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Section : Cooling
Posted By : Tony Hall, 03-Jun-2005, 12:23pm
Hello all. My Spit runs very rough when the needle reaches just above the middle of the temp guage. This only happend when stationary, or driving slowly in
traffic, but it happens quickly! I have flushed out the (standard) cooling system, and the radiator appears to be fine. Could this be due to fuel
vaporisation rather than cooling? I stil have waxstats fitted, and the old heat shield has all but rotted away. I note that there is a lot of varying views
both for and against fitting Kenlow fans, but as the problem only appears when the car is almost stationary, I am considering fitting a Kenlowe. Many of
you Spitfire owners must have experienced the same problem - any suggestions as to fix this?
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Posted By : Neil Nasralla, 03-Jun-2005,
02:01pm
Tony, by all accounts the problems will be almost certainly caused by radiant heat from the engine and manifold on the waxstats and not associated with
the lack of a Kenlowe fan. The waxstats lean off the fuel mixture and are notorious for dodgy running when warm. You may be able to get away with
replacing the heat shield to keep the heat away from the carbs but if you are doing this you will be removing the carbs anyway and whilst doing so I
would change from those dodgy waxstats to the standard and simple jets. The kits are readily available and not too pricey.
I have standard jets, plain butterflies, a standard heatshield that has seen better days and a Kenlowe fan. I have never had any trouble with warm
ruuning when stationary and that, I believe, is because I have never had the waxstats. The club shop does have quite nice aluminium heat shields that
are much more durable than the pressed card and foil affair that I currently have and they look nicer too. They also come up on eBay.
Others may have different ideas but I have never heard a good word about waxstats and they are notorious for the very thing you have described.
Best of luck.
Regards, Neil
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Posted By : Tim Everitt, 03-Jun-2005,
03:42pm
I think Neil has hit the nail right on the head there. Good heat shield. No waxstats. No problem (unless the radiator or the pump aren't doing
their job properly).
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Posted By : Julian Saul, 04-Jun-2005,
06:49am
I had a similar problem with my 1500 having had the engine completely rebuilt. The situation was corrected after reading a tip on this forum,
by fitting jubilee clips to the engine breather pipes at the rocker cover and carburettor ends.
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Posted By : Mark Heaps, 04-Jun-2005,
10:46am
i have a mark iv and i have the same problem, I am currently in the process of re coring and replacing the water pump, i have no heat shield and I
donÂ’t know if I have waxstats or jets (and to be honest i dont know what that means, newbie to the triumph world)
How do I check if I have waxstats?
Mark
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Posted By : Mark Stradling, 04-Jun-2005,
01:00pm
Look at your carbs.
Look under them.
Sticking out the bottom is a piece that the pipe from the float chamber connects to. If you pull the choke cable, this whole piece moves down.
That's the jet. If it looks like a lump of metal, with a wider step at the bottom, it's a waxstat. If it's plastic, with a smoother bottom, it's a
normal jet.
On a Mk IV you should have standard jets, but you can never be quite sure what's happened in the last 30 odd years!
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Posted By : Craig Gingell, 07-Jun-2005,
02:44pm
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Posted By : Tony Hall, 12-Jun-2005, 07:43pm
Thanks for the advice everyone, I intend to try them all!
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Posted By : John Yarnell, 12-Jun-2005,
09:36pm
I think your has waxstats ( I reckon you might have bought it from us !) Niel is spot on. But use the link that Craig has supplied so the whole
thing costs just 4p! Problem solved.
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Posted By : Tony Hall, 02-Jul-2005,
09:19am
Thanks John. You are right, I bought AGH20S from you a year ago. Apart from this problem it is running fine, although I have done extensive
work on the suspension and braking. I still have the gearbox and engine to sort, and the small problem of the crap paintwork and hidden filler,
however, that is why I bought it!
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Posted By : John Yarnell, 12-Jun-2005,
09:37pm
I think your car has waxstats ( I reckon you might have bought it from us !) Niel is spot on. But use the link that Craig has supplied so the whole
thing costs just 4p! Problem solved.