The two thermo switches I got from the wrecker were rendered useless: I heated one of them with a blow torch (then discovering they're very sensitive) and dropped the other on the concrete floor, breaking it instantly.
So, what to do when the world seems to be letting you know it doesn't want you to is to stop trying to do it. I fitted a nicer switch on the inside of the car and made it slightly more secure (but still hanging down from the dash). Since it's Winter now, I rarely have to even switch it on, provided I avoid heavy traffic (*very* difficult in Melbourne these days).
Found out the following about how it heats up:
1. Putting the car into neutral when coasting downwards (don't speed, though) is great for reducing the coolant temperature.
2. Putting the car into neutral at red lights no longer has any cooling effect, since the fan is now gone, so doing it is now a no-no.
3. Provided I never forget to look at the gauge every minute or so, the car will always operate at the right temperature.
4. Rain doesn't necessarily cool it better.
5. Cold air does. Driving through the mountains saw the temperature gauge drop quite a bit.
6. Travelling at 60-70KM/H is good for cooling, 80 is OK, but 100 will heat the coolant. The engine has to work proportionally harder at 100 to overcome the additional air resistance and produces much more heat, whereas at lower speeds the wind blowing through the radiator is more cooling than what the engine produces.
The car seems to use less fuel, and (this could be imagination, but) it also seems more responsive.
Thanks for reading.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Wheel Alignment Explained, simply
I just did a search for someone to align the wheels on the little woman's Verada. I found this Kmart tyre and wheel have a beautiful animation here that perfectly explains what caster, camber and alignment of your wheels do. All we have to do, as older car owners, is ignore the struts and just look at the angles.
Amazingly useful animation, I think. It took me about three hours of research a year or two ago to find out this same information and put it all together. Watching and playing with this flash will explain it all in a few minutes.
EDIT: It's obviously been taken from a U.S. site (that car's steering wheel is on the wrong side)
Amazingly useful animation, I think. It took me about three hours of research a year or two ago to find out this same information and put it all together. Watching and playing with this flash will explain it all in a few minutes.
EDIT: It's obviously been taken from a U.S. site (that car's steering wheel is on the wrong side)
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Electric fan again
Well since it was about 35 yesterday, I decided to take the Valiant to pick the little one up from school. When it got to operating temperature, I just left the fan on. To further test it, I turned the air conditioning fan to full and the thermostat to the coldest setting. In stages of course since I didn't want the embarrassment of being stranded. It all worked really well, and I left the fan on a few minutes after stopping each time to prevent the usual heat build up, which all too often leads to an embarrassing blowing off of excess pressure (and water).
Also during Friday I visited the wrecker and got a nice looking volt meter from a Magna (well, it was probably put together in the same factory). Have to put it on yet, but it tested OK. Should then be able to tell if we ever get a case of over voltage or if the alternator just dies.
I also picked up a different thermostat: One I had a threaded nut for. Although I haven't faltered yet with turning the fan on and off, it'd be nice if it were taken care of automatically. This will be a job for next week.
Drive safely, preferably in an old Valiant, of course.
Also during Friday I visited the wrecker and got a nice looking volt meter from a Magna (well, it was probably put together in the same factory). Have to put it on yet, but it tested OK. Should then be able to tell if we ever get a case of over voltage or if the alternator just dies.
I also picked up a different thermostat: One I had a threaded nut for. Although I haven't faltered yet with turning the fan on and off, it'd be nice if it were taken care of automatically. This will be a job for next week.
Drive safely, preferably in an old Valiant, of course.
Monday, March 4, 2013
A few improvements
OK, last weekend was a big one for the Valiant. Several improvements made, and the car is better by far.
Luckily (or it may be normal) the alarm has the ability to activate the central locking. Mine pulses a 400mA signal. The only way to get it working is to use two standard (bosch type) relays.
Here is how a relay is wired (taken from http://www.pbase.com/image/35092434.jpg):
The activation signal is (in my case) wired with a 12V wire at the other end. Activation signal from alarm to 87, battery to 30. This will allow the other two terminals to bridge. Other terminals are 86 to earth (a good one) and 87 to the central locking's "lock all" signal wire.
Do the same with the unlock.
