Jim,
I had this same problem for a long time after I bought my TR6. I tried
everything - EVERYTHING - that every one else has mentioned on this list, with
absolutely no relief. Whatever I did, the car overheating after even a short
time
idling. The only thing that helped was to keep the engine revved up to 2000rpm
or more.
Since revving up the engine helped, I decided it was a water flow problem,
and not air flow (the added electric fan was no help at all, and has long since
been removed). Even though the previous owner had completely rebuilt the
engine, and installed a new water pump just before I bought it, out of
frustration
I decided to replace the water pump. When I took the old one off, it appeared
to be in perfect condition, so much so that I almost didn't replace it. Given
that I had the new one in hand, I went ahead and replaced it anyway, and
BINGO! no more overheating.
The problem? Even though the pump was brand new, it was faulty. The impeller
vanes were not square as they should have been. They had a slight angle to
them, not enough to be noticeable if you weren't looking for that sort of
thing,
but, evidently, enough to reduce their effectiveness at low speed. Just to
make sure I wasn't imagining things, I took the new pump back off and compared
the two. There was only the slightest difference, but it was enough to make the
difference. With no other changes, I can now sit at idle in the hottest
weather, as long as I wish, with no overheating.
Sorry for going on so long, but it's something that I wouldn't have believed
if I hadn't experienced it myself, so I wanted to pass along the info as
something to be aware of.
Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN
|