Help

K-J · Post by **K-J** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 8:03 pm

Hi this is my first post on here

, ive just picked up a series 1 landy with a 3.5 efi rover v8 but running twin carbs. When I drove it home the temp gauge went off the scale at 120

, didnt seem to blow the rad cap or lose water but was running really hot. Ive run it up since and when warmed up it went right up the scale again. I then did an internet search an found that if the little air bleed hose from the inlet manifold to the rad was blocked it would show overheating syptoms. It was blocked and i drilled out the crud and warmed it up and it sat idling for 20mins and went up to around 100, havent driven it yet so dunno if its fixed or not

does this sound correct or am I talking poo?

I am running a ford escort rad which has been recored but I think its marginal

, I assume if it gets hot when driving and the electric fan is on in the correct direction I need a bigger rad?
Ive ordered a Davis Craig electric water pump so i can remove the mech water pump and take the internals out and machine it flat as possible and plug it so I can fit a series3 4 core rad in, does that sound sensible? cheers for listening to my babbling

kiwicar · Post by **kiwicar** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:04 am

Hi welcome to the forum
Firstly yes a blocked air bleed pipe can cause the rover to run hot as it does not allow trapped air to escape causing hot spots.
Next, are you sure the temperature gauge is reading correctly? I suspect from what you have said it is reading about 15 to 20 C high (reading 120 but not boiling

), it would be worth a check as the rad may have an escort sender and a rover gauge which will not be a matched calibrated pair!.
The Davis craig pump can be a good idea if you are going off road alot as it will pump acording to how hot the engine is and should give more coolent flow when close to idle if needed.
Before you go mad with a bigger rad, have you got efficient ducting around the one you have? and have you got a nice big fan pulling air through it? both can have a huge effect on the cooling of an engine, often more than adding rows to the core of the rad, also has it been flushed recently?
The rover, being an alloy engine seems to need less cooling capacity than the equivilent powered iron block engine and remember being a 3.5 it will be only making 160 to 200 bhp if tuned and in top condition, you may well be looking at an engine with an output in the 130 to 150 region, similar to a modern 2 litre, and they don't have very big radiators at all.
Best regards
Mike

K-J · Post by **K-J** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:17 am

Ive checked the temp sender and it read about 100 in boiling water so the gauge is pretty close. The sender is in the inlet manifold not in the radiator.
What I think was happening as the sender is close to the bleed pipe and that was blocked it was getting hot in that area but it wasnt a good indication of the true engine temp, does that sound sensible?

kiwicar · Post by **kiwicar** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:37 am

Yup sounds very sensible
Mike

ChrisJC · Post by **ChrisJC** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 3:06 pm

kiwicar wrote:similar to a modern 2 litre, and they don't have very big radiators at all.
Best regards
Mike

Suble difference is that a RV8 is burning fuel at 15MPG, whereas the modern 2 litre is burning fuel at 35MPG, so it's generating far less waste heat.

Just drilling out the little pipe may not be enough. I have seen the whole area crudded up, only fixable by popping out the core plugs. If you remove the hose, does water piss out of the manifold?

Chris.

K-J · Post by **K-J** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 3:22 pm

Yeah water now comes out in a little stream so its clear. It seems to run at 100 with the fan on and not go lower when idle stationary, to be fair I have a small rad with a shite fan so i'm not supprised. Not tried it on the road yet though as the remote oil take off is hitting the front diff so I need to sort that first by changing the oil pump cover to the flat expensive one

DEVONMAN · Post by **DEVONMAN** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:15 pm

If it runs hot on the road and if the fan is not cooling it at idle then I would say the rad is too small or maybe partially blocked.

If it has a heater, put it on hot with full blower and see if it cools the engine a fraction. If it does then you need a larger rad.

But also check the ign timing to make sure it's not running retarded.

Check the pump belt tension too.

Cheers Denis

ian.stewart · Post by **ian.stewart** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:30 pm

Hello Tim, found your way here then, next thing you will be asking how to put a V8 into a mk2 cortina

K-J · Post by **K-J** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 6:54 pm

Hi Ian

Bryan · Post by **Bryan** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 6:02 pm

There are several thing to consider with this problem. I have unsuccessfully been chasing a similar problem in a 101 for some time now.

First thing to check is the pressure cap. If this is rated too low or faulty, you will get severely elevated engine temperatures. The fact that you have hit 120 without boiling suggests that it is probably ok (or possibly rated too high), but it's worth checking.

The fuel mix can have a surprisingly large effect. It may be that the mixture has been leaned out excessively for emissions reasons (I know that emissions shouldn't be an issue on a SI, but there are plenty of MOT centres that don't know the regs)

It may be that the water pump is excessively worn - it will still appear to have a good displacement and the only way to check is to compare it with a good unit.

An escort rad is likely to be way too small - Traditional shaped Landrovers have poor air flow through the radiator when moving at the best of times. This is due to the aerodynamics of the vehicle, which cause an updraft rather than allowing through flow. This is one of the reasons why Landrover hve always fitted the largest adiator that they can cram into the available space. It's worth speaking to ChrisJC on this one . He has a SIIa running a 4.6 without any serious issues.

One observation regarding the Davies Craig pumps in a Landrover - if you intend to use the vehicle off road, it is best to retain the original pump and use these as a booster. There are ways of reducing the nose length without removing the original water pump

Bryan · Post by **Bryan** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 6:03 pm

There are several thing to consider with this problem. I have unsuccessfully been chasing a similar problem in a 101 for some time now.

First thing to check is the pressure cap. If this is rated too low or faulty, you will get severely elevated engine temperatures. The fact that you have hit 120 without boiling suggests that it is probably ok (or possibly rated too high), but it's worth checking.

The fuel mix can have a surprisingly large effect. It may be that the mixture has been leaned out excessively for emissions reasons (I know that emissions shouldn't be an issue on a SI, but there are plenty of MOT centres that don't know the regs)

It may be that the water pump is excessively worn - it will still appear to have a good displacement and the only way to check is to compare it with a good unit.

An escort rad is likely to be way too small - Traditional shaped Landrovers have poor air flow through the radiator when moving at the best of times. This is due to the aerodynamics of the vehicle, which cause an updraft rather than allowing through flow. This is one of the reasons why Landrover have always fitted the largest radiator that they can cram into the available space. It's worth speaking to ChrisJC on this one . He has a SIIa running a 4.6 without any serious issues.

One observation regarding the Davies Craig pumps in a Landrover - if you intend to use the vehicle off road, it is best to retain the original pump and use these as a booster. There are ways of reducing the nose length without removing the original water pump

K-J · Post by **K-J** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 7:26 pm

Thanks for your reply

, it still does get hot when driving so the rad is to small so i'm gonna have to fit a bigger rad somewhere

K-J · Post by **K-J** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 7:45 am

Right I picked up a 2.0 diesel rad from a renault espace which fits right across the front panel and is a good 8 inches wider, new from a scrayard for 20 quid

just need fit the eletric water pump and we'll see if it stays cool

K-J · Post by **K-J** » Sat Jul 09, 2011 10:17 am

Right its all fitted now, electric pump and bigger rad, seems to run about 100 now rather than going off the scale which is a result, dunno if i did a long journey it would cope though, only got an 11" fan so ordered the biggest fan i can fit which is a 14" and hopefully it should cool it a bit more

Rad from a renault espace 2.0 diesel,

Can just see the electric water pump and blanked off water pump

DEVONMAN · Post by **DEVONMAN** » Sat Jul 09, 2011 3:28 pm

To improve the airflow through the rad I suggest you close the gap at the top of the rad where your brackets are.
Cheers Denis