A bit hot under the collar...

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330402039375&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123

?12.95 but it took 7 weeks to arrive from China, had done paypal claim before it arrived, so paid them the money on arrival!

Terry
PS Computer screen is 26.8degrees!

That's far too hot! get it re-cored, buy a wider one or fit an electric Fan
John

[RedS4]

Terry, you need to get out more, I think... (BTW I just ordered one via Ebay - $AUD 24 approx...)

[Chrisrich]

has anyone actually over-heated an Elan? What does it take to put one out of service? I've been nervous seeing my temp rise to 100, but it seems few of us have ever really been stranded.

[rgh0]

Mine boils at about 120C ( or 60 PSI !!! as the needle wraps off the end of the scale) with antifreeze, water wetter and 13psi pressure cap and wide radiator and 2 electric fans. Coming into the paddock at the end of a race on a 40C day I see this often but luckily this is only due to heat soak as the car slows down. It can get up around 110C during a race on a 40C day also.

No problems with head gaskets but I sometimes wonder about the head going soft over the long term however hardness tests on the last head I took off after 5 years of racing showed no issue yet.

cheers
Rohan

[msd1107]

I agree.

Early on in my ownership of my first Elan, I got caught in a long stopped stream of cars and the temperature gauge got well up into the oil pressure gauge area, do not know what the real reading could have been.

But the radiator cap kept the water from boiling, and the engine went on for 90K+ miles. After the 36K service, it went up to just shy of 7000 rpm on 165-13 tires and 3.55 differential ratio, so the power was not affected.

David
1968 36/7988

[StoatWithToast]

Glad to hear it's (heopfully) not too serious - driving in and out of London over the weekend I clocked up a few miles and 30-40 minutes of running at over 105 C (on the dial anyway). I keep some distilled water in the car now to top up the rad as needed.

I am starting to get a handle on some of the tricks to push the temp down when really needed; putting the heater on full blast and revving the engine to 2.5k rpm can drop 5-7 C off in about 10 seconds, but that only lasts for a minute or two.

I am thinking of fitting a small rad with isolator valves in and out of it, then joining it up to the main water circuit and having a control unit inside the car to mix and isolate it as an emergency measure. Hopefully the isolated water can be cooled quicker than the rest of the circuit so more frequent mixings can take place. Not sure about thermal shock to the block though. And weight. And complexity. And where it would live to not soak the engine back with more heat. But it should just be like the heater matrix with more water and better heat dispersal.

[elansprint71]

.......

I am thinking of fitting a small rad with isolator valves in and out of it, then joining it up to the main water circuit and having a control unit inside the car to mix and isolate it as an emergency measure. Hopefully the isolated water can be cooled quicker than the rest of the circuit so more frequent mixings can take place. Not sure about thermal shock to the block though. And weight. And complexity. And where it would live to not soak the engine back with more heat. But it should just be like the heater matrix with more water and better heat dispersal.

Why not just fit a TTR 26/R ally rad? Mine never reads more than 85 degrees even when stuck in traffic on a boiling hot day.

Before, with an original (small) rad with an extra core it would shoot skywards if stationary for more than a minute.

[msd1107]

One of the reasons for over heating is that there is no place for the hot air to go once it gets through the radiator.

The workshop manual covers cutting holes in the left fender, which helps. Some have cut holes in both sides.

Others let the bonnet rise proud, which is most effective at speed.

Others have holes in the bonnet, sometimes one, sometimes more.

If you are not a slave to pure stock, others have placed a Sirocco radiator up in the nose. And others have used a Davies-Craig electric water pump with electronic controller. Google search any or all of these to see what others have done.

It takes very little additional ventilation to largely ameliorate the problem.

David
1968 36/7988

[RedS4]

Why not just fit a TTR 26/R ally rad? Mine never reads more than 85 degrees even when stuck in traffic on a boiling hot day.

Peter
Could you please provide the dimensions and/or specs for the radiator (as much as you can without treading on anyone's copywrite too hard... ) so I can investigate getting one made here in Sydney?

Cheers

[StoatWithToast]

I have a pretty huge rad fitted (mild steel) and a large Kenlow fan. The water pump is the standard mechanical one on the twink though.

There are holes with an open weave mat over them on both wheel arches.

I would pop the bonnet, but the spring catches on the fan if it is open more than a fraction and it needs two hands and being out the car to open it up at all.

May look at the TTR rad.

[elansprint71]

Why not just fit a TTR 26/R ally rad? Mine never reads more than 85 degrees even when stuck in traffic on a boiling hot day.

Peter
Could you please provide the dimensions and/or specs for the radiator (as much as you can without treading on anyone's copywrite too hard... ) so I can investigate getting one made here in Sydney?

Cheers

22" wide x 12" high (do you still use inches in OZ?)
That's about 560mm x 300mm in new money. The "tanks" down each side measure approx 2", or 50mm between the welds. Notice that the inlet pipe has been flattened to allow clearance for the bonnet (hood).
No fixings are supplied but there are two ally nuts welded to the bottom of the rad; I put screwed rod into these (with a lock-nut so the threads did not bottom out) and made some ally support brackets but the rad is still allowed to float about because I put non-cell foam between the brackets and the rad. TT recons that the hoses are sufficient to hold the rad in place (which may be true but I'm a Toolmaker, not a motor "engineer" ).

Period photos show some 26/Rs with thicker radiators than this one, Serck seems to have been the supplier.



TT supplied a silicon elbow for the bottom hose, which does away with that stupid curly item, and slips easily into place. Note that the "spout" that this fits onto is welded to the rad at an angle.

[AdamS2]

Hi Guys,

Having read all the previous posts on overheating can I give my slant. I have a 1964 S2 (standard Marsden Rad) and was out last year in UK Summer (Huh) when I was caught in heavy traffic. My temp eventually went up to 110 when the traffic fortunately moved forward and I was able to pull into a layby. Leaving the engine running I opened the bonnet and felt the temperature of the hoses. The top one was very hot and the bottom one appreciably cooler (as one would expect). My conclusion was that there was no way the engine was actually at the temp indicated on the gauge and I have consequently decided (and observed) that while stationary the non movement of air through the engine compartment results in the capilliary tube to the temp gauge picking up the heat from below (and what's below but four excruiciatingly hot exhaust pipes) As a result I have used a Laser temperature gun (as mentioned in previous posts) and found from multi areas that the more likely temp is nearer 96 which in my field of Motor Engineering would not be considered worrying. As a quick check just go out for a run and warm up the car and then stop and sit and watch the temp gauge rising as it picks up surrounding heat. I am by the way not advocating doing nothing with a hot running engine but to do the simple logical tests before buying expensive alternatives. And by the way Water Wetter does work as I use it in my other car with a drop in temperature of 10 degrees.

Adams2

[RedS4]

Adam
You're a @#$$%% genius!!! What we worry worts should do next is insulate the capillary tube as much as possible and then see how things pan out. You might have just saved some of us $$$$$ (sorry, no pounds on my keyboard)...

Certainly worth a try.....