Wedge TR8 Shake down cruise

[DNK]

After the clutch hydraulic rebuild ,I took it for it's first real cruise. Had to go to the John Deere store for a bag for my tractor. Did about 40 miles. Ran great too,except,twice the temp climbed to the 3/4 mark and the check engine light came on. Stayed that way for about 30 second to a minute and then dropped back to just below 1/2. Thermostat maybe? Notice just before back in the driveway the volt meter was almost pegged. That settle back too.
My wife was a little leary in accompanying me but at the end she was impressed.

 

[BOXoROCKS]

Re: Shake down cruise

Don't look at the gauges....ps thats a good lookin dash.

 

[tdskip]

Re: Shake down cruise

Yeah! That had to be a great feeling.

My Tr8 does the same thing except she gets to 1/2 and then drops down. I'm assuming that it is the thermostat...

 

[philman]

Re: Shake down cruise

maybe you had an air bubble in the system? I know my rangie took about a hundred mile drive to burp the system good.

 

[BOXoROCKS]

Re: Shake down cruise

mine does too,past the half way mark then goes down. Wouldn't be a Triumph if it didn't make ya nervous.

 

[BOXoROCKS]

Re: Shake down cruise

forgot to ask, does anybody still have their original Lucas ignition in the car.Still got mine at 80K miles.

 

[Brosky]

Re: Shake down cruise

I got to get me one of these here new fangled TR8's once I get my TR6 done. The more that I look at these cars the more that I like them.

 

[PATR8]

Re: Shake down cruise

My 8 used to run to 3/4 then drop down. I bought the aluminum radiator from Woody and a lower thermostat and it never goes beyond the 1/4 now. I am really amazed how cool it stays all the time

 

[DNK]

Re: Shake down cruise

I'm contemplating replacing the therm, I was thinking a lower temp one. My problem, I don't know how it will effect the FI

 

[tr8todd]

Rover motors are prone to developing air bubbles at the tops of the cooling system. The first few drives, you will need to burp the cap on the expansion tank and maybe even top off. Be careful. It's hot. I have seen some cars that just run warm. Change everything and they still run warm. Lot's of factors, but water temps have always been a little bit of a mystery on these cars. On the race car, I always ran two temp gauges. One electric and one mechanical, and they never seemed to agree either. That's not to say that you don't have a real issue causing the warm readings, just your typical Lucas electrics disclaimer.

 

[JFS]

Re: Shake down cruise

forgot to ask, does anybody still have their original Lucas ignition in the car.Still got mine at 80K miles.

I have a bit over 100K on mine. I bought a Mallory Unilite from Woody, but I haven't installed it yet; the car runs great as is.

Temp wise, my 8 usually runs to 1/2, never to 3/4. I am only running the low speed fan; the high speed is disconnected because I don't have the sensor mount in my Offy manifold. I've been thinking of wiring the second fan into either the radiator sensor with the low temp fan or into a dash switch, but I've been running it this way for 7 years without any problems. I know WI is a cooler climate, but its been driven in city traffic -- including Chicago -- without any problems.

 

[chrisc]

Congrat's on your shakedown cruise. I also had my first real seat-time in mine this weekend after sorting through a few issues after the edelbrock/holley conversion.

Had to wire the fan's for high-speed on a toggle switch, and only one is working, but otherwise having a blast! Fast, firm and flat in the corners with the 4-barrel + suspension upgrades....

With a new thermostat and basically one fan working on high-speed, my temp gauge has not gone over half and actually comes down when I kick the working fan on. Not sure I'd want to drive this way for long in warmer weather, but good to know I can keep driving/sorting for now.

Chris

Chris