morris_marlin
Cooling System redesign
The engine has been running a little hot. It never dropped below 100C and under load was getting towards 105C (according to my gauge anyway). I've come to the conclusion that my original cooling system install wasn't quite right as it took the feed off the back of the head that would originally have gone to the heater valve straight back in the feed from the header tank. I also had a 0lbs cap on the rad and a 28-32lbs cap on the header tank. Originally I'd planned to blank off the heater valve outlet but became convinced that this may cause overheating issues at the back of the head. Having given it more thought I realised that blanking the port off is no different to driving with the heater turned off but more importantly, feeding straight back into the system at that point is recycling hot coolant back to the pump without it ever going through the radiator. With a a heater matrix in the way this would have a cooling effect on the coolant and be as good as putting it through the rad.
My original design is HERE.
I've now blanked of the back of the head and run the header tank direct to the back of the pump. I've also raised the header to its max height (only another inch) and added an 18-22lbs cap on the rad. This is due to my other concerns about firstly hot coolant always escaping back to the header and therefore reducing the flow through the rad plus the water level in the rad only getting to the top once pressure had built up.
I took the car out this evening and there was some improvement. The gauge still read 100 but it stuck there dropping to 95 off load. The fan also took a lot longer than normal to start up.
Other than also popping an even higher pressure cap on the rad to guarantee that all the water passes through unless the entire system is over pressurised, I think this is the limit of modifications I can make.
Next step is to get some louvres cut in the bonnet to let the heat escape
Cooling System redesign
The engine has been running a little hot. It never dropped below 100C and under load was getting towards 105C (according to my gauge anyway). I've come to the conclusion that my original cooling system install wasn't quite right as it took the feed off the back of the head that would originally have gone to the heater valve straight back in the feed from the header tank. I also had a 0lbs cap on the rad and a 28-32lbs cap on the header tank. Originally I'd planned to blank off the heater valve outlet but became convinced that this may cause overheating issues at the back of the head. Having given it more thought I realised that blanking the port off is no different to driving with the heater turned off but more importantly, feeding straight back into the system at that point is recycling hot coolant back to the pump without it ever going through the radiator. With a a heater matrix in the way this would have a cooling effect on the coolant and be as good as putting it through the rad.
My original design is HERE.
I've now blanked of the back of the head and run the header tank direct to the back of the pump. I've also raised the header to its max height (only another inch) and added an 18-22lbs cap on the rad. This is due to my other concerns about firstly hot coolant always escaping back to the header and therefore reducing the flow through the rad plus the water level in the rad only getting to the top once pressure had built up.
I took the car out this evening and there was some improvement. The gauge still read 100 but it stuck there dropping to 95 off load. The fan also took a lot longer than normal to start up.
Other than also popping an even higher pressure cap on the rad to guarantee that all the water passes through unless the entire system is over pressurised, I think this is the limit of modifications I can make.
Next step is to get some louvres cut in the bonnet to let the heat escape