Scott and the List,
Sorry, I can't resist on this one.......
Frankly, if the most you got up to is 210, you are doing just fine. As Tom
Hall and others more experienced than myself will tell you, in tests Ford
conducted years ago, Ford V8's run more efficiently, economically and with
less wear in an operating range of 190 to 210 degrees. You might begin to
get concerned (IMHO,) when the operating temp approaches 220 degrees.
The general rule is this: if it ain't puke'in coolant, you are OK. THAT is
your sign that the car is overheating. In my experience, I have only
started to puke coolant when the car reaches 230 degrees. Also, if you
dribble a bit of coolant after stopping the car, that is alright as well,
because it is normally associated with residual heat build-up after you shut
down the engine. I think in this case you will find that the temperature of
the block & heads is approaching or in excess of 230 degrees.
My Tiger typically runs in the range of about 185 to 205 and it can be awful
darn hot this time of the year in San Diego. I run a 180 degree thermostat
and am thinking about going up to a 190 degree if you can believe it.
If you REALLY want to tear into it and make some modifications, you can but
based on your description, I personally do not think it necessary. In my
limited experience, all the electric "pusher" fan gives you is a few
precious minutes of breathing room....when I used it in the past, it did not
seem to make a great deal of difference. A couple of things to check:
First, check to see that you are getting the proper readings from your
sending unit to the gauge. Stu Brennan did some very extensive testing and
came up with some really valuable data that you can find at:
http://www.corpdemo.com/tiger/techtips/gageohms.html.
Second, do you have an old original core or a new more modern core? The
original radiator core is three rows of tubes, staggered 2-1-2. Why they
consider this a three row core, I know not. Newer more efficient cores are
4 rows of tubes with 14 fins per inch spacing. Count the fins per inch and
this is likely to give you a good point of comparison. When I went to
change the core in my stock radiator, Steve Laifman made the excellent
suggestion to go to a Modine "H Core" and I have been exceptionally pleased
with the results. However, it is my opinion that one should try just about
everything first before going this route. A "stock" Tiger should be
fine....it is when you get into highly modified engines is when you begin to
run a bit warmer. Third, are you running a "stock" fan blade and do you
have the shroud in place? In my opinion and experience, flex fans are
really worthless, and if not of good quality, rather dangerous. If you are
lucky, the PO changed to the Ford "Canadian" (shall we name it for Theo and
Tim :) ) Six-blade fan. This is the BEST fan blade to utilize as noted by
Dick Barker, Tom Ballou and many others. You can tell easily if you have
this fan as it has aluminum fins riveted to a steel hub. The number stamped
on the fan blades is: CF-09DE-A. The final and a bit more intrusive steps
are to pull the thermostat and check it's rating. You should be running NO
LESS than a 180 degree thermostat. Going lower WILL NOT increase cooling,
and may in some circumstances hurt cooling. You might also check to see how
long ago the radiator was pulled and boiled or rodded out....that is if you
have access to receipts. Recall the post recently from a lister (sorry, I
cannot remember who,) that when he pulled is radiator, he found it almost
80% blocked? This is a relatively cheap and easy diagnostic.
As an endnote, I agree with Bob Palmer on the Water Wetter. I have not
really noticed a difference.
If it is not puking, it is not overheating. To quote others wiser than
myself, "....if'n it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Sorry to all for the long post. And yes, I am confident that some of my
opinions will run contrary to others. That's one of the reasons I like this
list so much. I think I have expended my allotted time for the
year.....back to lurking.
Regards,
Allan
(former "Tiger cooling"' pain in the ass.....)
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