Electric fan
Pulled out the heavy one and put the electric fan in. Took ages (about 6 hours) and had to be offset, due to the water pump being in the way. Had to put another relay in since the fan draws a few amps. Did this first, and the ammeter went nuts every time I turned the fan on.Bypassing the firewall plug
I did the improvement mentioned last post. A simple wire to connect the alternator with the starter relay. Now of course the ammeter doesn't work (sits at zero). I have to look out for a volt meter to replace it or turn the ammeter into a volt meter. I'm thinking the second option is preferred. It's more difficult since the thing will have to be calibrated but considering over-voltage killed my last battery it's essential to get one soon.
Linking the central locking to the alarm
Luckily (or it may be normal) the alarm has the ability to activate the central locking. Mine pulses a 400mA signal. The only way to get it working is to use two standard (bosch type) relays.
Here is how a relay is wired (taken from http://www.pbase.com/image/35092434.jpg):
The activation signal is (in my case) wired with a 12V wire at the other end. Activation signal from alarm to 87, battery to 30. This will allow the other two terminals to bridge. Other terminals are 86 to earth (a good one) and 87 to the central locking's "lock all" signal wire.
Do the same with the unlock.
Next plans
Put a relay in the headlight circuit, a bigger alternator and electronic regulator.Thursday, February 28, 2013
Battery renewal
The Valiant's battery died a few weeks ago so I went and got another. This one is the heaviest duty one I could get, since the old one was only two years old.
The battery guy asked if the voltage regulator was OK, since over-voltage will do this sort of damage (acid everywhere, very low voltage, battery not charging). I shrugged and said "presume so. It's fairly new". It was also only a year or two old (probably less), but I got the old multimeter out and checked. Seems the guy just saved me another $160 (I stopped measuring when it got to 16.5V and turned the engine off). Buy one here and you will pay $125 (pentastar) to about $200. In America, you'll get a brand new one for about $2.95 but only if you live there. Those who sell to us charge about twice this. I landed one for a bit under $12, but it took two weeks. Now the Valiant is up and about again, and I have to wonder why the massive price difference. It's not the usual twice or three times as much like we're used to. We're charged over forty times what the Americans pay. No wonder the Internet is so popular. Unfortunately I missed the Ballarat swap meet because of the time taken (it arrived the day after).
When I was investigating the regulator, I found out that the Valiant's Ammeter is a major point of failure. No other car manufacturer threw 100% of generated current through the firewall (twice). This is bad, because as the car ages and the wires start to corrode, resistance increases. The physical effect of this is that the wire gets hotter. Frequently, the connectors melt (they are plastic) and everything short-circuits. It scared the bejesus out of me and I'll make conversion to a volt meter and re-routing of the alternator output. Here are some relevant references:
Replace your alternator and regulator with electronic variety
Explanation, and instructions on re-routing the wiring and replacing the ammeter
The battery guy asked if the voltage regulator was OK, since over-voltage will do this sort of damage (acid everywhere, very low voltage, battery not charging). I shrugged and said "presume so. It's fairly new". It was also only a year or two old (probably less), but I got the old multimeter out and checked. Seems the guy just saved me another $160 (I stopped measuring when it got to 16.5V and turned the engine off). Buy one here and you will pay $125 (pentastar) to about $200. In America, you'll get a brand new one for about $2.95 but only if you live there. Those who sell to us charge about twice this. I landed one for a bit under $12, but it took two weeks. Now the Valiant is up and about again, and I have to wonder why the massive price difference. It's not the usual twice or three times as much like we're used to. We're charged over forty times what the Americans pay. No wonder the Internet is so popular. Unfortunately I missed the Ballarat swap meet because of the time taken (it arrived the day after).
When I was investigating the regulator, I found out that the Valiant's Ammeter is a major point of failure. No other car manufacturer threw 100% of generated current through the firewall (twice). This is bad, because as the car ages and the wires start to corrode, resistance increases. The physical effect of this is that the wire gets hotter. Frequently, the connectors melt (they are plastic) and everything short-circuits. It scared the bejesus out of me and I'll make conversion to a volt meter and re-routing of the alternator output. Here are some relevant references:
Replace your alternator and regulator with electronic variety
Explanation, and instructions on re-routing the wiring and replacing the ammeter
Monday, January 7, 2013
Hot weather and how to keep the old girl cool
When you have a classic car with A/C how do you keep it cool?
