[TR] 1971 TR6 Cooling

[John Macartney]

Robert
It's not at all unusual for Triumph engines to run hotter than others - even in the same model spec. 
I drove many of them when new-ish in temperatures you mention and some ran hotter or cooler than 
others.
This issue was a perennial problem in Coventry and many engineers wanted the six cylinder unit 
lengthened to delete the siamese between cylinders 3 and 4 and for larger coolant galleries. 
Engineering vetoed it many times on the grounds of cost, added weight and added length. From memory, 
this move would have made the block about 3 inches longer.
As Andy Mace suggested, check the actual temperature of the coolant when the 'stat opens. Other 
reasons discovered long ago by thousands of service departments can be small manufacturing variances 
in the wiring inside the gauge or higher/lower resistances in the voltage stabiliser. I've known 
cars give a different (lower) reading by simply swapping gauges and/or stabilisers and doing nothing 
else. Sad fact is the temperature gauge itself never was of the highest quality and that's why I 
prefer instruments with capillary tubes and specific readings on the dial face. Even then, those are 
mass-produced as well, so cannot be depended on to give the degree of accuracy many of us would 
like. Of course, if you're really hot, you can always use the heater blower as an additional cooling 
medium :)

Jonmac

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Knapp" <robertgknapp at yahoo.ca>
To: <triumphs at autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2009 10:59 PM
Subject: [TR] 1971 TR6 Cooling


>I have done a complete body off restoration of my TR6 including engine rebuild
> radiator rebuild etc.  Since completion I have driven the car about 600
> miles.  On very hot days 85 to 90F (that is hot here in Toronto) idling in
> traffic the temperature guage gets to about the three quarter mark but has
> never boiled over also at highway speed during this hot weather the guage runs
> above the centre mark.  I am considering my options which I think would be to
> instal an electric fan on the existing radiator (infront of or on the engine
> side of the radiator) or an aluminum radiator with or without an electric
> fan. I would really appreciate comments from the list regarding this issue.
> Thxs, Bob Knapp.
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