Pete Lewis Posted July 13, 2016 Report Share Posted July 13, 2016 Well its worth a try it should be ok for ordinary situations to evaluate before you jump testing rad flow is not easy you need a header tank of a few gallons with a 10ft head with an 1,5" tube like the radiator hoses , let the water charge through and time it, trouble is you dont have a good one to compare, a garden hose is just a waste of time, as it will not have the flow to feed all tubes if the rad is cool at the bottom its doing its job, you could ork the bottom hose , fill with boiling water from the kettle and feel the rad if there is hot top hot bottom but cool centre then expect some tubes are blocked if blocked in the top the air in the tubes does the expanding bit when the rad is heated and the volume blows the coolant out , when cooled it can suck coolant up the bottom of the tube bit like sucking a straw and sticking tongue over the end to trap the contents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yakooza2 Posted July 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2016 Well, I have not used a temperature gauge to know what the difference between the two temperatures are, when the hot water enters the rad at the top and leaves at the bottom, but I know that at the bottom is still too hot to touch. that must be a clue I think. Also can't test the rad for all the reasons above, but my question is, if the smaller rad of a 1500cc spitfire can be a good candidate for a replacement considering the larger 2000cc engine of the GT6. I will have to do the expansion tank as well, but before going through the extras, just wanted to know, in your opinion, is the smaller rad up for the job? or not worth the try? Nader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted July 14, 2016 Report Share Posted July 14, 2016 Nader, I did say its worth a try if you have one and it can be hung on as temporary trial its worth a few hours more sweat to elliminate the concerns , if theres nothing to loose , get a blow lamp, and remove the top tank , then you will see the tube condition Why not take it to another radiator specialist for a test ?? Bodging a rad on will undoubtably be a tortuous exercise Nothing so far has been straight forward pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinR Posted July 14, 2016 Report Share Posted July 14, 2016 Just because the temperature gauge reads high does not mean the car is overheating. The reading could be perfectly normal for your specific combination of gauge, regulator and sensor. You need to actually measure the temperature to tell if it's over heating. A normal temperature hose will still be too hot to hold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted July 14, 2016 Report Share Posted July 14, 2016 A capillary gauge is very reliable giving pretty accurate readings in real units. Worth borrowing one if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted July 14, 2016 Report Share Posted July 14, 2016 or get a cheap stick thermometer from chemist and put it in the filler pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yakooza2 Posted July 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2016 Nader, I did say its worth a try if you have one and it can be hung on as temporary trial its worth a few hours more sweat to elliminate the concerns , if theres nothing to loose , get a blow lamp, and remove the top tank , then you will see the tube condition Why not take it to another radiator specialist for a test ?? Bodging a rad on will undoubtably be a tortuous exercise Nothing so far has been straight forward pete Hi Pete I know you said it's worth a try, but I was mainly thinking about the size of each radiator, being presumably made for a right size engine, which is why I was asking the more senior and well informed people (like you) to offer opinion on that. After all, if you said no way that is silly because of size and flow rate, then I would save myself the headache. I will definitely try the smaller rad now to see how it may work, but I think I stop short of having the old rad tested or taken apart with a blow torch. Cheers Nader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yakooza2 Posted July 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2016 A capillary gauge is very reliable giving pretty accurate readings in real units. Worth borrowing one if possible. Thanks Clive Being a novice, I had to look it up on Google to see what that is, I think I have one in the garage somewhere. I will give it a go. Cheers Nader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yakooza2 Posted July 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2016 Just because the temperature gauge reads high does not mean the car is overheating. The reading could be perfectly normal for your specific combination of gauge, regulator and sensor. You need to actually measure the temperature to tell if it's over heating. A normal temperature hose will still be too hot to hold Hi Kevin You are absolutely right, but I base my comments of overheating on the followings; car is started from cold and only running at a 1000 revs for say 15 minutes and the temperature gauge rises to just over 3/4 mark. At that point, revving the engine, it struggles to perform or if driving, the carbs spit back and there is almost no power. Touching the radiator's top tank and hoses, the feel very hot and the bottom tank of the rad is almost as hot as the top. Someone here on an earlier post said that, if the bottom of the rad feels cooler, then the rad is doing it's job. my rad does not feel any cooler at the bottom part, which is why I am now suspicious of it's performance. on the subject of measuring the water temperature, what would be deemed reasonable temperature? Nader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yakooza2 Posted July 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2016 or get a cheap stick thermometer from chemist and put it in the filler pete I have one of those, but if the cap is off, then the water will overflow. What temperature is deemed acceptable of a thermometer, before you consider it going above normal? Nader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted July 14, 2016 Report Share Posted July 14, 2016 About the same as the thermostat spec eg 82c is standard certainly blocked tubes will give you the problems you have A hot rad all the way to the bottom, and tubes blocked at the top blow water out as the air trapped inside expands a smaller rad wont cope with adverse conditions but if you really want to try it should cope ok with some quiet driving, must be better than a blocked one, just a lot of faffing about and if its doesnt prove anything you wont be any further forward ...after everything else theres little to loose ideas are getting a bit thin on the ground pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinR Posted July 14, 2016 Report Share Posted July 14, 2016 With the car standing still, I doubt you could actually feel the temperature difference between top and bottom. You need to measure the temperature. Normal temperatures can be in excess of 90 degrees, which feels very hot. If it hits 100 degrees, then that is too hot. The gauge reading 3/4 is absolutely meaningless unless you have calibrated it by measuring the actual temperature. If you take four gauges, four temperature sensors and four voltage regulators then you will probably find one combination that reads less than 1/3rd and one that reads almost top scale for 'normal' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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