Some variation 'may' be normal. It also might mean lack of proper flow of
coolant through the system. First, check that the thermostat is functioning
properly. The old 'put it in a pan of boiling water and measure the temp at
which it opens' deal. Somewhere around 180 degrees F.
You might flush the radiator (and heater core while you're at it). You
might consider having it professionally done (boiled, I think).
Also, make sure the water pump is circulating at 100%.First check would be
to see if there is any excess 'play' in the pulley with the belt removed.
Just my quick .02
Terrence Banbury
> ----------
> From: Andrew Holmes[SMTP:holmes_law@hotmail.com]
> Reply To: Andrew Holmes
> Sent: Monday, April 03, 2000 12:52 PM
> To: jmcneal@ohms.com
> Cc: spitfires@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: Night moves (long)
>
>
> Nice evening drive, in spite of the adventure . . .
>
> As far as your temp goes, I'm certainly no expert on cooling systems. All
> I
> can say is that I have a rebuilt engine and rebuilt radiator. My temp
> gauge
> has never gone above a tick or so to the right of center, and in fact
> usually stays left of center. I have never had an overheat problem, even
> in
> Saturday's 80 degree stop and go San Francisco traffic.
>
> Check your radiator out.
>
> >From: "Jeff McNeal" <jmcneal@ohms.com>
> >Reply-To: "Jeff McNeal" <jmcneal@ohms.com>
> >To: "Spitfire List" <spitfires@autox.team.net>
> >Subject: Night moves (long)
> >Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 20:31:05 -0800
> >
> >Today was the warmest day we've had in San Diego in some time. This
> >evening, about an hour ago (7pm), I had an errand to run. A check to put
>
> >in
> >the mail to Joe Curry for the tach I just bought from him (thanks again,
> >Joe!) and a deposit to make at the bank.
> >
> >The temperature outside was about 67 degrees. As I made my way towards
> the
> >freeway, I glanced up just long enough to take in the beautiful night sky
> >and the bright stars above. Taking a deep breath of satisfaction on my
> >first night out with Mrs. Jones, I was reminded of how I felt when I took
>
> >my
> >first Spitfire out for the first time at night back in 1976 when I was
> 16.
> >Man, it felt SO good. The feeling REALLY took me back -- seeing the
> >freshly
> >cleaned and reassembled guages illuminated in the dark; glancing over my
> >shoulder to see the warm red glow of the taillights (the only car I've
> ever
> >owned where you can see the taillights while you're driving), the purring
> >exhaust note; the cool night air, etc.
> >
> >Then, I noticed something sort of funky at the stoplight right before the
> >freeway.
> >
> >When the car was idling, the lights all went very dim, even at 1,000 RPM,
> >but they brightened up and seemed fine at about 1,400. Oh-oh. I had a
> >few
> >silent, yet choice words for my Lucas generator and voltage regulator,
> the
> >light turned green, the lights were bright and I was on my way. On the
> >freeway, I hit speeds up to 75 MPH, but didn't want to sustain 4,500 RPM
> >for
> >long, so I dropped back to about 65 MPH and enjoyed the ride into town,
> >checking those stars, along with the rest of the traffic, on occasion.
> As
> >I
> >exited the freeway, I noticed the same thing with the lights dimming
> again.
> >Loose fan belt? Maybe, but I sure didn't think so...
> >
> >At the second light after I exited the freeway, where I was in the front
> of
> >the line in a left turn lane at a major intersection, I suffered a
> complete
> >and TOTAL electrical failure, after I let the RPM dip too low. The left
> >arrow had just turned green for me and BLIP! No idiot lights, no
> >headlights, no ignition -- no ANYTHING. S%$! "C'Mon, Mrs. Jones! Speak
>
> >to
> >me, baby!" I knew I couldn't stay there and as I opened my door to begin
> >pushing the car out of the intersection, horns started to blare from
> >several
> >cars back. I had to push slightly uphill and at that moment, I was VERY
> >grateful that the Spitfire is such an easy car to PUSH.
> >
> >A good samaritan in a Jeep stayed behind me at I pushed the car uphill
> and
> >safely to the curb on the street perpendicular to where I had been. He
> >offered to give me a push, but knowing the massive body damage that would
> >result, I politely declined. Realizing that I after driving 350 miles
> with
> >no major problems, I had gotten rather cocky and didn't have my cell
> phone.
> >What's worse, I didn't have a flashlight or any tools with me, either. I
> >did NOT want to leave the car there, open and exposed. By the same
> token,
> >my wife was out for the evening and I knew that my two boys at home would
> >begin to worry if I didn't check in soon.
> >
> >Opening the bonnet, the first thing I checked were the fuses. I had two
> >spares, fortunately. Unfortunately, that wasn't the problem. All the
> >fuses
> >were fine. I wriggled the wires connected to the generator, solenoid,
> >battery and coil. Still, nothing. I felt around and checked the
> ignition
> >wires behind the dash. All connected. The wiring harness is very
> recent,
> >installed by the PO not too long ago. I've seen messy wiring before, but
>
> >my
> >wires are all orderly (as much as possible, anyway) and good. I was
> >beginning to stress a bit, muttering, "think, THINK" under my breath,
> when
> >a
> >second Jeep pulled up in front. A young man got out of the passenger
> side
> >and asked if I needed a hand. I explained the problem and he had no clue
> >whatsoever. Since the fuses were fine and nothing had burned up, I
> thought
> >that the battery connection just HAD to be the culprit. I wriggled the
> >positive lead around on the battery post again and --voila! We had
> >ignition.
> >
> >Greatly relieved, I profusely thanked Corey -- and his father who had
> >stopped to lend a hand. If push came to shove, I would have used their
> >cell
> >phone to call a tow truck.
> >
> >As I pulled away from the curb, I gave the samaritans a wave and a toot
> >from
> >the dual note horn, pulled into the post office, dropped Joe's check in
> the
> >mail after climbing over my passenger seat and headed off to the bank.
> >Happy again, and adding "flashlight" to the tool items I want to begin
> >carrying in the trunk. The cool night air felt good, since pushing the
> car
> >30 yards or so generated a sufficient amount of body heat. After getting
> >into some strange contortions at the drive up ATM machine, I've decided
> >that
> >drive throughs in my RHD Spitfire are a thing of the past. I also took
> >note
> >that my lights no longer dimmed at the intersections. At 1,000 RPM, the
> >charging system, now reconnected to the battery, was doing its thing
> >properly. Although they dip to the left, must say that I was very
> pleased
> >with the performance of what I'm assuming are the original Lucas sealed
> >beam
> >headlights. Bright enough that I won't be ditching them for halogens
> >anytime soon! I'll try to aim them a bit better for right hand roads,
> but
> >I
> >was duly impressed.
> >
> >Alls well that ends well.
> >
> >Question. I've noticed (even at night or when its cool) that my
> >temperature
> >gets into the top third region of the scale when I'm idling at a stop for
> >any length of time. I seem to recall this as being normal. While
> driving
> >at speed, the temp rarely gets past the first tick of the center
> position.
> >
> >Best wishes,
> >
> >Jeff in San Diego
> >
> >'67 RHD Spitfire Mk3 aka "Mrs. Jones"
> >Jeff's Classic '67 Spitfire Mk3 site
> >http://www.ohms.com/spitfire/spitfire.shtml
> >home of the NEW Totally Triumph Auction
> >"By Triumph enthusiasts, for Triumph enthusiasts"
> >http://www.ohms.com/cgi-bin/TRauction.cgi
> >
> >* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> >
> >
>
>
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