Not enough cooling

quattro

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Popped down to Renishaw yesterday as they have a car show from 3.00 pm onwards in the afternoon. Very informal, just turn up and chat about cars 'til late at night :cool:

Problem is, it is now very popular and a trillion people turned up, so poor old Sparky had to sit in a traffic jam for 50 minutes, on a very hot day. He didn't like that much and ended up losing a couple of litres of water. I was data logging at the time and looked back to find the coolant temp had hit 127.2°C :eek: and air temp 80°C :confused::eek:

I let him cool down for two hours then found some water and replaced the loss. He fired up perfectly ok, burbled away happily and was fine all the way home.

This morning however, I noticed that the expansion tank had shattered

IMG_3780[1].JPG

Now he's still holding the pressure and not leaking, but I think I may need another tank :)

I am going to throw the cheapy 14" fan away and get a good one as well.

Richard
 
I can only recommend the 16" Spal detailed on my thread. I can't image it is possible to fit a larger one. It isn't a cheap option but it's a quality sealed bearing type. My solutions works at LOW speed (about half power) up to at 36 degree ambient and that's as far as I've been able to test it. I drove in 30 degree traffic today without issue.

The radiator is actually pretty big, all you need do is sweep enough surface area. Remember the square rule of a bigger fan and accounting for a more or less fixed size void in the centre to accomodate the motor means the move from 14" to 16" is a much bigger jump than you'd think. I remember calculating the jump from 14" in the Spal range gave nearly 50% more swept radiator matrix. You really don't need the megawatt offerings from Kenlowe. All you'll likely achieve is make a lot of noise and potentially melt the electrics.
 
I can only recommend the 16" Spal detailed on my thread. I can't image it is possible to fit a larger one.

I looked at the Spal fans but have always had a lot of respect for the Revotec ones. When my 12" kenlowe packed up I bought a new 14" fan locally for £28. It blows more air than an asthmatic mouse, but not much. Possibly wasn't a good move buying it, but I do like a bargain :)

Revotec order and on its way

Richard
 
Just a "hopp on thread" question. Am looking for an expansion bottle too now. What´s best for pipe routing ?
Overflow pipe of standard rad to bottom of expansion bottle, ok.
Return pipe of carb-tower (ok, if you have carbs...) now goes also to top of rad. Should I leave it as it is or should this go then to the top of the expansion bottle, as most expansion bottles have also a pipe connection near top ?
 
Just a "hopp on thread" question. Am looking for an expansion bottle too now. What´s best for pipe routing ?
Overflow pipe of standard rad to bottom of expansion bottle, ok.
Return pipe of carb-tower (ok, if you have carbs...) now goes also to top of rad. Should I leave it as it is or should this go then to the top of the expansion bottle, as most expansion bottles have also a pipe connection near top ?

I have a flat cap on the radiator, then a pipe from the overflow on the rad (Now part of the pressurised system) to the bottom of the expansion tank. When the water expands in the system now, it will flow into the tank. When it cools and shrinks back, the water flows back into the radiator ensuring it stays full. The original 15lb cap now sits on the expansion tank, and will allow water to escape through its overflow if necessary. Basically I have just made the pressurised system a bit bigger with room in the tank for expansion, so you will need the overflow on the tank to act as one, and just pipe it to atmosphere.

Richard
 
There is only one routing: radiator overflow to the pressure side of the expansion tank. The blank cap on the rad has no pressure valve and the pressure cap goes on th expansion tak.
 
They are the same unit fitted to other british cars of the period, like mini, Jag etc. I think Holdens might sell them if our usual suppliers are out of stock. You can probably extend teh life of the one youhave by dribbling loctite 406 super glue into the cracks. its really runny stuff so gets right in to them. Also sticks fingers together so best to have greasy hands so you can peel it off when dry.
 
You can probably extend teh life of the one youhave by dribbling loctite 406 super glue into the cracks.

ermmm no, that won't work :cool: I have been looking for tanks from other cars too though, I know the Austin maxi had the same one.

Hi, Are they actually cracks or just stretch marks?

Colin

Well, it doesn't leak so it appears there are two skins. The top one is ok but you can feel the cracks under it, so I take it has stretched when the stucture below has fractured. It still holds water but I wouldn't want to get into that situation again without sorting it first.

Richard
 
Just out of interest I checked the Spal and Revotec websites and they obviously both make premium products.
That said, I reckon I'd be inclined to go Revotec purely because the website was, hands down, the easier to navigate and the mounting kits so complete.
To be fair the Spal site seemed to be more Trade aligned.
John
 
I fitted a Revotec thingamyjig in the top rad hose to control my fan, and it gave up the ghost after only two years, so I am now wary of the brand, fancy website or not!
 
I fitted a Revotec thingamyjig in the top rad hose to control my fan, and it gave up the ghost after only two years, so I am now wary of the brand, fancy website or not!

When I bought the car, there was a 12" Kenlowe fan and a Kenlowe controller, i.e. one of those torpedo things you put into the top hose. The fan stopped working a while after I bought the car and the controller leaked. I tested the fan off the car, and it would work if I spun it up by hand first to get it going.

So, I bought a cheap 14" fan from a local company and Revotec controller. The Revotec controller has been there for over six years and to be honest, has been faultless. I was never impressed with cheap fan though. The kenlowe, when it worked, could be felt easily by putting your hand in front of the grill, but this new 14" one seemed feeble in comparison. It always kept the temperature under control, though not as quickly as the Kenlowe.

In hindsight, fitting a decent fan a long time ago would have been a good idea, but was one of those things I never got around to :)

As Kenlowe have now stopped making fans for the aftermarket, I thought I would go for the matched pair, and get the Revotec.

Richard
 
Why not just get a standard threaded thermostat fitting added to the radiator and then use any of hundreds of thermoswitches used from the 1980s until today?

Completely bulletproof, won't leak, no chopping hoses etc. It cost me £20 to have that done. After that the switches can be bought for a pound or two secondhand or a tenner new from any motor factor.

I genuinely don't understand why anyone would use a clunky aftermarket solution when this method is both cheaper and better.
 
I followed Peter`s advice and bought a Spal fan. The bigger one was not available, so I took the VA08-AP51/C23S which is a 350 mm fan with 2140 cbm airflow and only 9,9 A rating. Price was around 70 EUR.
My rad was out and needed some repair work, so it was clear to use a socket for a standard thermostat. It´s a little bit too low, so maybe I have to try another thermostat. The Hella relay allows fan running also with motor stopped (ok, think that´s standard with all solutions). All in all standard solutions. Cutting off a radiator hose and pay a fortune for a thermostat ?
 
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