Well today was a beautiful run to work, 70 degrees and sunny. The ride home was 87 degrees and there was a wreck on the interstate, then of course several more looking at the first one. It took me 90 minutes to make it 30 miles, my 8 did not like sittinng and idlinng in traffic and several times got very hot. I was stuck between exits. My new eletric fan ad alumunim radiator were straining, several time I pondered pulling off and shutting it down except there was not even any shade.

I am exploring a forth route, I and my 8 can't handle another day like today
 
Yeah, as great as my 8 runs, and as much fun as it is, it does NOT like hot weather.
 
You think 87 is hot? It was 87 when I came home Sunday night at 11pm. It was 97 during rush hour traffic. I think TR6s are slightly better at handling heat, but not this driver. My TR6 has settled into the summer season, where I try to drive at night because it's so much cooler. -Someday I'll fix my a/c so I can overheat in traffic.

I'll be driving through Pittsburg next week en route to Portage and am looking forward to the cooler weather. (Flying to PIT.)
 
Did you install an adjustable fan switch? What are you using for a t stat? How high is your idle? Is the fan wired so it pulls/pushes the air in the right direction? Is the fan big enough? Do you still have the ac condenser installed?All things to consider if it's running hot in traffic. My TR8 race car would idle at close to 2 grand and wouldn't get hot sitting even in 90 plus degree days. It has an aluminum rad, big electric fan, and a restrictor plate instead of a tstat.
 
It sounds like you did all the tricks already....like these:

1. I have a three core radiator from Woody. It works well

2. The temp sending switch on the intake manifold triggers the high fans. I have a toggle switch in the dash that allows me to pop those high fans on sooner should I get stuck in traffic or, more likely, be bee-pobbing in a parade route. Getting those high fans on a little early in stopped traffic is big deal. The car never seems to cool down once hot, but seems to maintain wherever I get the high fans engaged.
3. If the A/C is out pull the condenser from in front of the radiator to increase airflow.

Would putting an electric fan on the front of the radiator to work with the back side fan help any?

Nobody makes a higher flow water pump for these cars do they?
 
Mjor- Here is a screen shot of my tuning program while on a drive even in traffic it was about this temp. Of course it is only about 70* here.

Randy- my volts to the right
Need to get an oil temp thing into the computer.

FriNoon.jpg
 
My factory equipped TR8 sat in traffic for a while yesterday after the mercury smacked into triple digits. Temp guage sat just below the halfway mark. When it would go past that point, the factory fans would come on and push it back below the halfway mark. Will sit and do that all day. Car has 165,000 miles on it.
 
I have a Woody aluminum radiator and electric fan. I have the fan pushing the air thru the radiator and am considering another fan to pull some through. I think the idle is too high and am pretty sure my timing possibly too advanced. I keep wanting to spend a day to fix it but a typical week end is this one where my daughter came back from a college trip today, my son and I leave tomorrow, drop him off on Monday, get back here by 5 p.m. to have her at track camp by 7pm.

MY kids just left of a Grad party so I may head down to play right now
 
One more thing to consider is the accuracy of your gauge. The gauges needle can be moved to calibrate just like the fuel gauge can. I've seen cars that the needle has been bumped and they won't read correctly. A good tip is to notice where the gauge is reading when the tstat opens and also where the fans turn on. Then you can look and see if those temp readings jive with where the gauge is reading. Trapped air pockets will cause all kinds of overheating problems as well. With the TR8s, you can smell and feel when the engine is getting hot no matter what the gauge reads. I assume you have the fan in front of the radiator pushing the air into the engine bay.
 
Fan is blowing the correct direction, not sure about the needle but I think the combonations of timing and idle is what was causing it to run hot. I played with the idle and got it to a managable spot, the timing is always a grey area for me, hard to get it right. I am just smart enough to know it is close to being right but not there yet.
 
Hard to see the timing marks thru all that garbage isn't it?
 
I have it down to a science to see the markings but I have never figured out exactly what timing works best for mine. I am down to one belt, my AC compressor was froze up so it came off then the power steering pump was no longer happy just dripping my my floor and started slinging power steering fluid all over my engine so he went next. Just an alternator belt now.
 
My coolant holder is up there so I have to shot thru all those hoses too.
 
Take the variables out of the built in advance with your ignition system and set your timing based on total advance. Set it somewhere between 34 and 38 degrees. Exact setting of total advance and where the advance comes in and ends is a science unto itself and is dependent on cam and carb specs. 36 degrees of total advance at around 2600 rpms is a good place to start. You can set that with one of those fancy timing guns, or you can extrapolate the marks on the front pulley and put a white line where total advance should be. I like white line method.
 
I have 36* factored in in my ECM . Just hard to see if my start point is closer.
 
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