Heath Robinson style Engine overheater Alarm

[TonyBee]

hi hadyn,

A very kind offer, how do they get the probe into the coolant and how much are they - this is just a stop gap till i can get the money saved

rgds Paul

I contacted Haydn after seeing this thread as I have a digital temp guage from here:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/50-150-LCD-Temper ... 3a63b7444e

He sent me an adaptor that fits in the top coolant hose and has a pocket for the probe to sit in. This means that I can remove the probe without losing any coolant.
I will be fitting this in a couple of days and was going to take some photos to post here.
If you would like a picture of the adaptor then just let me know and I will post one here.

Tony

[Paulinwales]

any chance of a photo

mines in the back of the head, and seems to be working well - watch out for when the battery runs flat , got some obscure readings! see my overheating post

most of time reads around 94'C
Anyone else got some temperature probe data to share?

rgds Paul

[splitpin]

Hi Paul, Iv'e had a thermometer similar to yours attached to the engine for the last 3 years or so, I started with it fixed to front of the block, inlet side, and usual temp was similar to yours but now and again it would go up to 100 only when climbing long hills in warm weather. Last year I did the temp guage mod and moved the thermometer probe to the 'economiser' on the exhaust side as it suggested in the mod it gives a more accurate coolant temperature, the usual temp with probe there is about 87 and sometimes goes to 92 or so when climbing in the hot weather. (Thanks again to Haydn for sharing temp guage mod.) Out of interest I also fitted a temp probe to the coolant return pipe under the thermostat, this usually reads around 35, highest I've seen it get to is 55 ish.

[haydn callow]

Out of interest I also fitted a temp probe to the coolant return pipe under the thermostat, this usually reads around 35, highest I've seen it get to is 55 ish.

That agrees with my readings !!

[Paulinwales]

hi splitpin can you elaborate more to where the 'econimiser' is - I am a bit clueless, words like big pipe thing sticking out of midle passenger side engine type descriptions would help. Also i thought the best place now was on the coolant pipe passenger side?

rgds Paul

[haydn callow]

Coolant pipe drivers side....the big one coming out of the cylinder head is probably best but where you have it on the back of the head is fine.

[timmyt]

Coolant pipe drivers side....the big one coming out of the cylinder head is probably best but where you have it on the back of the head is fine.

Hi Haydn,
Do you have the adapter available for sale?

[haydn callow]

PM sent.....

[splitpin]

Hi Paul, the economiser is the lump of metal above the exhaust manifold on passenger side, this is the name given to it in the temp guage mod, don't know if thats its real name, anyway it has a continuous flow from the engine so should give an accurate reading. Mind you I'm not sure if all Bongos have it , maybe only fitted to the later models. I have an update on the temp readings as on Monday I went down to the north peak district for a couple of nights, about 120 miles on motorway then about 25 miles off motorway across pennines. On the way down, a cool day, the economiser temp was about 80-84 and the return pipe was around 30 on motorway and they went up to around 88 and 35 respectively across the hills. Coming back today it was much warmer and the readings were 86-88 and 35-38 all the way until about 20 miles from home the traffic came to a dead stop for 15 minutes, top temps then were 94 and 73 so the return temp went up roughly 35 degrees but the 'economiser' only went up 7 or 8. The modified temp guage at this point had barely reached centre position and I didn't hear any of the fans running, hope it's of some interest to you.

[Velocette]

not that mechanically minded (but that's changing thanks to this forum)

can anyone come up with some ideas where I might put the wires to get a reading of the cylinder head - apparently my oil reading is non too clever/unsuitable. I tried on top of the engine, but wind cooling was an issue, is it worth puttying them into an open thread on the cylinder head? perhaps with graphite putty (a conductor) - i am guessing the cylinder head is the top section of the engine just under the seat, have mainly been looking drivers side, where does it normally go on the kits?

anyone got any ideas
sorry I am still a bit clueless

rgds Paul
PS Will get a kit one day when i'm more flush, so many things to sort, hoses, bleeding, radiators etc

Hi,you could try and fabricate a small shield/shroud type thing to shelter the probe from the Wind.

Burying it in a big dollop of heatsink compound would probsbly help, you can get it from RS and probably Maplins.