cappers
Well-Known Member
My 3.5 V8 Efi 90 conversion scared the jeebies out of me by suddenly 'overheating' this morning...
I had only driven a couple of miles in smooth flowing traffic max 30 when the VDU temp gauge shot up from 80 to 100 and continued to climb View attachment 178249 I pulled over and switched off immediately.
Opened the bonnet and noticed that the fan electric wasn't on.. it usually comes on at about 90 and isn't ignition-switched so stays on if hot; the top hose was pliable and cold, as expected after only a couple of miles from an overnight cold start, and the rad and bottom hose were slightly warm. All wiring to fan, thermoswitch etc ok and the engine bay felt cool, hardly any heat radiating off.
I squeezed the top hose a few times, heard some gurgling, waited 5 mins or so and carefully loosened the expansion tank, lot of hissing at first as it was still rather hot but the level was correct. Finally pulled off each connector between the fan thermoswitch and its relays, cleaned and refitted.
Started her up and all seemed ok, temp gauge reading the usual 80 and stayed there the rest of the journey and subsequent drive home tonight, apart from one traffic jam where it rose to 90 after a few minutes idling and the fan came on taking it back to 80 in under 30 secs.
Any ideas chaps? Some air trapped in the system? A dodgy sendor/gauge/wiring? The fact that it suddenly shot up and didn't switch the fan on via the thermoswitch makes we wonder if it lost its earth so a possible loose wire or poor connection?
Just a blip or something serious developing?
Cheers in advance.
I had only driven a couple of miles in smooth flowing traffic max 30 when the VDU temp gauge shot up from 80 to 100 and continued to climb View attachment 178249 I pulled over and switched off immediately.
Opened the bonnet and noticed that the fan electric wasn't on.. it usually comes on at about 90 and isn't ignition-switched so stays on if hot; the top hose was pliable and cold, as expected after only a couple of miles from an overnight cold start, and the rad and bottom hose were slightly warm. All wiring to fan, thermoswitch etc ok and the engine bay felt cool, hardly any heat radiating off.
I squeezed the top hose a few times, heard some gurgling, waited 5 mins or so and carefully loosened the expansion tank, lot of hissing at first as it was still rather hot but the level was correct. Finally pulled off each connector between the fan thermoswitch and its relays, cleaned and refitted.
Started her up and all seemed ok, temp gauge reading the usual 80 and stayed there the rest of the journey and subsequent drive home tonight, apart from one traffic jam where it rose to 90 after a few minutes idling and the fan came on taking it back to 80 in under 30 secs.
Any ideas chaps? Some air trapped in the system? A dodgy sendor/gauge/wiring? The fact that it suddenly shot up and didn't switch the fan on via the thermoswitch makes we wonder if it lost its earth so a possible loose wire or poor connection?
Just a blip or something serious developing?
Cheers in advance.