Took my F27 for a blat down the M54 today, sort of test run prior to Stoneleigh!!, noticed the temp gauge ( ETB gauge and sender ) was staying around the 88 deg mark, then after 25 miles or so , the gauge went up to 110 deg as I had just turned right at a roundabout , then when I tried to do an overtake, the engine revs tended to "stick" and wouldn't go any higher , then I eased off and gently brought the power back on , going up the gears, and the temp went back to 88 degs,
I let everything cool down , and went for another run, and the temp thing went up again briefly , them went back to normal , there is no bubbling in the expansion tank, and no real rise with the coolant,
does anybody know whats happening to it????
the fan kicks in at 88 degs too, the pipe from the bottom of the expansion tank ,goes to a 'T' piece in the top hose between the thermostat and top rad,
I know from previous threads that people have put this into the bottom hose -could it be an air lock? or ignition retarded ? that would cause these symptoms??
any help, greatly appreciated!! I would like to sort it for Stoneleigh!!
cheers, Greg

im not sure if this will answer your Q exactly but for me;

1. Im not running a header tank in the coolant system. Car blows water out of rad cap till it finds own level.
2. On the road temp rises to 97deg before fan kicks in which cools it to around 94deg (Micra rad, engine water temp sender is in head (std location), fan sensor is std location in rad.).
3. On track i started getting hot oil alarm first in Digidash at 105deg (ive since lifted the alarm point to 115 iirc). Water alarm came on at 110deg so i have since lifted that to 130deg. The car continued to run well even when i was concerned about temps and got me home perfectly.

I have since learnt;
1. Digidash2's scare the crap out of you until you get the alarms all set correctly,
2. Pintos can take some abuse before they start to buckle. I have been told on good authority that i dont have to worry about water temp until it hits 130deg and i see steam.
3. Road cars gauges are set on the kind side so drivers dont get worried and are innacurate anyway - ie most people dont realise that engines need to be hot so that condensation etc is boiled out of the oil to keep it in good condition (i read fantastic post on this recently).

All above temp points are in relation to my actual sensors etc so your could be different.

You say the gauge rose suddenly - could that be a dicky clock or possibly the water level being below the sensor so when you turned corner it splashed up inside??
I suspect the sticky revs have nowt to do with the water temp. My car ran very well over 110deg. It could be the advance. I have modified head with 285 can and run between 14 and 18deg advance. At 18 it runs well on track at temp but pinks a bit when cold on the road. At 14 runs well on road but feels a bit sluggish on the track (all after limited experience / miles - still building up the picture). Mookaloid set my advance up with a fancy advance tachostrobe - made the set up very easy indeed and a bit more scientific (i found a snap on tool off ebay for £40). Well worth having a play with timing to improve running and engine temps - made a lot of difference to mine.


Does any of this waffle help!!

Hi Greg

I've plumbed the bottom outlet of the expansion tank to a t in the bottom rad hose

I've also got a smaller outlet at top of expansion tank that goes to the top of the rad

are you using a heater?

As for ignition, i've set mine to 14 degs at idle

Adrian

Cheers Darren and Adrian,
checked the timing tonight with my strobe, it was way off!!, have reset it now and its behaving beautifully!!!!!
problem solved - am ready for stoneleigh now!
Greg

Ah ha - the advance conundrum!!!

When i first set mine up i tried to set dizzy by ear. Car ran but not at all well. When i finally connected the tachostrobe initially i couldnt see the 12deg mark as it was so far round the crank pulley!!!! For the life of me i cant understand how it was running. Pintos are great for that. Ive since realised that you hardly have to touch the dizzy to tune it so always use the strobe now (ive bought a snap on advance jobbie - much easier).

I was sure the water temp would have nowt to do with the revs problem. Looks like im learning too!