Not a good day!

[Schazzar]

The other evening I thought I'd poke around the engine. Clean up the dizzy cap, wd40 some terminals etc. First thing I noticed, the car took longer to start up although was ok on the subsequnt blast apart from its usual bout of pinkdom. Then to cap it all off today - the temp sailed into the red without the fans cutting in - first time its done that since I bought it 8 months ago.

Got it into a texaco, header tank was empty but the overflow bottle was full. Filled up and was off again. Car performed ok all day labouring in traffic on the North Circ until the evening whe the temp sailed into the red again although there was no signs of overheating. The best bit though happened whilst in search of a decent kebab....my door flung itself open embarassingly on a roundabout in Kingston whilst in front of a TT.......Not a good day at all, any ideas as to the unusual rise in temp and longer starting conditions?

[shpub]

Low coolent but that is a symptom more than anything. The air in the system doesn't get hot and gives you funny readings on the temp gauge and can prevent the otter switch from tripping.

I suspect that the pressurisation does indicate a head gasket gone. Really you shouldn't drive the car if the temp guage is in the red for no reason. One good reason is that if the head gasket has gone then it is possible to warp the heads and then instead of a relatively small bill, it is a big one. as the heads will need replacing. While the heads are off, worth checking the cam gear as well.

Get it checked ASAP

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

[2 Sheds]

An important point. you mentioned that the fans didn't cut in, is this correct ?, if so could be a fuse or switch !

[Nacnud]

Had these symptoms on the way back from Le Mans. It was a pinhole in the radiator hose. Hole was located where the hose passes under the bonnet hinge, it gets pinched when the bonnet is up.

Gaffa tape and moving a circlip slightly got me going again - much thanks to the Dorset mob who helped fix it and made sure I was OK.

[Schazzar]

Did a test this morning. Checked water level - ok, oil mayo free. What I also noticed yesterday was that the fans came on intermitently only for a brief moment though not long enough to bring temp down.

Chief suspect has to be the otter switch. Ran the car up to 95c this morning before shorting out the otter and leaving fans on which brought the temp down very nicely minimal pinking too. Next job has to be fitting an overide, change the thermo and otter.

Should be ok after that

[danny hoffman]

Seeing as this all started after you were cleaning a few bits under bonnet, maybe you just have a dicky connection which got disturbed.

BTW The fuse on my 350's fans gets very hot, it has melted the surrounding plastic fuse box. Has anyone else experienced this. I have 2 fans, which look like the originals and both turn freely. The fuse is 30 amp, does anyone know if this is correct?

Danny

[gf350]

quote:
BTW The fuse on my 350's fans gets very hot, it has melted the surrounding plastic fuse box. Has anyone else experienced this. I have 2 fans, which look like the originals and both turn freely. The fuse is 30 amp, does anyone know if this is correct?

Danny

Someone has put a new wire with an inline fuse in mine running directly from the battery, I figure there was a reason for this. I have twin 'Spal' fans on mine.
I have also got a kenlowe adustable temp fan switch to replace the otter switch (but havn't got round to fitting it yet.) It switches the 12v fans on directly (no relay) and looks worth the £45 ish it costs for the kit and it comes with a wiring diagram to fit an overide switch.
It's available from www.rimmerbros.co.uk and I think Steve mentions them in the bible.
GF.