A Hot Running Pinto Or Not

[davos]

Hi could I pick a brain or two. My pinto westfield seems to be running hot even at this time of year. The temp gauge is reading circa 95/100 deg although I know you cannot always rely on this as being accurate. All the top hoses seem to be very hot including the heater hoses and the hose from the thermostat back to the rad howevever the bottom hose remains relatively cold. I thought at first it might be the thermosat. Would this be the case as I believe the pump draws the water from the bottom of the rad pushing it around the engine. Maybe I am just un necessarly concerned.

[rocket_rabbit]

Thermostat or waterpump. You can easily check your themostat by removing and putting in boiling water to see if it opens

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

My Pinto runs hot if I am tootling along due, I assume, to inadequate airflow through the radiator core. Air locks are a common Pinto problem too, but it sounds as if you have that one covered.

[Welly Jen]

Personally I wouldn't trust a car temperature gauge, especially a Westfield one, as anything other than a guide without independent confirmation from another instrument. See if you can borrow a thermocouple, or infrared temperature gauge and check out what is really happening. Maplin do some cheap ones if you want to buy something. Just putting your hand on a hose tells you nothing as anything more than around 40C will feel hot and much more will burn if you if you hold your hand there. You need to know if the high temperatures the gauge is showing are real before ripping everything to pieces. There may, or may not be a problem.

The top hoses should be warm and the bottom hose cooler as the water flows from the top to the bottom of the radiator and back in to the water pump as you are seeing. First step I think is to find what the real temperature in the top hose is. Do you have a radiator fan temperature sensor switch in the top hose in the Westfield supplied fitting for Pinto's? Is the fan on all the time?

My Pinto engine car shows 75 to 80C when travelling, going up to 90 to 95 when stuck in traffic. This happens to be similar to what is seen on the calibrated ECU water temperature sensor, so I know that the gauge is pretty good. I can then keep an eye out if the gauge is showing different from normal.

Jen

[alexander72]

i had 90 in traffic stationary today and 55 to 75 cruising at 65 ish in a cross flow... should i be worried ? dont think so,,,

[Mark Williamson]

i had 90 in traffic stationary today and 55 to 75 cruising at 65 ish in a cross flow... should i be worried ? dont think so,,,

Sounds like you don't have a thermostat fitted, and you are getting too much water flow at speed.

[langy]

My old pinto used to run around the 90 deg mark, but when stuck in traffic it used to increase to around the 100 deg mark (temperature based on gauge in car).

[kirkyboy5]

"i had 90 in traffic stationary today and 55 to 75 cruising at 65 ish in a cross flow... should i be worried ? dont think so,,,"

james you should be worried...you have got a cross flow

[Captain Colonial]

i had 90 in traffic stationary today and 55 to 75 cruising at 65 ish in a cross flow... should i be worried ? dont think so,,,

Worried - no. But 55 is too low once warmed up in cruise mode. Really should be 80-85, maybe 90ish on long motorway journeys is about average. Not running an engine at optimum temperatures does it no favours. Winter time, check your thermostat - I suspect it's either missing or stuck open. Worth doing IMHO.

[alexander72]

cheers scott - i will consult Martin (the former owner) and then pass it to an expert for further investigations....i'm not worried about my cross flow Kirky Boy.... it's far quicker than my ability or reaction speed so i'm more than happy :-)

[Pubcrawler]

cheers scott - i will consult Martin (the former owner) and then pass it to an expert for further investigations....i'm not worried about my cross flow Kirky Boy.... it's far quicker than my ability or reaction speed so i'm more than happy :-)

There is no thermostat fitted James , I was a whimp as I only went out on very warm days :d .

[alexander72]

hehehe - cheers Martin...do you think i need one - as the fan cuts in to reduce temperatures quickly - or is the issue maintaining enough heat in the engine at running speed.... i'm no mechanic so would welcome the advice... James

[Captain Colonial]

Someone will come along in a minute to confirm, but the usual remedy IIRC correctly is a thermostat that opens around 82 degrees or so, and some modify it by drilling a few small holes in the thermostat itself to aid flow and help with air pockets. Easy job you can do yourself.

[alexander72]

i need to get a man in......i struggle to get petrol in it at the garage as i'm such a chump mechanically - i will revert to Troy and Steve and rely on their expertise - I climb tree's and cut wood so i'll stick to that - thanks for the help Scott, Mark Williamson et al.... (thats latin that is)

[Captain Colonial]

In that case, don't rush and leave well enough alone - it works, after all. At some point a local member can assist you and save you £100 in labour for a £5 part. Even I might assist if beer was available.