• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

Overheating Question:

Share this page

TR6BILL said:
Dale, try ditching the antifreeze and going straight water.
Click to expand...

And then in 10 years, the inside of the engine block will look like mine was, totally plunged up with rust and other crud. The water passages between the head and block on the 1st cyl was about 75% plugged. As a result of the higher heat there had been incredible wear on that cyl. We had to bore it out from std all the way to 0.6 over to get it straight again.
 
Instead of going to straight water, you could also go 3/4 water and 1/4 anti-freeze. Or go straight water with rust inhibitor additives. Just make sure and flush at least once a year and keep the rust inhibitors in it. In warmer climates it is common for a 75/25 (water/coolant) mix as opposed to the 50/50 for northern states. As it takes less coolant to raise the boiling point than it does to lower the freezing point. Straight water is more efficient at cooling than any water/coolant mix but only to a point as it does have a lower boiling point.

I like Dave's idea of going to a 165 degrees thermostat combined with a 75/25 water/coolant mix. Preceded by a chemical flush of the entire cooling system.
 
swift6 said:
I like Dave's idea of going to a 165 degrees thermostat combined with a 75/25 water/coolant mix. Preceded by a chemical flush of the entire cooling system.
Click to expand...
Agreed, although I will again emphasize the "mechanical" aspect of the flush: the probing around with screwdriver or stiff wire to break up the crud! I've yet to have a purely chemical flush do as much as a "mechanical" one.
 
Thanks guys one and all!

I will begin the entire recommended
process this afternoon.

d
 
Hey Paul,

If all it really involves is moving more air
across the radiator coils................

I could practise driving faster?? Perhaps??

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/driving.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cowboy.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/winner1.gif

d
 
Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket!!

And one of these days, you're gonna get a whopper of a ticket!
 
Have a 4A that made tea every time I got in a line up. I can confirm what others have said and done, I installed a 160 thermostat and added a small electric push fan to the front of the rad. under the shroud, on its own preset temp. setting. Works wonderfully well. Long lineups are no longer any concern and the fan is not seen when you pop the hood.

Cheers
 
Some curious observations:

Completed the coolant system flush
about an hour ago. I took temperature
readings during the process... out of
curiosity.

Idle temp before flushing system 180* F
with 180 thermostat in place.

Idle temp after flushing, running 100% clear
water, w/ t-stat out= 150* F

Idle temp after adding 50/50 coolant/water plus
a pint of water pump lubricant w/ t-stat out= 182*

Temp at highway speed, t-stat out = 185* F

Stop at red light= temp hit 210* quickly.

I purchased a 160* t-stat to replace the 180*
and will install it tomorrow.

But rather odd the cooling capabilities seem
downgraded after a good system cleaning.

I guess I better order the electric fan pronto.

d
 
They say that if you remove the t-stat completly, the water rushes too quickly through the radiator, and doesn't get a chance to cool off. There needs to be some restriction. It looks that this may be the case for your car. The cooler running at highway speeds is because of the increased air flow through the radiator. But, it's still too high. You need to put in some sort of thermostat. The electric fan is just for those times you get stuck in traffic on a hot day. Everyday down there I guess.
 
Karl/Art

The folks at Western Auto told me the water pump
lube liquid was "water wetter" with some other
stuff added. They sell "water wetter" right beside
the water pump lube liquid.

Art: I'll install the new 160* t-stat tomorrow
and record idle, highway and red light stop
temps for comparison.

d
 
Dale
When I was drag racing, we used to take the center out of t-stats and use just the outer ring as a restriction. This was just enough to slow down the flow of coolant and actually lowered the temp. Still, for your application, I would use that 160 t-stat.
Dave
 
Hi David!!

I am installing the 160 t-stat tomorrow morning.
The left half of my brain was data curious.

take care and hope to see you and Annie on-island soon.

D&W
 
alana said:
Just make sure you get some of the U-shaped brackets that clamp around your rad, not the push through plastic ones.
Click to expand...

Anyone have pictures of how one would mount an auxillary fan on a TR3? I have a 12" fan which should just fit and was thinking of connecting it to hhorizontal straps that would overlap the width of the radiator so they could be bolted together - but the straps will block some of the flow through the radator... i like the idea of a U-shaped clamp...

A guy at the club bolted on a saturn fan to the body with the cross-bars that came with it - heavy and clunky looking, but solid...

Thoughts appreciated,
Kerry
 
Hey, I hate to steal a thread, but...

I have a 74 TR6 with 'factory' A/C. The sun is too hot in Houston to drive with the top down during the middle of the day in summer.

I now have a useable top on the car and am considering fixing the A/C so I can drive it more in the summer. Normally the car runs cool, but any idling in traffic (Houston also measure distance with time), the temp needle rises. I've never over-heated, but I wonder how close I've been. Everyone I've asked with A/C claims there's no need to fix it, because the TR6s overheat when you try to use it.

The belt driven fan is a 12 blade 12" fan and the auxilary A/C fan (probably original dealer installed) is about a 6", 5 blade fan that appears wired to only run when the A/C compressor is running. (It looks like a bulky old refrigerator compressor fan.)
The normal shroud is not useable because of the condenser added in front of the coolant radiator -and was removed (probably during A/C install).

I'd appreciate any input/thoughts on resolving my anticipated over heating problem. Where can I find a temperature activated control for an aux fan?
 
wifegonnakillme said:
alana said:
Just make sure you get some of the U-shaped brackets that clamp around your rad, not the push through plastic ones.
Click to expand...

Anyone have pictures of how one would mount an auxillary fan on a TR3? I have a 12" fan which should just fit and was thinking of connecting it to hhorizontal straps that would overlap the width of the radiator so they could be bolted together - but the straps will block some of the flow through the radator... i like the idea of a U-shaped clamp...

A guy at the club bolted on a saturn fan to the body with the cross-bars that came with it - heavy and clunky looking, but solid...

Thoughts appreciated,
Kerry
Click to expand...

I welded an angle to each side radiator support and welded 4 1/4-28 x 1-1/4" bolts to the angle, spaced so that it fits the ears of the 12" fan mounts. The fan just slips over the bolts and a couple fo washers and nylocs hold it on.

All it took was three small mig welds on the radiator on each side for the brackets.

//mysite.verizon.net/kentech0822/triumph/electric_fan.jpg
 
I think this is similar to how PeterK mounted his fan. This is on my TR4 with harmonic balancer, alternator and narrow belt conversion. I think I bought the fan from either Moss or Summit. Notice the temp sensor fan switch near lower outlet.

Peter just posted while I was. I like his mount better.

483904881_7ec0d2305d.jpg
 
Mark,

Mine's mounted as a pusher, your a puller. Great minds think alike!

PK
 
These are great guys, thanks...
sunny and clear all weekend, so might be a little while before I get it installed, but the pictures are very helpful,
Kerry
 
I just bought one of those infared themometer dohickeys. Where do you point to get the correct readings, and what should those readings be?
For example: point to the radiator? Hose? coolant? what should I read ?
 
Back
Top