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hi folks
im having a problem with 1380 engine ...its grand when moving and i guess thats cause fan spinning quicker but soon as i hit traffic the car overheats very quickly once i get moving again all is well again
I went to fit a new termostat last week and when i removed housing (pain getting ultra engine steady out off the way! doh ) i found the car had no termostat fitted ......so proceeded to fit new one which i tested beforehand (pot of hot water etc) anyway started engine and now its overheating in 5 mins of starting .....presume thats why no termostat fitted in the first place , the car has an uprated rad and 12 blade fan , any ideas ? would it maybe be the water pump ????
tnx ...harry
what state is the rad in? make sure its not blocked or partially blocked, inside and out.... also check that the hoses to the rad are not kinked or obstructing coolant flow.
is the water pump ok? fan belt slipping? - with the engine at "normal" temperature check that the rad is equally warm all over.
at tickover or low revs, the engine is only outputting a small amount of heat and doesn't *need* a high capacity radiator - if its not overtheating at full power, the rad is ok in terms of capacity.
the fan is on right way round! and belt is fine , no oil in water or water in oil ! car has no heater fitted so may be a kink in the pipes fitted ile check that tomorrow tnx
would fitting a 6 blade fan help and does anyone think i should take the new termostat out and run without it as car is overheating even quicker now , oil cooler also fitted ,im thinking off connecting a hose to heater outlet on cylinder head and running clear water to see if system is blocked and then refilling with antifreeze ? water pump would be next ! engine is not new but never overheats when moving
tanx for the tips ile work away and see if any joy
tnx woody ile pop out the plugs and see if its running lean tomorrow hopefully not as it has a weber carb and im not confident to go near the silly thing ......soon as possible ile be getting back to a good oul s.u. carb
Hi, i think the lads replies have covered the trouble shooting list, so i cant add much more.
But it would be no harm to fit an additional electric fan to the outside of the inner wing on the rad side, either through the sensor or an independent switch. Especially with running a 1380. These fans should be easy enough pick up as they were standard on later minis.
Note; don't take this as a solution or a quick fix , but more as a "sure ta be sure" measure once you've identified the problem.
personally Harry I'd change the fan to a 6 blade type,
the 12 blade is ok for a 1275 but as their is a bit more heat involved with a 1380 I'd do it as a matter of course,
I looked into cooling long before i first built my 1380, and the 6 blade came up trumps giving the best all round results
joebe1 wrote:Shane does this mean ur comin back out with the mini
Hey Joe.
which one?!! ah with the "unsociable working hours" it's impossible get away to anything . Didn't even have time for this forum the last couple of years!
Don't just remove the thermostate completley as this will cause cavitation, you can however remove the centre of the thermostate and just leave the outer ring. Having a heater or not will not cause the overheating as when the heater is closed is is the same as kining the hose. Overheating as explained above can be from a number of things but from my experience (racing) the standard mini radiator setup is not enough to cope with a modified 1380 engine or infact anything above the 1275 engine especially in traffic, the lack of fan speed and with zero air being directed to the rad (side mount) the engine cannot cool itself, this obviously changes when you get up to speed. When and if you do decide to replace the water pump try and find one of the cast iron impeller type ones as they are a lot more efficient at moving water than the newer style tin ones, if it were me I would ditch the engine fan and go for a GOOD quality electric one and have it wired for constant power.
well a number of weeks later and ive fitted a new high flow water pump ,six blade fan , fan belt, no splits in tubeing ,engine is not running lean took it out for a test run and while driving out of nowhere temp needle goes off the gauge but stop for just 1 min and start driving and it settles at normal centre setting again so i was thinking air lock any way drive around for 25 mins no probs then out of nowhere off we go to boiling again and within 40 seconds down to normal again !! i dont know im lost i think its a priest the car needs
the gauge seems to be reading ok .........................
think ili be giving up soon and pay my good friend paul at minifix a visit
this is just a guess but is your temperature gauge reading correctly?
turns out that with mine it would go up into the red and back down almost immediately when i turned on the heater,
which shouldn't happen, Merlin tested the gauge and it was wrong!
the red line was only 88 degrees, got a new proper gauge and it's all rosey
*edit*
what temperature thermostat are you using?
could be a combination of a high temperature thermostat and faulty gauge?
yes i must test the gauge but have to find one to replace present one to test !! ile have a look in d garage for a spare one tomorrow as a last resort
tnx macker
Two other posabillities , If the cable from the sender unit was earthing somewhere when moving (where it passes through the bulkhead) or a faulty voltage regulator which would also cause the fuel gauge to rise at the same time
the previous owner tried to wire up the fuel gauge and shorted it so no fuel gauge to compare , when temp gauge was reading boiling the other day i took my chance and carefully opened rad cap while takeing care in case of boiling over and the water just raised a little as normal and no mad volcano yes woody electric short might be next thing to check think ile just get a replacement temp gauge and sender and run a new wire separate from loom !!
i tried a 15 psi rad cap too but may put the 13 psi back on .....flushed rad and its totally clear (its a fairly new alloy 2 core one )
hate to think im spending money and time and its just a faulty gauge
If he shorted the fuel sender won't make a differance but if he shorted the fuel gauge he could have damaged the regulator. Doubt if its the temp gauge, my money on regulator.
I'd get the fuel gauge working before going any further with the temp gauge , you know its not boiling.
tnx woody
i got a regulator off paul at minifix yesterday so ile fit it later today and see if my adventure is nearly complete ........till the next one!!
Ile be at mosney either way i could nearly push the car from here
see ye all there .
got a replacement regulator ........ went to mosney and gauge sat at centre ! but no traffic Alas on the way home hit traffic in drogheda and temp needle started going up it eventually settled just under the hot mark so what next ........im wondering if the head gasket is leaking but im not having any obvious signs eg oil in water / water in oil
either way think ile chance going to mondello !!!
Normal for a modified to engine to heat up in traffic,I'd be more worried if the gauge didn't move, my turbo does the same. I have a 82 deg stat in and the electric fan doesn't cut in till 92 deg so the gauge does rise. Remember the gauge is not linear, the firs half represents about 80 deg and the second half about 20 deg to boiling.Engines are ment to be hot.
, but more as a "sure ta be sure" 
measure once you've identified the problem.
