The Triumph 2000/2500/2.5 Register Forum

Hi,

Been driving the estate for the last week or so and noticed that standing still for more than a few minutes the temp climes to the top. open road for about a mile or so and its back dead centre.

Apart from thermostat, flushing the system what else would people recommend?

cheers
Ian

Does the fuel gauge read correctly?

If not, it's the voltage stabiliser on the back of the speedo.

If it genuinely is getting hot, flush the rad and the block and consider testing or replacing the thermostat.

Hello Ian,

if the temperature returns to normal when driving on the open road, that indicates a lack of air through the radiator when standing still. What sort of fan do you have?

Alec

Hi Colin, the fuel gauge appears for be fairly accurate, but will order a spare stabilizer on the off chance, i also have a spare thermostat but will test the current one.

Alec, the fan is the standard 8 blade crank

Hello Ian,

there appears to be little wrong with your cooling if it runs at normal temperatures on the open road, the fault being at rest which is why I asked about the fan. As it's a standard crank driven fan it seems rather peculiar, unless it's a viscous fan and it's not driving properly or a fixed fan fitted back to front (I don't know if that is even possible)?

Alec

When I have experienced my Triumphs getting hot in the past I have checked the water level in the rad or for leaks around the radiator and water pump, then thermostat is another source I check after the other two. Then I will flash the rad through dropping the bottom hose and the top hose, then fill up the radiator and remove the bottom hose a few times with water running through, this sometimes clears out some gunk, then I have done the same with the heater hoses, by slipping them off and on with the hose running through the system. I have found too that after all this effort no change so the radiator has been sent away to be flushed or replaced. I have noticed too when the rad has come out it is remarkable heavy, compared to a reconditioned one. It doesn't take much for the car to heat up when a couple of radiator flutes are blocked, usually when in traffic or sitting idling
Or if you are really unlucky it could be the start of something more sinister like head gasket starting to seep

Hello Bigestate,

the puzzling thing about this situation is that after a mile running on the open road then the temperature returns to normal, which seems to eliminate a blocked radiator, non opening thermostat etc but indicates a lack of airflow when at rest. While it's possible that the radiator is not 100% it is sufficient to cool the engine given adequate air flow when driving at a reasonable speed.

Alec

Slight airlock within the upper reaches of the cooling system, I wonder? - you might try topping-up with the nose of the car pointing uphill or slightly raised on a suitable jack.

That said, the temp gauge on the PI goes to about 3/4 max when restarting hot after a brief rest, yet returns to normal temperature within about 30 seconds of starting and stays that way whether at speed or moving slowly (or even standing) in traffic.

If you've got access to one of those multimeters with a temperature probe, you could try an independent check of temperature at the thermostat elbow and see if it corresponds with the reading on the gauge...

well system flushed including the heater and replaced the thermostat, refilled with ready mixed coolant and now vcan not get the gauge above 75% though today is cooler.

only slight concern is the new thermostat from CW does nor have the little ball float. fingers crossed.

I have had a similar thing before on the last estate we had and that was the radiator partically blocked. Assuming the 'stat is working OK, the water temperature going into the radiator top should be around about the 'stat opening temperature. If appreciably higher then that suggests the radiator hasn't enough cooling capacity - which it should have even when stationary. So, either you are generting too much heat in the engine, or the radiator is partially blocked and can't get rid of enough heat.

Very carefully, with the palm of your hand, see if there are areas of the radiator core that are not as hot as elsewhere. That might help.

One of those infra-red non-contact thermometers is very useful for all this!

Cheers,
Mike.