Overheating!?

H

hatchm

0
Right I'm now pulling my hair out with this and getting desparate as I am supposed to be going camping next weekend and need to get my camper through its MOT. The story goes like this, sorry its a bit long:

Back in May I went to Newquay - a round trip of over 500 miles without any problems - unlike a usual Commer the temp didnt go above half way, however the alternator was not charging so on my return I fitted a spare alternator I had from an Imp - this had a bigger pully, but I fitted with a longer fan belt and all seemed well. That was until I took her for a drive on a particularly hot day and she appeared to be running really hot, even with the electric fan going.

Thinking it might be electrical I fitted the temp sender from the spare Dodge I have and this read really low so also fitted the temp gauge. This also showed it as overheating after a short drive.

Now convinced that it wasn't electrical I removed the stat, which made no difference, so I removed the rad flushed it through with a hose and flushed the engine out by using a hose down the stat housing. To be sure I then used rad flush and did the hose trick again. Refilled everything, refitted stat and again it showed as overheating after only 5 mins of ticking over on the drive. So I decided to check the waterpump - this seemed fine, so gave it a cleanup and made some new gaskets.

Last night in a final act of desparation I fitted a spare rad that came with the camper last night and tested it at lunch today. I am now pretty convinced it isn't over heating as it went off the gauge after only 10 mins of stationary running. I aslo bought an IR thermometer from maplin (only 19.99!) and pointed it at the stat housing - this only read as around 80c and didnt get any higher.

I am now back at the point were it looks electrical - I understand that the temp gauges read high when not run through a voltage stabiliser. I can only assume that it is as it was working fine before the alternator failed. So I need to know is there an esy test to establish that the gauge is in fact over reading and check the voltage stabiliser?

Thanks

Mike
 
Mike

Get yourself a new temp guage and matched sender. I recently did this with my one, and fitted a TIM guage that is bang on, and doesn't require a feed from the a dodgy voltage stab as it has one built in. A stat housing around 80 is about right - so it will be the stabilzer or guage.

Andy
 
Cool, thanks Andy. That was my thinking - as I have fitted a different gauge and sender it must be the stabiliser. I wish I had just done that in the first place as the old gauge went up when it was revved - seems obvious now. However, I would have thought that the fuel guage would be affected?

Where did you get your gauge from and what is the sender thread size?
 
I got mine off an old landrover - and then bought the sender from Demon Tweeks. You could probably buy everything from them.

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/Performance/Gauges_&_Dial_Kits/Gauges/TIM_Water_Temperature_Gauge_Electrical/813/1528

You will also need a 5/8th UNF male/ 1/8 NPT female adaptor to fit into the housing.

The fuel gauge will also be affected by any voltage regulator irregularities. However, you can get a solid state replacement for them on ebay that supply a steady 10v.

Andy
 
Way ahead of you, ordered one earlier after seeing it on another thread.

I have tested this evening and the voltage at the back of the gauge is 12v so something is amiss - however I cannot find where the voltage stabiliser actually is. My van is a late PA (67) and its not where they normally are on the left hand side of the steering column (or right hand diaphragm as the manual states). I temp fixed up the stabiliser from my spares dodge and the gauge worked fine. So I need to find where it is on my van.

Any ideas anyone? I have tried tracing the wire back and it appears to go directly to the fuse box.
 
You seem to be looking in the right place, on the 'parcel shelf' divider between the steering column and the bit in the middle. Is it an original speedo, some old cars had the stabiliser mounted on the back.

th_P8030045.jpg

And relax
 
Its the earlier type triangular three Smiths dial affair (speedo with fuel gauge in the middle with voltmeter and temp either side). My Imp had one on each gauge, so I know what you mean - nothing so fancy here though. I have taken the dash off and it is nowhere to be found. I even used a small shaving mirror to make sure it wasnt tucked up behind the metal dash.

I have dropped Martin Watts an email as he had the camper before me so hopefully he will help (if you see this Martin, any ideas?)
 
Mine is a 69 van, and it was on the heater side of the divider. Just follow the wires from the dash that go towards the heater motor. It should be there. Happy hunting
 
Thats exactly were it was o the Dodge (I checked that first before ripping my good camper apart) I will have another look tomorrow. However, I fitted a new panel with speakers into the middle gap and had to make supports to take the weight and can't remember seeing anything there, unless it is tucked up - I had my head in there for several hours getting the angles right.

Anyway at least I can stop stressing about it overheating for the moment.
 
It seems that it is a common problem on Commers. Matt and Clare had the same problem with Pootle and as a consequence made slow journeys with frequent stops - when really there was nothing wrong.

I like the set up on my Commer Imp, I don't have a temp gauge, and have to rely on the light of doom (the sender is wired into the oil pressure light). So, I will only stop if it comes on and I don't spend the whole time watching the gauge.
 
I ideally want to keep the standard gauges if I can as the whole van is so original. She seems to be behaving with the voltage stabiliser temp wired in. Once I have sorted the brakes and have the fresh MOT I will have another go at trying to find where the old one is (if it has one) and if all else fails I will run a new live from the fuse box to the gauges and use the solid state stabiliser I got off ebay.

Thanks for all your help, I had put this to the back of my mind since she failed her MOT.

Mike
 
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