Running hot under load
Discussion
I recently bought a caterham with a 1.8 vvc engine, complete with DVA 185bhp upgrade. The car is great fun, however, it appears to be running a bit hot if it is really given full beans consistently for a couple of minutes.
Normally it warms up around 85 on the temp gauge and stays there. Fan cuts in as it should, and it will stay like that all day long, at idle, slow moving traffic and semi quick driving.
If you do some consistent higher speed driving A roads (80mph cruising) it runs a bit hotter, getting up to 90plus.
Yesterday however, for the first time, I got a chance to give it full beans through a section of roundabouts etc for a few minutes and the temp went quite quickly up to 100 on the gauge. I backed off and reduced speed and revs and the temp dropped back within a few minutes.
When I got home, it was idling as normal, rock solid, temp about 85 and not changing, fan cutting in and out as it should.
Coolant is fine, good colour and doesn't smell, as is oil. Car also runs without a heater and has a bleed 'T' installed in line where heater matrix used to be.
Am I worrying about nothing, or do I have a potential problem ? Was looking at qed remote thermostat, does anyone think this is the issue?
Any thoughts greatly received from a new owner who wants to stop being paranoid !
Normally it warms up around 85 on the temp gauge and stays there. Fan cuts in as it should, and it will stay like that all day long, at idle, slow moving traffic and semi quick driving.
If you do some consistent higher speed driving A roads (80mph cruising) it runs a bit hotter, getting up to 90plus.
Yesterday however, for the first time, I got a chance to give it full beans through a section of roundabouts etc for a few minutes and the temp went quite quickly up to 100 on the gauge. I backed off and reduced speed and revs and the temp dropped back within a few minutes.
When I got home, it was idling as normal, rock solid, temp about 85 and not changing, fan cutting in and out as it should.
Coolant is fine, good colour and doesn't smell, as is oil. Car also runs without a heater and has a bleed 'T' installed in line where heater matrix used to be.
Am I worrying about nothing, or do I have a potential problem ? Was looking at qed remote thermostat, does anyone think this is the issue?
Any thoughts greatly received from a new owner who wants to stop being paranoid !
If it's any help to you, when I was at CC Midlands a few weeks back, I was listening to a k series 7 owner asking one of the mechanics the same question about what he (the owner) thought were high running temperatures, i.e. top end of the guage and the fan cutting in regularly. The answer was that that is typical for k series installations in 7's and isn't a problem as long as a) you get the coolant changed as per recommended intervals. b) You ensure the thermostat and fan are working correctly. Now I haven't owned a k series 7 so owners might have different opinions to offer and I'm just repeating what I heard (from a presumably reliable source
)
) If it isn't overheating when stationary, the thermostat and fan would appear to be working well as you say.
It sounds to me like the radiator isn't coping with all the heat a more powerful engine is producing when used to its full potential.
The usual way to solve this is a bigger radiator and/or ducting to make it more effective, and adding an oil cooler (or getting a larger one if one's already fitted).
Of course it may stay at 100C if you carry on driving hard, and as long as it doesn't lose water it will be OK, but I can see why you backed off.
I hope this helps.
It sounds to me like the radiator isn't coping with all the heat a more powerful engine is producing when used to its full potential.
The usual way to solve this is a bigger radiator and/or ducting to make it more effective, and adding an oil cooler (or getting a larger one if one's already fitted).
Of course it may stay at 100C if you carry on driving hard, and as long as it doesn't lose water it will be OK, but I can see why you backed off.
I hope this helps.
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