Kurt,
That sounds pretty close to normal, if you ask me. Maybe 5-10 degrees high
when running. --The temperature always skyrockets when the engine is turned
off. -The block is a huge heat sink, and with no coolant circulation.....
...But it should fall back in range very fast once the car is started again.
Never did any harm to mine, in 25 years.
You could backflush your radiator, just to be sure, --and also several of us
have found that running straight distilled water, with a bottle of Redline
"water wetter" can drop the running temp by as much as 10-15 degrees. --It
has worked well for me.
It does not sound like you have a serious problem, and the car may be fine as
it is, but the 50-50 antifreeze mix was too high for summer. Some additional
things to check if wanting to keep the car original.... (IE, not including six
blade fans, oil coolers etc.)
Check Timing
Check mixture (A tad rich?)
Make sure all radiator shrouds are in place
Use straight distilled water with water wetter. (add antifreeze in the fall
!!)
I would try the last item, and enjoy the ride!
David W. Jones
'62 Mk II BT7 tricarb
Cumberland, RI USA
----- Original Message -----
From: Kurt Leslie
To: healeys@autox.team.net
Sent: Saturday, July 16, 2005 6:17 AM
Subject: enginetemp
It's been a hot and humid summer in the NE and I have been driving my
newly restored bt7, I had heard all the info about the cars running hot,
but I am concerned about how hot. The car runs about 190-195 as long as
moving along, but will rise close to 200-205 if stopped for any length
of time. My other concern is when I shut off the car engine the temp
will rise to 220+, can this damage the engine?. I was originally running
a 50-50 mix of antifreeze and water and reduced this to 75-25 mix which
helped a little but I don't think enough. Car is all original including
4 blade fan. Are there other things to be concerned about. kurt
|