We’ve all been there, blissfully cruising along in our classics only to come to a halt thanks to a steaming, hissing radiator. Once the car stops rolling, the next step is usually to pop the hood and blame something beneath it.
In reality, the blame lies with us owners. A cooling system is fairly simple in terms of cause and …
I enjoy reading the Heideman articles very much; we're on the same wavemrngth,and Carl has a way with words.
I think the cooling system and its function are a nice example of "throw parts at it", or make a methodical analysis and diagnosis.
As Carl points out, the IR temp gun is a wonderful advancement over finger tips....it allows you too "see" what's going on inside.
I'll add that overheating under sustained high loads....track, summer Towing up hill with AC...can be due to reduced water flow...gradual plugging of radiator, incomplete opening of t-stat, slipping pump drive belt, faulty electric motor on water pump, as well as restricted air flow.
I drove my E30 with mostly stock M20B25 track car on the street once in a while. stock crank-driven fan removed. Stock aux AC electric fan controlled manually.
I was surprised that I could idle for 20 minutes with fan off,...temp up to 220.
I could then just idle up to 1500 RPM and it would come down to 200 with no fans. or, the electric fan at idle would bring it to 190 T-stat temp. interesting!
I enjoy reading the Heideman articles very much; we're on the same wavemrngth,and Carl has a way with words.
I think the cooling system and its function are a nice example of "throw parts at it", or make a methodical analysis and diagnosis.
As Carl points out, the IR temp gun is a wonderful advancement over finger tips....it allows you too "see" what's going on inside.
I'll add that overheating under sustained high loads....track, summer Towing up hill with AC...can be due to reduced water flow...gradual plugging of radiator, incomplete opening of t-stat, slipping pump drive belt, faulty electric motor on water pump, as well as restricted air flow.
I drove my E30 with mostly stock M20B25 track car on the street once in a while. stock crank-driven fan removed. Stock aux AC electric fan controlled manually.
I was surprised that I could idle for 20 minutes with fan off,...temp up to 220.
I could then just idle up to 1500 RPM and it would come down to 200 with no fans. or, the electric fan at idle would bring it to 190 T-stat temp. interesting!
You mention baffles but fail to elaborate beyond the photo of the Triumph showing the radiator ducting. I've an Austin Healey 3000, which are notorious for heating up at idle and in stop-and-go conditions. In a letter published 25 October, 1991, Geoff Healey, who was heavily involved with his father Donald in the Austin Healy project, discussed the issue. The factory baffles between the radiator and the grille help somewhat, and he cautions these must be in place. However, the only cover a portion of height of the radiator, clearance being necessary for the tie rod. Nor do they extend all the way to the grille. He said the facory experimented with larger radiators and larger fans, with little improvement. The problem is one of air flow; the radiator is mounted free-standing, i.e., it does not sit in a bulkhead to seal it off from hot air in the engine compartment. Using smoke, Healey demonstated that at idle (or low speeds) the fan was drawing hot air from the engine compartment around the sides of the radiator and forcing this hot air back through the radiator. One needs at least 20 mph or so to keep the air flowing through the engine compartment and not recirculating.
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