friendly advice to anyone who has't carried out one of the temp gauge modifications courtesy of messrs miller or mason...do so!!
went away for the weekend to peak district, decided to take scenic route. halfway up cat & fiddle pass noticed temp went right up! pulled into conviniently placed layby to discover small river under bus :-(
small hole in rad turned into large one. needed 4l of water to top system up, ( pinched from farmers field ).
can't help but think if i hadn't fitted resistor as per dave mason, i wouldn't have known until it overheated and blew head.
as it was, got to campsite, bought pack of "ce lit", never heard of it before, but it has done the job so well i now can't find the leak to repair it properly.
btw castleton back to birkenhead( home ), didn't lose a drop of water.
thanks dave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- (#9169) eddie arrowsmith, 16 Jun 03 15:44
I've been field testing one of Dave Mason's temperature alarms.
Firstly it incorporates the resistor modification, enabling the existing temp guage to be more responsive. It does, in my case, move the normal range to between the 11th and 16th dot on the guage. The guage is more responsive and shows any change in temp instantly. I had the temp up to the hot end of normal, then put the heater on full, the needle fell after a few seconds once the colder water got into the system.
Secondly it has an alarm that you can set to activate at any point you wish. I was touring the Brecon Beacons, with family loaded, over the weekend. It was hot and I was pushing the Townie as hard as I dare to see what the guage and alarm could do. I finally got the needle to almost touch the red section, I now know that that is likely to be around 110, not going there again! Once I parked up as the beast began to cool down, I set the buzzing alarm to trigger at a lower temp, around the 17th-18th dot. Only managed to set the alarm of once more, and that was trying the same hill again with normal driving, then it only started to pip, a pre warning to the full buzzer.
Thank you Mr Mason I now have full confidence in my temp guage ( after 14 years as a Spacecruiser and Townace owner!), it shows whats going on and the alarm allows you to keep both eyes on the road.
See AceAnswers - Temperature Guage - Temperature guage audible alarm, for more info or contact Dave.
- (#9170) Clive, 17 Jun 03 2:55
Yes, a temperature alarm's worth having. Last night, local trip, it beeped after a 5 minute stop when it wouldn't normally. This morning I find the coolant level out of sight - split upper seal on my year-old Halfords radiator cap.
- (#9244) Dave Mason, 21 Jun 03 4:02
Dave, why are you STILL using one of those caps???
- (#9245) david miller, 21 Jun 03 7:12
Oh, am I supposed to follow all this advice as well as edit it!?
I wanted to see how long a Halfords cap would last, removed every two weeks, well maybe not quite, but with Vaseline on the seal. Now we all know.
I had another new Halfords one as a spare which is on today, but you'll be pleased to know, David, that I happen to have ordered the new type cap from David Coombs just a few days ago after Ian Dunse showed me his at the Somerset Jam.
- (#9246) Dave Mason, 21 Jun 03 13:35
Dave would'nt vaseline attack the rubber seal over time?
Silicone grease from a plumbers merchant is good and won't attack rubber.
Chris
- (#9247) chris turner, 21 Jun 03 16:51
The seal is presumably neoprene or something, not rubber and it doesn't look chemically "attacked" but I don't know whether to expect it to be by vaseline. The damage is a tear, as it was on the previous one, and the one before that! - the price of regularly removing it to check the coolant.
I do know the (Halfords) cap went on a lot easier and I could remove it by hand whereas without vaseline I often needed multigrip pliers, even a week after I last removed it.
The new Toyota type (16401 64501, £12) is said to avoid this problem as well as possibly improving the "sucking back" from the expansion tank. I look forward to trying one any day now but may remove it less regularly now that I have thoroughly cleaned the expansions tank (sloshing gravel and water round inside it) so I can at last see the level, plus having an improved temperature gauge and alarm.
- (#9256) Dave Mason, 23 Jun 03 3:28
I can confirm Dave's depreciation of the Halford's type cap seal. I used vacuum grease as used in labs but had the same problem before I saw the light and bought a Toyota one.
- (#9294) Ian Dunse, 23 Jun 03 9:25
I've also got one of those Dave Mason Alarms fitted, and what a difference it makes to my guage, instead of getting flabby through lack of exercise it runs around the scale like a demented what not, on a more sensible note, I find that climbing some of the hills around here, the Cotswolds, the guage relly shows how hot the engine is getting in comparison to the Toyota setup which never really moved form mid position.
So come on you guys protect that cylinder head, get one of these its well worth the small fee Dave's charging for them, and he can even take credit cards now!!!
- (#9295) Andy Lees, 25 Jun 03 13:50
can any one tell me how much antifreeze a 1986 town ace takes my van keeps over heating the only other thing i can think it could be is a blown head gasket
any answers would be most gratful
- (#9467) dave, 6 Jul 03 3:38