hi all
i have been having trouble with cooling my avon for some time now
i have change from the tiger radiator to a VW polo but still using the some fan from tiger
if i leave the car to idle the fan will kick in then cool it down from 100 to 90 then the fun will kick in at 100 but will not stop at the kick off temperature as it dose not hit it then with the fan on the temperature will creep up from 91 to 110 where i spot the engine!!
ive been bleeding it but cant find any air locks in the line and everythnig seen to work ok
i am using a pinto with r1 carb and i have no heater in it?
dose anyone have any idea or have had the some trouble?
thanks matt

The fan is spinning in the correct direction or on the right side if the fan isin't it.

It could be sat there making alot of noise and wind but not actually cooling the rad much is its working in the rong direction or spinnig the wrong way.

We have a Pinto with R1 Throttle bodies and a Polo rad with no heater, just a big loop of pipe where the heater should go from the water pump to the inlet manifold and its been perfect today while we've been setting up the engine.

ok so you have narrow down problem to being when car is staionary due to not enough heat being tansferred from radiator to air.

do you have this problem when driving?

ok things to look at.

1. is path of air from nosecone to front of ratioator clear? i.e. you are no using one of those fine mesh grilles.

2. is fan spinning in correct direciton i.e. if infront of rad, pushes air; if bhind, pulls air.

3. is fan maximum size you can fit to rad?

4. is fan within 10 mm to radiator?

5. has fan got cowl? basivally you want a box that encloses matrixthat narrows down to a hole in whcih the radiator fits.

6. is wiring to raditor good i.e. is is spinning at max possible speed?

7. is air way behind radaitor clear? i.e. air has somewhere to go? if you have panel beneath engine fitted, this will restrict air flow. does problem occr with bonnet off?

8. do you trust the tempeeratues? get IR thermomenter to verfy; maybe the fan swithc is set too low.

9. is timing.mixture correct? this will affect engine running temp.

10. is thermostat a good 'un? temporarily repeat above but with no 'stat fitted. if problem goes away, buy new stat. if problem persist, post back

12. draw diagram of colling system to identify possible air lock.

13. is water pump running correct way and in good order?

that's it for now.....

1/ yes it very clear there lot of room will put a pic on to show tommrrow
2/ yes fan spinning in the right direction ie fan at back of rad pull air from front of car to engine
3/ THINK ITS ONE SIZE DOWN FROM MAX SIZE
4/ yes it 2.5 mm away from rad
5/ ?
6/ yes you can see but dont know if it max speed as i dont know what that max speed is
7/ yes the trouble still happens with the bonnet and nose cone off
8/ the fan switch kicks in at 98
9/ the timing is spot on as someone done it on the rolling road
10/ thermostats new and opens at 87
12/ have a pic that i will put on tommorrow too
13/ water pump new runs well and yes correct way
Rescued attachment 26042008068.jpg

are you using the tiger supplied temperature switch for the fan? if so it has 3 terminal, depending on what combination you use the fan will kick in at 80 or 90 deg.

That rad looks a bit corroded - I`m guessing it wasnt a new one ? If the rest of the fins are as knackered as the top , it wont be cooling very well at all .
Allso - is your fan switch on the block or radiator ? I tried a rad mounted switch on my fury once , and engine temp was 10/15 degrees higher than the fan switch setting before it cut in .

[Edited on 27/4/08 by clairetoo]

yes im using the tiger fan temperature switch that fit in the rad but it only has 2 terminals also it's only the top of the that is a little corrded the rest seems to be good but i was thinking of just getting a new rad and be done with it

Funnily enough having a similar problem with the Polo Rad in my Cat.

With a stat fitted, warming the engine at idle it seems to work fine, but on a run, the temp rockets to 100+ and the top hose stays 'cool'. Eventually the Stat would open after stop/starting engine and reving the n**s off it. Suspect it was some kind of lock caused by the stat. It might be that the top of the top hose is much higher than the top of the rad. Removed the Stat it and the temp seems a lot happier from cold and runs 80-85 degs.

However in traffic it now wants to go to 105/110 degs and the fan cuts in at an indicated 100 degs on the gauge. Am going to fit a lower temp rad switch from GSF (93470, on at 85, off at 80) and give that a try