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MG MGA - Thermostat sleeve

I fitted this this morning after all the comments about overheating, in the hope that it would help a bit with my overcooling issues.

It did exactly what all others have indicated - it reduced the temoerature by about 4 degrees.

As that is exactly the opposite of what I was trying to achieve, it's back on the bench!

The radiator blind does the job perfectly, though I still have to find a better place to mount the chain at the driver end. The grille muffs need a small repair to be usable. I am sure they will be great in the winter.


dominic clancy

Dominic,
i would be curious to see how the rad blind turned out. Got any pics. gordon
Gordon Harrison

Lots of threads about overheating in hot climates, and now overcooling in cold climates.

Neither should be a big problem here in UK, (where coincidently? the car was designed!!) but this year we need something for overwetting!

Gordon, does the coupe go out in the rain?

Sorry Dominic, didn't mean to hijack your thread.
Neil McGurk

Neil
Even on a day with 30C plus, the car runs too cool, around 71C.... even on a fast run up a steep mountain pass 75C is hard to reach without blocking off large parts of the radiator On a cold day (0C) it will get up to a max of 50C, which is still in choke territory. Switzerland is not (contrary to popular belief) a cold country, in fact it's warmer thatn the UK by quite a margin except in the mountain peaks. It should be, being 1000km south of you...

Gordon
I'll take some pictures, but I built it so that you can't really see very much at all, and don't notice it unless you look for it.


dominic clancy

Dominic, do you have a thermostat in this car ? a 185% hopefully and no sleeve. does your temp. gauge read 212% when you put the sender into boiling water ?
A seat of the pants guide to engine temp. is whether the heater is blowing warm or hot air. Hot air says the temp. is in the ball park. Warm air usually indicates the wrong spec. thermostat, all things being equal. Remember the thermostat is there to set the base running temp of an engine, after that the radiator takes over.
Maybe you have been through this already, but I just can't see how the engine would not get up to temperature even idling in your garage if set up as above. Maybe you have a giant radiator and top tank. Or it's running extrodinarly rich. Black smoke pouring out........
S Sherry

Do you have a thermostat in this car ? YES a 80C one, made no difference when I switched out a 70C one

Does your temp. gauge read 212F when you put the sender into boiling water ? YES, (well 100C to be precise) and having checked the gauge for calibration with an industrial digital temp gauge, there is clearly nothing wrong with the gauge at all.

Maybe you have a giant radiator and top tank. NO, the radiator is standard MGA with no high performance mods at all (I had a bit of a battle with the rebuilder to convince him that I wanted it absolutely standard as original).

Or it's running extrodinarly rich. Black smoke pouring out........
Definitely a tad on the rich side to avoid any issues with pre-detonation (remember this is a Judson-equipped car), but not at the point where I am laying smokescreens!
dominic clancy

Pictures of the radioator blind for Gordon
dominic clancy

Dominic, point taken. I guess I'll have to add this to my list of things I don't understand in this world. If you eventually get to the bottom of this problem , please post it. Good luck Sean
S Sherry

Try again


dominic clancy

and one more


dominic clancy

.


dominic clancy

Dominic

Your overcooling situation is so unique, that there must be something fundamentally different in your set up. You have gone through all the standard stuff with us, so what is left? Is it anything to do with your mesh grill (as shown in the gallery) putting more air through the radiator?

http://users.telenet.be/mga/MG-Owners-Gallery/MGA/album/slides/Dominic_Clancy__Zurich_Switzerland.html

Steve
Steve Gyles

I suspect the supercharger setup is a contributing factor, some how.
Andy Bounsall

The engine is not standard: 1622 060"oversize (so about 1725cc) with Oselli Stage 2 MGB head, and of course the Judson supercharger. Cooling system is absolutely stock, no high performance stuff anywhere.

The radiator blind is a very recent fitting, and works but addresses only the symptom, not the cause.

If anything, logic would dictate that this setup should run hotter than standard, but I get ice on the outside of the carb in cold weather, even though it sits directly above the rear of the exhaust manifold.

I have to replace a tappet cover gasket soon, when I shall attempt to install a second J tube and breather cover at the rear tappet cover (not sure if the clearances will allow this). I'm going to try removing the heatshield (the setup reuses the standard MGA carb heatshield) to see if that makes any difference to operating temp. The slightly complicating factor is that cold air=power, and I am probably chasing about 5C to get the car permanently in the correct temp range.


dominic clancy

Dominic

You made no reference to the mesh grille. Did you have the overcooling problem before you fitted it? i.e. with the standard grille.

Steve
Steve Gyles

I've had the issue ever since I installed this engine, which preceded the mesh grille (and although it does give a freer airflow, I can't believe that it makes that much of a difference to the cooling, it's more cosmetic)
dominic clancy

The blown 1500 in my Magnette (otherwise stock except for a Moss blower and headers) takes longer to warm up with the blower but does run at a normal temperature. I have ducted my carb to take in fresh air rather than hot air from the engine compartment.
You certainly have a unique situation!

Rich
Rich McKIe

Dominic

The only other thing that comes to my mind is the volume of cooling air passing through the radiator. Perhaps you have more than is standard. This could be caused by 2 factors: Different from standard pulley wheels on the combination of crank pulley and water pump (larger crank pulley, smaller water pump pulley), resulting in a faster fan speed at any given RPM. Alternatively, or in addition, you may have a more coarse blade setting than on the standard fan.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Faster fan or coarser blade pitch, the fan would be noisier (at the same rpm) than your other car. When you find out you may have a market on your hands, at the least you will do quite a service to the rest of us hot runners!
Fuzz
Russ Carnes

This thread was discussed between 06/09/2008 and 13/09/2008

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