Coolant Airlock

[blueyes]

Having spoken to a dealer it would appear that I have an airlock in my cooling system: running hotter than normal but temperature will drop quickly (a matter of seconds) if the engine is revved.

My local dealer has lost its francise and my nearest one is 2 hours away so I can't get to them to have it sorted before I go on holiday.

Any ideas how to sort this? It can't be too difficult can it?

[neil.b]

blueyes said:

Having spoken to a dealer it would appear that I have an airlock in my cooling system: running hotter than normal but temperature will drop quickly (a matter of seconds) if the engine is revved. My local dealer has lost its francise and my nearest one is 2 hours away so I can't get to them to have it sorted before I go on holiday. Any ideas how to sort this? It can't be too difficult can it?

You've tried your own patented drive-it-to-within-an-inch-of-its-life fix I take it?

Coincidentally my car is running much hotter than normal at the moment - I put it down to the weather

Not helping much am I?

[kevinday]

You could try just topping up the coolant. If the temp drops when revved then maybe the airlock will move and eventually be replaced by coolant.

[sacha]

im living in v hot conditions, 30-35 degC, car runs at 90 to 96 when on small roads driving slowly, and 85 to 90 when fast, if the outside temp is around 20 then it runs 90 to 95 slow moving and 78 to 85 when on motorway, oil temp similar deg to water in all conditions.

checked this with the dealer and they said it was ok, so hope this helps to give you some temperatures for different conditions

[blueyes]

Thanks for all of your replies.

I've topped the water up hoping it would sort the airlock out and after a recent drive the "water sensor" warning hasn't appeared and the temps seem to be similar to sachas (oh yes... and it was lots of fun!). The real test will be on the way home tomorrow night: more traffic.

I'll report back on Thursday.

p.s. Neil.b- I can't imagine how I've become the forum hooligan?

[dawil]

The demo 350T I tried at Kerridges had a problem with an air-lock. Spoke to Steve Kerridge a few days later and he said, they (dealer) could'nt sort it so it had to go back to factory.

Hope yours sorts itself out.

[blueyes]

Having it serviced by U.K. Garage in Milan when I go over at the end of the month and they said they are going to completely drain the system anyway. So all I have to do is get it there!

[sacha]

any idea on their service pricing, as i am weary after once having my car serviced at a official tvr dealership in france and
1. they charged nearly twice as much
2. Did a cr@p job!

[blueyes]

sacha said:

any idea on their service pricing, as i am weary after once having my car serviced at a official tvr dealership in france and 1. they charged nearly twice as much 2. Did a cr@p job!

They are quoting between 800 and 900 euro including vat @ 20%.

They sound as if they know what they're doing as they prep F3 cars.

[blueyes]

The "fill up the water tank and thrash the bugger" approach seems to have worked. Typically, the weather is a lot cooler so I'm still not sure. My trip to Italy next week should put it to the test.