Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Waterman
I'm rethinking my testing logic and data collection methods.
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Phil, I think what you're doing is fine. That's really good data you've collected, it tells the whole story when it's plotted. You can see the thermostat opening at t = 10, then the radiator works perfectly for the next 20 minutes at idle, but when you increase the revs the engine temp starts to soar, giving every impression it would boil if you continued. Perhaps you could let it go a few minutes longer next time and see if it boils. It can't hurt the motor provided you switch off immediately.
There's only one improvement I can think of for this test regime, and that would be a coolant flow meter. It would be very useful to know what the flow rate is doing in response to RPM increase, because it would tell us if the radiator is partially blocked. The temp graph doesn't tell us much there, because although it shows a huge drop in delta when the revs increase, which indicates greatly increased flow rate, it doesn't mean a great deal if the baseline flow at idle is being restricted by the thermostat. We need to know absolute flow, not relative flow, and only a flow meter can tell us that. They're dirt cheap nowadays, eg $57 US for 1.5" diameter:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-...572166866.html
On the subject of flushing radiators, I recall using a kit back in the '70s which had a tyre valve on the hose fitting, the idea being to introduce a burst of air into the backflush flow to help dislodge particles. I don't know if it's still done that way but it makes sense to me. However I only used it in a servo for routine servicing, so I don't how effective it would be on a problem radiator. I haven't had much luck clearing blocked radiators over the years, despite using some very savage chemicals at times. Last year I put a whole bottle of phosphoric acid in a blitz radiator and left it for a month! It was bright green when I emptied it out but when I stuck it back in the truck it made no difference. You'd think by now there'd be a chemical on the market specifically designed to dissolve that brown stuff that clogs radiator tubes. Unfortunately it seems mankind has yet to come up with a way to unblock long skinny tubes except by poking things into them. In that respect we don't seem to have progressed beyond the monkey poking sticks into ant holes.
I was amused by the Coolview thermostat, I thought only someone like me would think of something so weird! I love it as a dress up item and it would be very instructive to see a thermostat working, however apart from that I don't really see the value. My query would be replacement thermostats, ie. do they sell the thermostat separately or do you have to buy a complete new unit.
Look forward to your next data set Phil.