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Another Super Spec cooling question


geordie40

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I've read through this topic trying to see if anyone has had many problems with overheating. Most problems seem to be with underheating or slow warm up.

Mine seems to be the the other way round. It warms up to 90 degrees in about 3 mins and seem fine if the ambient temp is below 15 degrees.

Any warmer than that and I have a problem. Can't sit in traffic and can't run for 5 mins at 3000 revs on a duel carriageway without 100 plus degrees which panicked me the other day.

If I run it without the bonnet on all seems fine, fan kicks in when stood still at about 98 and knocks off at about 93 and on duel carriageway ran about 92. 

Im sure if I drove it hard for any time like a track day the result would be catastrophic.

At first I thought it was a air flow problem but now I think it may not be piped up correct. I followed the advice from Robin Hood but I don't think it's anything like the advice given here.

Tomorrow I will make a crude drawing of the circuit and put it on here so any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

I know the turbo makes a difference but I don't think this is correctly cooled either.

Jez

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I would check for air blockages but are you using the standard radiator or an aftermarket one. 

If it's aftermarket are you using a separate intercooler for the turbo and a radiator for the engine ensuring both are getting good airflow

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Thanks for the suggestions.

I will contact "Red Robin" for any advice.

The radiator is the standard one which came with the kit.

The intercooler does restrict the radiator a bit. I did think it could be air blockages. What is the best way to get rid of any air blockage. Ive tried filling really slow and squeezing the pipes at the same time, running for a bit then topping up.

Jez

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2020235666_coolingasis.jpg.906620fd5502411d36978b05835325ff.jpg

This is a crude drawing of the set up.

I think the main difference is the 20mm hose from the expansion tank to the centre of the rad. It looks like its recommended here to tee in to the pipe into the thermostat.

Any advice.

 

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That looks like the standard fit before Andy’s modification.  On most of our cars that results in a running temperature of 70-80C, so we blank off the grille a bit to get it nearer 90C.

interesting you say it works with the bonnet off.  So maybe the problem is just that the hot air cannot escape from the engine bay.  I have put some marine louvres on mine to try and help it.   Or maybe try lifting the back of the bonnet up a bit to provide an escape route. 

The modification is to reroute the 20mm pipe so it goes into the bottom hose instead of the top of the rad.   But that only affects warm up time, not the steady state temperature.

Edited by alanrichey
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I was seriously looking at the air flow and thinking of altering the sides and bonnet with scoops and vents.

Obviously there is no way back from that so wanted to make 100% sure this was the right path.

I was looking last night at the thermostat housing. I noticed that I have mounted 2 temp sensors. This is the trouble when it takes so many years to build as I cant remember if it had 2 originally or if I've used a bleed point to mount the second one. I think i will alter the bottom one (Dash clock) and put a tee piece in and use it as a bleed point.Then drain off again and fill up really, really slowly. 

If that doesn't work then the jig saw will be coming out and improving the air flow as I know the turbo does produce a lot of extra heat. 

Thanks for comments

 

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I have a non turbo variant and I have two thermostat plugs. One (the top) is for the ECU to sense the coolant temp and the second (bottom) is as you say for the dash. 

 

Personally I would put a bleed valve in the highest pipe so potentially the one that goes at the top of thermostat to the radiator as most installations have the water bottle feed point below this 

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Filling and bleeding these systems is always difficult as there are several high points that trap air, particularly the top hose. On mine I separate a join in the hoses and alloy pipes between thermostat and top radiator, and use a funnel to slowly fill the system there. Then run the engine with the cap off the expansion bottle to burp any air out.

The mod we’ve found for quicker warm up and better operation of the thermostat, is to remove the 20mm hose into the top centre of the rad, and route the hose from bottom of the coolant bottle into the bottom hose before the water pump.

One other thing that looks odd in your diagram is that the turbo has a 20mm hose in from the thermostat but only a 6mm air bleed hose out back to the coolant bottle. I can’t see how that would circulate enough water through the turbo for cooling, so might be adding to your under bonnet temps. I’m away at the moment, but when back at the weekend I’ll look at my manuals and see how Rover plumbed the turbo.

Andy

 

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Guest MrToad

As AndyW says the turbo plumbing looks unusual.

I know my set up is Ford and probably different thinking but mine has a 6mm feed directly from the water pump and then feeds back to the header tank again 6mm. 

1. Isn't it best for the turbo to get full cooling supply always when engine running as heat can build very quickly even before engine has warmed ideally by-passing the thermostat. 

2. In any fluid flow situations it is most times better to have larger or same size pipe on the out flow side rather than the supply to aid efficiency otherwise there can be a pressure build up.

These on their own won't be the whole reason for heat build up but if there is an air lock situation the turbo may not be getting proper cooling.

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