Running temp range

[stephen low]

G'day all

Now that the car is running and I've had a few coolant spills can anyone tell me at about what temperature range (degrees C) the AU motors are supposed to be run at?

Also does anyone know at what temperature the normal AU set up would trigger operation of the first thermo fan.

My wiring isn't complete so this may be part cause but my thermo didn't activate as I reached temperature except via my overide thermostat into the fan.

At least this showed up all my minor pressure leaks on my hoses and I'm out to get some proper nut and bolt type hose clamps today.

It all just seemed to get very hot with the first two start ups on recent nights!

Any details and comments appreciated.

Cheers

[Aussie Mike]

Cant help you on the wiring slowy but you might also look into making sure all the air is out of the system too. An air pocket in one of the heads will bring the temp and pressure right up. It can be quite a pain to burp all the air out of a new cooling system especially a cobra where the radiator is positione low down.

Cheers

[stephen low]

Thanks Mike.

I presume then the observed apparent high temp and pressure leaks might have something to do with an air pocket as you say? That is air under pressure causing grief rather than any other failing in the system!

What tricks are there for burping?

And I thought I'd passed this stage at least 10 years ago!!

Still also after comment on temps. and fan operations guys!

Cheers and thanks

[cameron02]

Hi Stephen,

I have the same problem with my thermo's. I will try the burping also.

[Aussie Mike]

The main thing is to have the fill point for the system as high as possible. Air bubbles will make their way up to it eventually as the water pump pushes coolant through. The old trick used to be to leave the radiator cap off while the engine runs for a while and keep an eye on the level to see if it drops. You might have to wait a while till the thermostat opens but the dropping coolant level indicates the air is being purged out of the system.

Cheers

[sideshow]

aus have a fully sealed system so no overflow

a std au efi engine turns on low fan i think at 95 to 100 and hi speed fans turn on at around 115 ive been told

i wired one up in a transit van ages ago and ran an aftermarket temp sender to turn fan on at 90 but think customer said it was better when fan came on later

so we fitted one around 100 or 105 i think new engines like to be run hot
especially for emissions

the reservoir bottle on aus has water always circulating thru it so its easier to bleed them u cant leave rad cap off fully if yr running a std au cooling system u just crack the screw on rad cap on the bottle

new engines run a more complex cooling system and hosing compared to old carby donks so i do sometimes run into problems when trying to getwater flowing right way or even when bleeding

if u want to bleed it find the highest point in the cooling system where u can remve a hose or let water out and get all the air out first

[cameron02]

Thanks Mike and Sideshow.

Sideshow. From what you are saying it sounds like I have my system set up incorrectly. I have simply fitted a reclaim bottle like the old systems. What should I do? If the water is always circulating through the reclaim bottle, does that mean it needs two hoses? one in and one out?

[sideshow]

what do u mean reclaim bottle

is ita bacis overflow bottle and when it cools down it sucks water back into radiator

that might be ok just use a higher pressure rad cap and make sure rad filler point is highest when bleeding otherwise use a cut up 600ml bottle to use like a funnel to bring filling point higher

[Bryan Wilson]

Stephen,
Find a water hose or connection that is the highest on your engine and after ruining the engine enough to get the chill off it stop the engine and open the hose or connector and air will come out. Repeat this until only coolant burps out and you will find that the coolant stops blowing out the overflow.
As you are using a real engine the place I burp mine is the heater feed as seen in this photo. its to the left of the dizzy in front of the carby.



Also my engine runs at 80*C summer or winter.
Cheers,
Bryan

[cameron02]

Thabks sideshow. Yes it is a basic overflow bottle.

[stephen low]

G'day All

A further visit by the sparky today has put my wiring at about 95% complete. This means my battery charges during running and almost all things electrical work.

Also learnt that the sparky had set up my thermo to only operate off my manual thermostat. Now that this is set for a decent temperature operation my system isn't overheating or overpressurising as I first experienced!! So all is good.

Even took the opportunity to drive down our very short court to the local servo opposite to pump up the tyres. Luckily no stray wallopers appeared but still managed to attract a couple of young Ford bucks checking out the bonnetless beast as I gassed the tyres!! Front alignment all to hell but WT.... it was a great great short drive!!!!!!!!!

Cameron

The overflow bottle needs to have the right set up. It will accept excess fluid from the coolant system into the overflow bottle, and will allow this to spill to the outside world if overfull but will suck back any fluid into the main cooling system as it cools.

I used an overflow bottle from a 90's Hyundai I think. The right set up only works in one direction so don't go putting it in backwards! That will just make a mess of your garage.

Cheers

[Ross Smith]

Hi Stephen,

I have an AU 5 litre in my RMC, it is a new engine and came with a thermostat that opens at 89degrees, the thermo fans are set to come on at 90. The overflow/reclaim bottle works really well, it fills to about half and then sucks it back in again as it cools. The engine runs happily at 90 degrees.
[IMG][/IMG]

[stephen low]

Thanks Ross

The only part I've been mucking up is the reclaim bottle returning fluid back into the system as I've been opening the cap after running. But now that the engine temp is under control, I will do some fine tuning and leave it all alone and see how it runs.

From your pic, is the big idler pulley one of the std ford pulleys? Is it smooth or notched ( won't say ribbed - sounds like something else??!!?) and how have you mounted the shaft arrangement, in fact what does this pulley revolve on?

I ask as I'm not so happy with my idler pulley arrangement and want to improve it!

Cheers

[sideshow]

make sure u have a recovery radiator cap and another thing i have heard is the resevior bottle cant be too low as it makes it harder to suck the water back in but not sure if this is true

think that pulley replacespower steering resevior/pump assembly

did an xr8 v8 into a hiace recently and the power steering resevior

andpump sits in that area and sits high aswell

[Ross Smith]

Hi Stephen,

As you can see from the photo's the pulley is grooved to match the belt. The mounting bracket was fabricated from a piece of steel plate, the two lower mounts are bolts that protrude from the water pump housing and the large bolt goes back into a thread that was in the head. I think the pulley came from a Jeep, I had a piece of bar machined to fit the pulley bearing and tapped for the bolt that retains the pulley. It's simple, but does the job of maintaining contact area on the water pump pulley.

Cheers

Ross

[HISSIN]

best way to bleed system get old radiator cap, cut 50 mm hole weld 300 mm pipe system will bleed with no problem if heater is fitted turn on hissen