Rover V8 temperature

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Sun 29 Apr 2007 00:38
Rover V8 temperature - keo-the-dog
Hi all wondered if anyone knows what is normal running temp on a 3.5 V8 rover. Does 110 C sound about right...cheers...Keo.
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Sun 29 Apr 2007 00:51
Rover V8 temperature - Number_Cruncher
Sounds a bit high to me - how are you measuring the temperature?

Number_Cruncher
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Sun 29 Apr 2007 01:10
Rover V8 temperature - Aprilia
110 is too high. 88-92 deg. C. at the sender.
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Sun 29 Apr 2007 07:52
Rover V8 temperature - Cliff Pope
It sounds a bit like the notorious V8 cooling problem. Two cylinder heads, only one pump, alloy corrosion problems, preferential coolant route if partial blockage occurs in one side.
But first check the accuracy of your measurement. Electric temperature gauges are not very accurate, and senders break down with age.
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Sun 29 Apr 2007 11:23
Rover V8 temperature - nick
What car is it? The gauges in older Rovers (SD1 etc) can be very unreliable. The voltage regulators for the instruments are pants and rarely work well.
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Sun 29 Apr 2007 18:59
Rover V8 temperature - injection doc
The rads are really prone to blocking & the last one of these that I sorted for overheating suffered with temp going high if you drove over 40-50 & the cause was 77 out the 100+ cores in the rad totally blocked as I remember taking the header tank of the end of the rad to be nosey as the client didn't belive it could be the rad
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Mon 30 Apr 2007 00:48
Rover V8 temperature - keo-the-dog
The engine is in a transit van and was converted by Magnum many years ago. The temp is being measured on a TIM guage and is running Kemlow fans using an override switch the temp reading was constant all the way from west london to bristol about 110 miles reading about 110 degrees. drove fine but wondered if the temp was a little high....Cheers...Keo.
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Mon 30 Apr 2007 11:38
Rover V8 temperature - V8Vitesse
Hi,
If 110 is correct, then its too high for the all-alloy V8. Head warping can be a problem with constant overheating. I drive an SD1 Vitesse and try to keep it around 90. A 16inch Kenlowe helps me a lot.
Things to help....an 82 degree thermostat (dont remove it completely!)
Kenlowe fans (which you have)
If you can find one, get a Vitesse spec pump and pump pulley. The pulley is slightly smaller than standard V8 SD1 and so spins the pump a bit faster per rpm.
If not already installed, a Transit van would probably benefit from a 3 core radiator.
Try backflushing the radiator. May be surprised at the amount of crud that comes out.
Always use a 1:1 (50% mix) ratio of anti-freeze and water and change every 2 years.

Hope this helps. I only wanted some info on Spark Plugs!
Cheers
Chris

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Mon 30 Apr 2007 14:10
Rover V8 temperature - keo-the-dog
Hi the reading can't be accurate as it was reading 90 this morning and it had not been started for two days I will have to get the guage sorted or replaced. Thanks all for the advice will let you know how things turn out...Keo
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Mon 30 Apr 2007 16:43
Rover V8 temperature - tr7v8
All depends where the sensor is? Is it still in the thermostat housing? If not it could be any temp. as the temp varies around the engine, I'd calibrate it first in a cup of boiling water.
2 stats for V8s 82 deg & 88 deg, my 7 runs the 82 & a decent size rad with a 16" Clova fan. The fan is triggered by a 88 Deg otter switch in the downstream header tank & left idling will trip for about 30-40seconds every 4-5minutes.
Don't forget the 7 engine bay is quite small & some of the heat is radiated from the manifolds. Older V8's are very prone to weeping head gaskets as the age, mine had this & this can cause slight over heating at highish speed.
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Thu 27 Oct 2011 16:23
Rover V8 temperature - Sandman Malti

My 1985 V8 Defender has started the same problem. I have changed the water pump, thermostat, cleaned the radiator and changed the coolant but it is still running hot (over 100 degrees celsius) when run for a not so long drive. I had to fit an electric fan together with its original one but it still runs hot. If my engine has the corrosion problem, is there any way of clearing this without opening the engine ??

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Thu 27 Oct 2011 20:47
Rover V8 temperature - injection doc

The are very prone to suffering from heavey corrosion in the radiator, viscous fan failure and head gasket weakness.

what happens if you turn the heater on full heat and full fan speed in the car, does this help keep the temp lower ? If its lowers the chance is the rads blocked and I can tell you no amount of cleaning will clear it. They bung up something chronic ! internally

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