Reply To: Alter LWB Restoration

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#1363
mrmosky
Participant

One little job I wanted to do was to check the cooling system was working properly. I had run the engine for short times, and even driven the UMM to position it into it’s new parking spot, but I hadn’t run it long enough to check whether the thermostat opened or pump was circulating the water.

So today I ran the engine for a longer time, and used an infrared temperature sensor to check the engine temperature.

Raytek Temperature gun

This was interesting. The engine warmed up fairly quickly, but the top and bottom radiator hoses stayed cold. Eventually the engine block was measuring over 90 degrees C, and the radiator hoses were still cool, and the radiator too. So the thermostat had not opened. I was just about to give up on it, when the top radiator hose suddenly started to get warmer, and then the radiator got warmer too. The thermostat had opened. Now I could measure the temperature drop over the radiator, and the engine block temperature reduced to about 75 degrees. So I think that the thermostat was stuck at first and then freed itself. So pump and thermostat now seem to be good. No leaks either, which is a bonus. So the next thing to do is drain and refill with antifreeze mixture, to prevent corrosion.

The sensor I used is a Raytek Raynger, which come up on ebay second hand for £20 now and again. A useful bit of kit for this type of job.

Geoff

  • This reply was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by mrmosky.