Overheating the cure?

[trackerjack]

All my car has is a uprated rad and i give it the beans everywhere its driven ?

Doesn't seem to get hot? what gives? .... Maybe i shouldn't question it

If you drive it on the road as hard as ours is driven on track you should be locked up.

[smifter]

Martin - pm sent about your XE powered car

[triple tango]

I've copied Trackerjack too, thanks.
The engine doesnt run any cooler but the big advantages are; guaranteed lack of air locks, greater reserve capacity in bottle, no worries about pressure cap leaks.
I bought both the Golf and a Rover 25 header tanks to try. I used the Golf item because it has a flush cap so it can be mounted higher. Water level on a Sprint is the same height as the turret top face so I set my cold level 1" above this.
I used the pictured coolant additive too, does anybody have any experience of this product?

[triple tango]

actually it does make a difference to temp.
Stopping after sustained high speed used to make the temp gauge rise, it doesnt now, the gauge stays at 1/3.

[Oli_88]

Triple Tango (Roy I think?), what is that on your top radiator hose on the NS of the car, silver thing with a black rectangle on top.
Going to be knocking up some radiator mounts next week when my new ali Fiesta rad arrives, so it's a good time for this topic to pop up!

[triple tango]

its an adjustable fan controler

[trackerjack]

Bling bling

[ponchoj]

All my car has is a uprated rad and i give it the beans everywhere its driven ?

Doesn't seem to get hot? what gives? .... Maybe i shouldn't question it

If you drive it on the road as hard as ours is driven on track you should be locked up.

LOL. There are probably times where the engine gets as good a beating. Remember, you can go through the corners quicker on the track.



Lock me up coppA!!!!

[Oli_88]

its an adjustable fan controler

Slick.
Thanks.

[sprint95m]

I've copied Trackerjack too, thanks.
The engine doesnt run any cooler but the big advantages are; guaranteed lack of air locks, greater reserve capacity in bottle, no worries about pressure cap leaks.
I bought both the Golf and a Rover 25 header tanks to try. I used the Golf item because it has a flush cap so it can be mounted higher. Water level on a Sprint is the same height as the turret top face so I set my cold level 1" above this.

Following on from your post (above), I have been experimenting, Roy.
However I have come to a (slightly) different conclusion to yours.

There is no advantage of your VW tank over my Rover installation because their indicated maximum level marks are at the same
relative position when installed in a Dolomite.
I note that your coolant level is set somewhat higher than the max. level indicated on the tank. Is it okay to do that?
I am under the impression that it is wrong to overfill because the coolant needs a minimum volume into which it can expand,
please advise me if this is wrong.

Also, I reckon a Sprint engine must sit a little lower in the engine bay. The VW bottle would be rather close to an 1850's
rocker cover.

I may buy a 45 degree elbow to allow me to relocate my Rover tank further round the strut turret towards the heater blower.
The gain is a few millimetres of height (6 to 10 I estimate).

[trackerjack]

The gain has nothing to do with the expansion but it does have something to do with the pump cavitating and blowing too much into the bottle which then spits out some fluid.
By using a modern bottle this excess fluid gets returned to the cooling system via the lower pipe.
I do not care why something works but care that it does, theory is fine but an engine overheating is fact.
Fact was that at Combe and Silverstone the car was getting hotter by the lap but after this mod you could actually see the temp come down as you drove the longest straight at Silverstone.
Couple this with the findings of one of our Dutch friends that many of BL bottles dont seal properly.
Sorry but I stand by my mod, its been proven in battle!

[gmsclassics]

Hi Jon
My PC shows a message from Photobucket saying your images have been moved or deleted. I would be really interested to see them - anything that improves info on the track is important. If there isn't ny problem with Photobucket, can you perhaps PM them?

Thanks

Geoff

[triple tango]

My reasoning for preffering the VW bottle is that due to it having a flush cap I can have it mounted high without the cap fouling the bonnet.
There is 1/2" clearance between cam cover & bottle.
The cold fluid level is marked by the white label on my bottle, I ignore the VW markings. Its important that the minimum level is above the coolant systems highest point, therefore my cold minimum mark is 1" above the highest point. Interestingly the level doesnt rise noticeably when hot.

[sprint95m]

Sorry but I stand by my mod, its been proven in battle!

There is no need to be so defensive my friend!
Several of us on here, including me, have demonstrated that it works.
I am an annoying person who questions things and likes to know why something works.
In the past I have been told that ideas of mine won't work but I have tried anyway. Mind you, my
attempt at making fishing lures from shower sealant was dismissed until I hooked the biggest lyth (pollack)
any of us had ever seen .
Honest, I am grateful that you informed us of your mod !

My reasoning for preffering the VW bottle is that due to it having a flush cap I can have it mounted high without the cap fouling the bonnet.
There is 1/2" clearance between cam cover & bottle.
The cold fluid level is marked by the white label on my bottle, I ignore the VW markings. Its important that the minimum level is above the coolant systems highest point, therefore my cold minimum mark is 1" above the highest point. Interestingly the level doesnt rise noticeably when hot.

Thanks Roy.
I too had noticed that the coolant level doesn't rise noticeably. This is also the case for other types of car too, I have observed.
The Rover bottle I have used increases the coolant capacity by 1/2 litre to almost 6 litres. Out of curiousity I may measure a
VW bottle.
I agree that it is better to have the minimum coolant level on the bottle as the highest point. The Renault way of having to bleed
a cooling system removing a bleed screw in the top radiator hose does work but I am not keen on it.

[sprint95m]

Curiousity has got the better of me.......

When I first looked for a replacement expansion tank the one I had in mind was from a Volvo but I hadn't found one when
I was given the Rover 25 one that I ended up fitting.
Anyway I now have a Volvo one (S70, 850, etc), which I have now fitted to my 1850.

(Having been puzzled by Roy's observation of a VW having its minimum level mark closer to the cap than a Rover one,
looking on ebay, I have also discovered that Seat/VW expansion tanks have different min/max marks. Seat versions are lower.)

Some measurements.
Highest point of tank (ie the cap) to minimum mark
Rover 11cm, Seat 11.5cm, VW 10cm, Volvo 9.5cm

Coolant capacity at minimum mark
Rover 650ml, Seat 400ml, VW 600, Volvo 350ml
coolant capacity at maximum mark
Rover 1000ml, Seat 800ml, VW 1000ml, Volvo 1000ml. (I estimate that Roy's is 1150ml)
min to max
Rover 350ml, Seat 400ml, VW 400ml, Volvo 650ml
Total volume of expansion tank
Rover 1750ml, Seat/VW 1400ml, Volvo 1450ml.
Volume of air in tank (coolant at maximum level)
Rover 750ml, Seat 600ml, VW 400ml, Volvo 450ml. (I estimate that Roy's is 250ml)

For those yet to fall asleep, my conclusions and observations
The best position for the expansion tank is as close to the heater blower as possible since you want the tank to
be as high as possible. This rules out the VW tank on an 1850 due to a lack of space. Roy has shown that it is fine on a Sprint.
It is possible to position the Rover tank so that the minimum is almost dead level the (top of the) thermostat housing,
the Volvo tank in same position has its minimum mark nearly 2 cm higher. This height advantage is desirable.

Both the VW and Volvo have level warning indicators, which are easy to wire up.

I think overall that the Volvo tank (part number 3547446) is the best of these three, but there is not much difference really .