[Healeys] Overheating

[Michael Salter]

Thanks for all that Bob.
One comment regarding increasing the cooling system pressure.
I rebuild quite a few Healey water pumps and can say unequivocally that the
seal type used in both the early and late style of 6 cylinder pump will not
handle much more than 7 p.s.i.
I would not recommend trying that approach.

M

On Sat., Mar. 6, 2021, 4:58 p.m. , <rfbegani at gmail.com> wrote:

> Bob & Mike:
>
>
>
> You both may have seen my requests on overheating of my BJ8 and the
> response from the group.  As a result, I purchased an infrared thermometer
> to determine if my water gauge was giving accurate readings.  The
> thermometer gun told me that my water gauge was 30 degrees higher than the
> temperature of the sensor attached to the block.  At the same time, I
> noticed my gauge will show 120 degrees at rest instead of going down to 90
> degrees which would indicate a 30-degree high reading.  In May when I leave
> for cool Michigan, I will send the gauge to Nisonger to be rebuilt.
>
>
>
> I began to test the temperature of the water going through the cooling
> system at the inlet to and outlet from the block, inlet and outlet to the
> radiator and the upper and lower hoses while the engine is running at idle
> and at 2-3 Thousand rpm.  The chart I created to record these temperatures
> allowed me to produce observations or averages because the flow of the
> water is dependent upon the rpms of the engine.  The engine has overheated
> all of the 40 years I have owned it and has only 1000 miles on the new
> speedo since rebuilding to 20 over.
>
>
>
> At the radiator inlet 134 outlet 85 at high rpms with electric fan
> operating.
>
>                         inlet 103 outlet 94 at idle rpms with electric fan
> operating.
>
>
>
> The above temperatures are recorded at the inlet and all along the hoses.
>
>
>
> These temperatures indicate the pump is circulating water with sufficient
> gallons to cool the engine only when the engine is at high rpms.  At idle
> the pump does not circulate sufficient water to keep the engine cool.  This
> is especially true when you have been operating the engine at high speed
> and come down to 30 – 40 mph and stop and go traffic.  Maybe the real
> answer is to install an electric pump for constant cooling water?
>
>
>
> In the past week, I have installed a large Dorman coolant recovery tank
> and a new 7 psi 1 inch radiator cap because I learned that our radiators
> have a long neck.  Both those changes have reduced my problem of very high
> overheating and resulting boiling over.  In addition, when my water gauge
> shows 212 degrees the water temperature is actually 30 degrees less or
> approximately 185 degrees.  Also, I am not boiling over and loosing
> coolant.  Nevertheless, the engine water temperature is still spiking to
> 210 plus degrees true when coming off highway speeds.
>
>
>
> In my review of various sites, the radiator equipment suppliers and others
> are recommending increasing the pressure in the classic car systems to 15
> psi plus, and coolant recovery tanks “if your coolant system, radiator,
> hoses etc. is new” and therefore can hold the pressure.  Unfortunately, I
> have not found any maker of a 1 inch depth x 2.33 inch diameter radiator
> cap except our 7 psi cap so I can try such a pressurized system.
>
>
>
> Another suggestion on an older discussion at the British Car Forum
> indicated some of the Ontario car owners had switched to Evans Waterless
> Coolant rather than 50/50 coolant water mixture.
>
>
>
> I still have no idea why a minority of our group has overheating
> problems.  More ideas?
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
>
> Bob Begani 67 BJ8
>
>
>
> *From:* Healeys <healeys-bounces at autox.team.net> *On Behalf Of *Michael
> Salter via Healeys
> *Sent:* Saturday, March 6, 2021 12:20 PM
> *To:* Bob Spidell <bspidell at comcast.net>
> *Cc:* healeys at autox.team.net
> *Subject:* Re: [Healeys] 100 water pumps
>
>
>
> Yes Bob, there is something wrong with our assumptions regarding the
> cooling system not being "large" enough.
>
> My wifes Maxima is around 300 HP and the radiator has less area than the
> 100. Certainly it has a couple of very effective electric fans but they
> really don't cut in very often unless you have the AC on.
>
> I'm suspicious of the rate of circulation but I've talked to Larry Varley
> about this subject and he indicated that increasing the size of the water
> pump annular orifice didn't make much difference when he tried it.
>
>
>
> M
>
>
>
> M
>
>
>
> On Sat, Mar 6, 2021 at 11:42 AM Bob Spidell <bspidell at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> I sold my late father's 1955 Thunderbird to my BFF. These cars have a very
> similar problem to Healeys overheating, esp. at idle. When Ford stuffed the
> 292ci Y-Block into the T-Bird, they found the engine was (essentially) too
> short for the long-hooded car, so they 'engineered'--I use the term
> loosely--a cast iron spacer to move the fan closer to the radiator. The
> spacer had the added 'benefit' of severely limiting coolant flow through
> the pump and radiator; there are some aftermarket fixes and my friend,
> after doing the usual radiator re-core, better fan, etc. installed both a
> better pump (larger vanes) and a re-engineered spacer. Attached pic is not
> of the spacer he used--I can't find the link to it--but it shows the
> general idea (Ford basically put a 'dam' in the cooling system to block
> flow, and the improved spacers mostly remove it). It appears this approach
> has improved cooling, though the engine probably still gets warm if it has
> to sit too long at idle. Link is to one of the improved pumps:
>
>
> https://www.classictbird.com/Water-Pump-Modified-for-Higher-Output-1-Per-car/productinfo/8501HO/
>
> Anyways, after doing all the usual stuff to increase cooling, esp. on my
> BJ8, I've wondered if a similar approach would work on Healeys. Their pumps
> have very small vanes, and the cavity in which the vanes operate seems
> pretty small for such a large lump of cast iron (I'm guessing an uprated
> radiator core won't help much if the coolant flow is still hampered; at
> least, that's what I've found). This is probably not an option as, of
> course, our engines don't have a similar spacer to be improved upon, and it
> would be a major task to increase both the cavity's size and the pump (but
> I can dream).
>
> ps. The overheating issue with Healeys is usually attributed to too big of
> an engine in too small of an engine compartment, and too little airflow.
> But, the engine bay in an old T-Bird is huge by comparison--and the engine
> not terribly larger in displacement--and still suffers the same problem.
>
> Bob
>
>
>
>
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