Here are some tips for keeping your car cool, from most easiest to less easiest ;-):
1. Clean your radiator, check your thermostat. I was amazed at how much rusty crap was blocking the radiator a few months ago. Clean it, as in take the radiator out of the car and tip it upside-down, hose it and buy some new concentrated anti-boil/anti-freeze. Also, very important to solder up any leaks or take it to get it fixed: Water leaks get worse due to the increase in pressure when it's hot. While you're at this, check your thermostat. If it works OK but your radiator isn't the best since they're all old and most have a few blockages, you can reduce the possibility of overheating by fitting a lower temperature thermostat. this makes the engine run slightly less efficiently, but I'd rather it use a little more fuel than break down at the first traffic jam. In Melbourne, very heavy traffic is a given and a nightmare for old cars.
2. Fit a better fan. The std fan for the Valiant 225 is a four blade. This is crap really, and at a recent (Bendigo, Nov 2012) swap meet I got a chromed hemi 6 bladed chromed fan (although the chrome has seen better days) for $10. This definitely made a big difference, but the car still overheats on really hot days (like last Saturday, 40°C). Bloody heavy fan but it pulls a lot more air through. It made a difference straight away, and the Val would definitely have failed on me before now if I hadn't done this.
3. Fit a shroud between the fan and the radiator, as close as possible to the fan. This forces more air to come from the front of the car into the radiator, rather than from around the engine bay. I modified a modern plastic one, pulled off a Volvo. Doesn't matter if you cut, glue, tape, screw etc. it together if you just want the effect.
4. Fit an electric fan. I bought one but haven't fitted it yet. It's the narrowest large diameter electric fan I could find ($60 ebay, sent from QLD) because the A/C compressor means there isn't much space. Electric fans have the advantage of efficiency: They don't operate when the water's cold and since it's not driven by the motor they don't take any effort to run (you get more horsepower and better fuel economy, and it gets better at higher engine speed like extractors). That said, they do require electricity, and when running, the alternator produces more drag on the engine. However, it's the best solution and the most difficult (I haven't done it yet). You'll need to completely remove the manual fan, of course, and possibly fit new screws (in case you need to put back the old fan which you should keep somewhere handy).
5. Check/renew your water pump. If your water pump is an older one or you have been a bit slack in putting the green inhibitor in the water it'll be corroded, and much less effective. It's easy to remove the pump and check this. If your pump is badly corroded, get a new one. I have a new one in the shed (hmm.. might start keeping it in the car - you never know) and they're not expensive or hard to find (auto surplus in Mitcham usually have them in stock, or even Repco). If your old one was corroded, you'll notice an immediate improvement.
Here are a few driving tips:
1. Is your car an automatic? If so, put it into neutral at the lights: Melbourne has the worst traffic and sitting at the lights is what overheats your car. Here's why: Your car idles slow in neutral, slower in drive, and it seems that although the faster idle creates more heat, the faster fan speed as well as the faster water pump more than makes up for this. I've tested it and in drive, my car overheats much faster than in neutral. If the traffic lights are known to take more than a minute to change, turn the engine off.
2. With aftermarket A/C you usually have a thermostat dial: When at the lights, turn it to warmer (less cold) and have the car in neutral. When not at the lights have it cooler.
The A/C heats your coolant up in two ways:
i. Dragging on the engine, slowing it down and creating more work for it.
ii. The condensor (at the front of the radiator) is the hot part of the heat exchanger, and heats up the air before it gets to the radiator (it sits in front of the radiator).
If your car is overheating, choose all or some of the following to slow or stop it (depending on the circumstances):
* Turn off the A/C.
* Stop the car. The water temperature will appear to go up rapidly when you do this and the radiator may blow out some water due to the pressure.
* Turn on the heater. This will provide additional cooling, albeit at the expense of comfort.
When you stop the car whilst overheating, it will probably blow some pressure in the form of water and/or steam. This is normal and nothing to worry about. If you're wanting to just put in some more water either wait for the engine to cool down (like, an hour) or throw a cloth over the radiator cap and remove it (note: It's really dangerous to remove the cap from a hot engine) then with the engine running pour in some water. If you don't have the engine running, the temperature difference once you start the engine may crack the block or head.
So to summarise:
* Flush your radiator by removing it
OK, that's Mike's tips for driving in the heat. I didn't drive the Val today: Took the missus' Verada instead (mmm... thermostatically controlled electric fan). Told you I hadn't installed the electric one yet: Might do so this week.
