Tuscan S stuck in london traffic - overheating issues

[chumleyuk]

Last weekend I had to travel into london from essex so I took the Tuscan to test the geometry after replacing the rear tyres and had problems which I explain below.

Stage 1
Motorway
800rpm idle (it is set at that)
Perfect engine performance as you would expect

Stage 2
Grindingly slow bank holiday traffic
800-700rpm fluctuating idle
1.5 hours of idling, stop and start broken by very brief flourishes to get air through the radiator. Both fans come on repeatedly at 93 and 96 degrees water temp respectively as they are meant to.

Stage 3
Near end of journey (thank god)
700-600rpm juddering, unpredicatable idle, will stall without added revs
Stage 2's constant heat had obviously taken its toll on the components. Oil and water are in the mid 90s and it needs to be manually revved when idling to keep from stalling.

There was no problem after the car had cooled down and we had clear roads on the way home but what causes this failure after constant high temperature running. If I wanted to travel around Europe where I cannot guarantee clear speedy motorways or cool air temperatures, how could I upgrade my cooling system or components to cope with constant high temperatures?

This has happened before in a long traffic jam on the M4 which meant I had to pull over and let the car cool on the hard shoulder.

I am assuming that it could be some part of the electrical system (eg. coil, spark plug cables) that finally loses optimal performance considering they are lying on the engine block. Or could it be mechanical heat expansion?

Are there known issues with this happening to Speed Sixes running within very high but expected and controlled temperatures for a long time? And what are the fixes? I would like to know that I can run my car without worrying if there is a jam on the journey...

Please help!

[jvr]

Trouble is fibreglass holds heat and these engines get hot so electrical components are under emmence heat and tend to malfunction.Best solution is to let track Car Solutions alter the ECU chip to let the fans cut in at lower temperatures to try and keep the under bonnet temps down.
paul

[so called]

When I first got my Mk1 Tuscan it was obvious that "someone" had shorted out the relay so that one fan was running constantly.
The second not kicking in at all. This was the heat sensor under the air filter box on the side of cylinder No.4 (I think).
During my investigation I spoke with the TVR dealer in Preston. They told me that one of their customers was using a Range Rover heat sensor which kicked the first fan in earlier at around 87°.
I fitted one of these to mine as I thought it was a good idea.

Subsequently had to have a rebuild anyway and at the same time had various electrics sorted including the fan circuit.
They chucked away the "wrong" sensor and fitted the correct one again.

This may be an option for you and the RR sensor only cost about 10 quid.
The temeperature Sensor is Land Rover;-
Material Part No. ETC8496
Cost 10,93 + VAT (2 years ago)

Edited by so called on Saturday 31st May 08:50

[TVR_owner]

I think the conditions and the performance stated are quite good - assuming you can trust the read-outs. Would having the tick-over at 950 RPM not help (it's where it should be hot)?

Best adjusted with the laptop - dealer or indie? and not just at the throttle screws.

[Mustang Baz]

This has helped for me

http://www.radtec.co.uk/index.php?p0=detail&id...

- recommended by Racing Green after several overheating issues.

[ro_butler]

chumleyuk said:

700-600rpm juddering, unpredicatable idle, will stall without added revs
Stage 2's constant heat had obviously taken its toll on the components. Oil and water are in the mid 90s and it needs to be manually revved when idling to keep from stalling.

This happened to my first cerb once or twice. I am fairly sure it was down to fuel vapourisation. Also worth noting that manually revving at standstill to about 2000rpm will make the waterpump move more water helping to reduce hotspots. Obviously don't sit there holding the car at 2000rpm for long periods though!

[lowest]

I agree with the post above, fuel vapourisation. I've had problems with my Tuscan 2, I guess it being black doesn't help!!