Safe Temperatures...

[Multiphonikks]

On my daily drives to and from work I've watched as Hebe's temperature gague gradually rises and falls depending on the driving situation. At this time of year she rarely gets above 160 degrees F (about 77 deg C if I remember).

However, it got me thinking.....

What's the healthy/average operating temperature extremes of a minor, and what temperature are you going to start having problems at?

With the summer forecast to be a hot one it's certainly time for everyone to double-check the cooling system on their cars, but for those of us with a temperature gague what exactly is the "dangerzone"?

Cheers!

Nikki

[chickenjohn]

I don't think you need to be quite as worried as with a modern car that has alloy head and alloy block.

77 degC sounds fine to me. Its when the coolant starts to boil and leave the system as steam that you need to worry!!

[ColinP]

Nikki,

I've just done the back of envelope calculation (p1v1/t1 = p2v2/t2)
using p1=15psi (normal atmospheric pressure, t1 =100C and p2=19psi (4psi radiator cap)

This gives a boiling point of about 115C (and I will be corrected if that's wrong!)

So, if your temperature guage is reading 77C, that shows the radiator temperature is 77C (not the temperature in the engine block - remember there's the thermostat between them!). The standard thermostat is 82C, so your system appears fine.

The danger zone will be when the engine block temerature gets near the boiling point - say 110C - the rad temp will read about 105C (5C difference at 82C).

Colin

[turbominor]

emily gets up to 95-98deg when she gets raced hard, if you suddenly stop she can climb into the very low 100's for a few mins.

Have only seen her boil once and guage was just shy of 110deg.

Weak spot on minors seems to be soggy springs in the rad cap.

Emily used to boil over regulary at below 100deg, i fitted a rangerover cap and an 88deg thermostat and she has not boiled since


good tip the 88deg thermostat makes the winter warm up much much faster and gets you off the choke quikly

[bmcecosse]

It's a temperature GAUGE - come on folks lets get the spelling right ! And the running temperature will depend entirely on whatever thermostat is fitted. So 77 is actually a bit too low - for best economy the engine should run as close to boiling as possible - for best power though your 77 is about right !

[Multiphonikks]

I'm sorry you've never made a spelling mistake before! Oh, and It's more a case of "How high a temperature can a moggie engine stand before bad things start to happen" based on the temperature of the system and the pressure of the system.

It's not meant to be a grammar and spelling check!

(Though there are some of us who could use a few lessons in how to write like wot our teechers would ave liked us two)

[bmcecosse]

Heh heh - Sorry - it's just that particular word that really annoys me when mis-spelled. You should see it on the Mini forums !!

[NZJLY]

We were playing around with our 950 engine today, and the thermostat was rated as 180 F. So yours must be running OK. Don't ask if the motor runs OK as it is the one we are trying to fit to an MM (and mmmmmmmmmmm is not what we were saying today )

Run through a spell check for your viewing pleasure

[chickenjohn]

I once nearly boilled My Travellers engine- it had developed a slow leak in one of the hoses and luckily, I stopped because the engine was pinking and starting to lose power, and not "feel" right. Topped the water up (then later added antifreeze) and it was right as rain till I took it off the road for its resto.

[Pyoor_Kate]

One of the things I discovered when stripping Rebeccas engine was that the thermostat cover had corroded internally to produce a pin-prick hole which is probably *another* place coolant was escaping :-/

[Multiphonikks]

Last summer I ended up driving with one hand under the heater so that when the heater went cold I knew that I had to stop pretty flippin' quickly!

I'm hoping this year with the mechanical temperature gauge fitted that I can actually enjoy having two hands on the steering wheel, or more interesting places!

[turbominor]

two hands on the steering wheel, or more interesting places!

on the radio?!

[Multiphonikks]