Mike
Here are some tips for keeping your car cool, from most easiest to less easiest ;-):
1. Clean your radiator, check your thermostat. I was amazed at how much rusty crap was blocking the radiator a few months ago. Clean it, as in take the radiator out of the car and tip it upside-down, hose it and buy some new concentrated anti-boil/anti-freeze. Also, very important to solder up any leaks or take it to get it fixed: Water leaks get worse due to the increase in pressure when it's hot. While you're at this, check your thermostat. If it works OK but your radiator isn't the best since they're all old and most have a few blockages, you can reduce the possibility of overheating by fitting a lower temperature thermostat. this makes the engine run slightly less efficiently, but I'd rather it use a little more fuel than break down at the first traffic jam. In Melbourne, very heavy traffic is a given and a nightmare for old cars.
2. Fit a better fan. The std fan for the Valiant 225 is a four blade. This is crap really, and at a recent (Bendigo, Nov 2012) swap meet I got a chromed hemi 6 bladed chromed fan (although the chrome has seen better days) for $10. This definitely made a big difference, but the car still overheats on really hot days (like last Saturday, 40°C). Bloody heavy fan but it pulls a lot more air through. It made a difference straight away, and the Val would definitely have failed on me before now if I hadn't done this.
3. Fit a shroud between the fan and the radiator, as close as possible to the fan. This forces more air to come from the front of the car into the radiator, rather than from around the engine bay. I modified a modern plastic one, pulled off a Volvo. Doesn't matter if you cut, glue, tape, screw etc. it together if you just want the effect.
4. Fit an electric fan. I bought one but haven't fitted it yet. It's the narrowest large diameter electric fan I could find ($60 ebay, sent from QLD) because the A/C compressor means there isn't much space. Electric fans have the advantage of efficiency: They don't operate when the water's cold and since it's not driven by the motor they don't take any effort to run (you get more horsepower and better fuel economy, and it gets better at higher engine speed like extractors). That said, they do require electricity, and when running, the alternator produces more drag on the engine. However, it's the best solution and the most difficult (I haven't done it yet). You'll need to completely remove the manual fan, of course, and possibly fit new screws (in case you need to put back the old fan which you should keep somewhere handy).
5. Check/renew your water pump. If your water pump is an older one or you have been a bit slack in putting the green inhibitor in the water it'll be corroded, and much less effective. It's easy to remove the pump and check this. If your pump is badly corroded, get a new one. I have a new one in the shed (hmm.. might start keeping it in the car - you never know) and they're not expensive or hard to find (auto surplus in Mitcham usually have them in stock, or even Repco). If your old one was corroded, you'll notice an immediate improvement.
Here are a few driving tips:
1. Is your car an automatic? If so, put it into neutral at the lights: Melbourne has the worst traffic and sitting at the lights is what overheats your car. Here's why: Your car idles slow in neutral, slower in drive, and it seems that although the faster idle creates more heat, the faster fan speed as well as the faster water pump more than makes up for this. I've tested it and in drive, my car overheats much faster than in neutral. If the traffic lights are known to take more than a minute to change, turn the engine off.
2. With aftermarket A/C you usually have a thermostat dial: When at the lights, turn it to warmer (less cold) and have the car in neutral. When not at the lights have it cooler.
The A/C heats your coolant up in two ways:
i. Dragging on the engine, slowing it down and creating more work for it.
ii. The condensor (at the front of the radiator) is the hot part of the heat exchanger, and heats up the air before it gets to the radiator (it sits in front of the radiator).
If your car is overheating, choose all or some of the following to slow or stop it (depending on the circumstances):
* Turn off the A/C.
* Stop the car. The water temperature will appear to go up rapidly when you do this and the radiator may blow out some water due to the pressure.
* Turn on the heater. This will provide additional cooling, albeit at the expense of comfort.
When you stop the car whilst overheating, it will probably blow some pressure in the form of water and/or steam. This is normal and nothing to worry about. If you're wanting to just put in some more water either wait for the engine to cool down (like, an hour) or throw a cloth over the radiator cap and remove it (note: It's really dangerous to remove the cap from a hot engine) then with the engine running pour in some water. If you don't have the engine running, the temperature difference once you start the engine may crack the block or head.
So to summarise:
* Flush your radiator by removing it
OK, that's Mike's tips for driving in the heat. I didn't drive the Val today: Took the missus' Verada instead (mmm... thermostatically controlled electric fan). Told you I hadn't installed the electric one yet: Might do so this week.
Mike
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