engine heat / cooling options ?

[fasterthanjesus]

whilst stuck in traffic, my temp crept upto 2/3's and kept there till i found some open roads.

every car ive had (bar the company ones) have had cylinder head gasket problems.

i know that 2/3's in a traffic jam isnt excessive, but for the life of the engine/my pocket, id rather i upgraded the cooling system.

whats the best option? copper rad? double fan? dont drive in heavy traffic?

cheers and merry xmas !

ftj

[Chris H]

2/3rds isn't that hot, thats right when stuck in traffic, thats the stat fully open and the fan should be cycling on and off.

Main problems I find are getting cars that have the cooling system working at standard efficiency!

often I whip out engines and its now a habbit is to pop out one of the rear core plugs on the block. Often a load of grit/sluge will pour out, sometimes very little other times a crazy amount. Some blocks do have the coolant drain plug but not all and often its clear but higher up isn't.

A 19 lump a few months back I popped the core plug out then had to dig away at the rust which has basically sealed up the cylinder water gallery!

That along with silted up rads and erroded water pumps etc.

If it cooled down to normal temp quickly then you don't have a problem.

[Jamie.]

low temp fan switch. the fan switches are v cheap, but look at BB's postage costs, bastards

[Purple]

Not sure about winter, but 2/3 on the water-dial for half-hour traffic jam would be OK for summer.

What was the oil temp reading when you were stuck in the jam?

[fasterthanjesus]

between 90 and 95

[Purple]

That's reasonable temp range for engine oil, which corresponds quite well with 2/3 water-temp reading (I can only relate to summer conditions though, as coldest it gets is 25C where I live).

Don't think there is anything badly wrong with the temperatures. Do a couple of flushes and see if the needles edges down a bit.

IIRC, my own rule-of-thumb of "meltdown" conditions in traffic jams are when I see the water-temp rise few mm above 2/3 mark and oil temp climb past 100C. Thankfully, that does not happen too often.

[Lunner]

Thats normal temps, if you can fit it in fit a clio diesel fan, they are bigger, and a new rad will help, but i really wouldn't bother, esp if the temps drop back down again when you start moving

[clowo16v]

I wouldn't bother to change anything thats normal operating temperature and what the engines were designed to run at. You can do damage by running the engine too cool.

See ya

Matt

[Craig]

as mentioned low temp thermo, and fan switch should help!

i hate mine cos it takes about half hour for the oil to warm up before i can give it some! :x

[BRUN]

now im running a standard stat thats about what mine does and ive been told this is normal

my coolant is fresh, Renault stuff, and my rad is only a few months old as is the water pump

[VIPERONE]

the low temp fan switch doesnt really fiddle with engine temps... it provides the driver witha placebo.

the best option imo is the low temp thermostat..
i took my rad off and connected it to a hose pipe and left the water running until the water coming out of another hole was clear. i noticed a great reduction in temperature.

[tricky]

Yeah, that's always a good idea. Pressure washer inside each rad hose at a time works wonders too.