Hi Peter, First thing I'd check is that your fan belt is in good condition and is at the proper tension. I had a low battery condition combined with a warmer than usual engine temp, and it turned out my belt was loose. Next, I'd consider a radiator flush and fill. I had one done at Jiffy-Lube. They use a pressurized unit to swap the fluid. I'm not sure if the old coolant was getting bad (it seemed clean and the correct color), but the swap cleared out some brown sludge and engine temps improved. Eventually I ended up replacing the water pump and thermostat (overzealous of me, in retrospect).
I'd also check that the heat shield is in place between the carb and exhaust manifold. Also check the routing of your fuel lines so they aren't too close to any hot spots. I had a similar "hot start" problem. Make sure you're starter is bolted down tight, so the gear teeth mesh cleanly. After a new battery died suddenly, I replaced the starter solenoid, and eventually the battery. Problem solved. If that hadn't worked, I would have the starter checked - I had one full of gunk on a tractor once, acted like a low battery, but there was just too much friction in the starter to get a good spin. Regards, Paul Meyer '78 Spitfire 1500 ___________________________________________________________ Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 13:23:21 +0200 From: =?iso-8859-1?B?UOl0ZXIgQvNuYQ==?= <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: cooling-ignition-fuel??? I have run the first 400km with my spit mk3. Everything seems ok except of cooling. At our climate, 30-35C (86-95F, I think...) is normal especially in July-August period. At this temperature the reading on the gauge is 50% cruising at 80-90km/h (50-55mph) and the engine works perfectly. Problems begin in towns or in traffic jams driving in lower gears. The engine stalls in idle or it seems having ignition problems at higher speed. I have the same problem, when I drive correctly (gauge at 50%) and stop for 5 minutes. Restarting the engine in this cases is difficult, the starter can turn slowly the engine and after restarted, stall often, because during the 5 minutes the engine is not cooled and the gauge gets to the critical 60%. I have replaced the old coil for a new one, this was the only used part in the ignition, but it did not help. I have small radiator and normal fan. Fuel pump seems working. What do you think about it? thanks, peter /// [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list /// Send admin requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool /// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive /// Send list postings to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /// Edit your replies! If they include this trailer, they will NOT be sent.
