Cool Engine

[matt gordon]

Can you fit a switch in your dash so you can turn the engine fan on and off when you want so it keeps the engine cooler. Also if you can, does this enhance the performance of the car?

[carltoncrazy]

why the engine does this auto matcial.
if u want to then cut em at the radiator and wirer them into a switch on the dash,
but to be honest it wont help nowt

[Chris LR]

Leave it to the car, I don't see much more performance.

You'll have to remember to switch it on and off, or you'll overheat /leave it on after you stop and flatten your battery!

[CP]

Automatic electric fans were brought in cos they help improve the cars performance. The less you have the fan on the better cos it cost power to run it. Under normal circumstances, the airflow from driving along keeps the car adequately cool. They generally only run when the car is at rest- you'll hear it click on and work for a bit and then switch itself off for a bit etc until you get moving again. Unless you've got a specific overheating problem leave all alone. If you are overheating (boiling up and temp gauge right up near the redline) first check the thermostat and then check that the fan does actually work.

[mikeoxford]

can someone tell me easily how to check my thrmostst :o

[ade]

mike - thermostat usually kicks in when temp gauge reached just over 1/2 way. To check the fans working, simply short it out across 12v.

Take the car for a spin somewhere - like up and down a stretch of motorway - then leave it standing for a bit (about 20 mins) - should get to 1/2 way no probs - fan should kick in.

You can also tell if yer thermostat is working cos when you drive yer car the thermostat rises sharply to about the second line then suddenly drops down below the 1st and will setting just above the 1st line (mine does anyway) - when it drops its a sign the thermostat has kicked in.

Ade
:wink:

[Ste_Nova]

fan override is good for use at the rr and while waiting in the queue at santa pod etc

[Aragorn]

can u explain how overriding the fan, also known as letting the engine overheat since the fan only runs when the engine is too hot, can be a good thing when your just about to hammer it down a racetrack?

your not exactly going to wanna get halfway down the strip and the thing conks out cos its too hot

or 10mins into your RR session and the temp guage hits the red mark and the engine dies

now there is a thaught - do rolling roads have large fans blowing air at teh front of the car?? you aint gonna want the fan sapping power but u aint gonna want it to over heat either !

[mikeoxford]

i have a digidash ade so i have trouble somparing it to how it used to be on my SR clocks :(

may just replace it anyway - need a coolant change i guess, dont know when the last one was.

mike

[Aragorn]

on my digidash:

start up it shows nothing

after its started warming up it gets to 3 bars then the thermostat opens

it drops to 2 bars then climbs back to 3 bars again

the easiest way is to drive it easy for 10-15mins

motorways and the like cause it to heat up quickly so u may not even see the drop in temp as the thermo opens

some nice 40-50mph A roads do nicely

[mikeoxford]

when u say X amount of bars, do you mean the blocks? i.e first one the blue section, second and third the next two green blocks?

the reason im concerned of temperature is really only because lately the guage seems a bit higher than it used to be, even just before the twin 40 conversion - i was running a weber 32 34, and it seemed as though it was higher then too.

it may just be something strange tho..........

if the guage thing on the digidash is supposed to be half way then i guess its ok - sometimes it does go to 3/4 and i get scared it shouldnt be there, and dont actualy check if the fan is on (stuck in trafic or M6 in a jam!)- i whack the heating on and almost self combust meself!!!

im SURE it only ever used to make the blue light up, and then the next section from 1/4 to a 1/2 used to flicker on and off all the time, engine used to run WELL cold, (it dosent seem to be the addition of twin 40s) as said above the engine seemed to be hotter with the previous weber too.

thanks for your help.

[mowgli]

The best thing to do with a thermostat if you are not sure if it is working correctly is to just SWAP IT, they cost a few quid, and you can easily do it in a few minutes.

If you are running an older nova with a carb, and the gauge is showing cold, and the heater is not doing it's thing very well, there is a fair chance that you have got an airlock in the cooling system. to cure this, set the heater to hot, undo the rad cap slowly, unbolt the temperature sender (on the inlet manifold) and let the air out. as soon as water is flowing out of the hole, do it back up, and refill the coolant level.
This should also be done whenever you drain the coolant.

cheers

[Aragorn]

the dash goes up in chunks

BLue is one chunk, then u get first chunk of yellow then u get second chunk of yellow

when second chunk has lit up its running at proper temperature