Got Hot and Bothered

[Cater_Racer]

Hi All,

We attempted to race Snetterton yesterday, Tom was going really well but after 20 mins, just as I was going to call him in for the driver change, he came in with the car boiling and temperature gauge in the red.

Opened the bonnet and the rad fans weren't going, the rad was cold!!!!

The water was boiling and full right up, when I slackened the filler cap it was boiling up and flooding out.

So we're guessing a thermostat failure.

I've looked on 944 foot to floor and it suggests under the dissy? is this correct for an S2?

TA

Gerry

 

[PSH]

Yes, thermostat is in the waterpump housing which indeed is under the dissy cap, or near enough..I am talking turbo of course but believe the S2 is the same, others will correct me if wrong...

Pete

 

[scam75]

Hi Gerry

The thermostat is in the water pump, held in by a circlip. One hose needs removed. There is plenty room in an S2 but it can be quite fiddly to get out and then re-seat the new one.

Stuart

 

[zcacogp]

Gerry,

As has been said, S2 thermostat is in the bent hose off the front of the block underneath the dizzy. Getting the circlip out is a pain as it's very hard to see what you are doing while you are doing it so you are working by touch alone, but once you have the circlip pliers in the holes in the end of the circlip it is easy enough. Angled circlip pliers are a must.

Are you sure that the waterpump is OK as the symptoms could be of a failure there as well. Once you have changed the thermostat then try squeezing the big hose from the front of the block when the engine is running; failed waterpump will make this squishy and easy to squeeze.

Oli.

 

[Cater_Racer]

Thanks everyone, I've removed the offending article and stored in the bin.

I haven't replaced it, race cars don't need thermostats.

I can't try out the water pump ruse ATM Oli as the exhaust broke and the neighbourhood wouldn't appreciate it. I'll wait until their all asleep around 0300hrs should do the trick. Or maybe wait until I've refitted the exhaust......?

 

[zcacogp]

Gerry,

The exhaust broke again? Alas!

Maybe some new neighbours would do the trick. Advertise for motorsport fans and they won't mind one bit.

Sorry to hear that Snetterton wasn't a success. You haven't had a great run of it in your S2 of late due to reliability issues.


Oli.

 

[Cater_Racer]

You're right Oli, Tom got a race, well one lap short of what he would have done.

We should really have had a test day shakedown after all the work Tom put in over the winter, but we ran out of time.

It wasn't any of the bits he'd done flywheel clutch etc all worked fine and the new chip showed a performance gain.

The problems with the exhaust are two fold, one lake of a support strut around the rear roll bar area. Two when we de-catted the exhaust we mixed SS and MS tubing, the welds are a weak point maybe the two types of steel have different expansion co-efficient. Hence the welds seem to crack.

I'm going to try and strengthen the welds, didn't do it today, I was all day struggling with the other bits, I hope to get it done this week.

Either way it's gotta be right for Spa!!

Cheers

Gerry

 

[zcacogp]

Gerry,

Very glad to hear that Tom's work was good. Did you not run it at all between putting the spanners down and driving it to the start line of the track? I guess you get a little test run in and out of the garage but can't do any more as it's not road-legal. What would happen if he accidentally moved the numberplates from his red one to the black one for half an hour or so?

A new chip? Great! Promax one? My thread on such a thing when I bought one is here:

https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=541717&high=944+chip

I hope your experience is as good as mine.

Exhaust? Yes, welding stainless to mild steel is always a bit tricky to get a good join. Are you gas or MIG welding it? It's not much fun either way. Would a sleeve help?

Spa - yes, I need to book some tickets to get there! What times are the races you are in?


Oli.

 

[Cater_Racer]

We didn't have a chance to run it, so we drove it onto the trailer, and little bit around the paddock, never got beyond 3rd gear or over 2000 rpm.

So Tom's engineering skills proved worthy.

I've only got arc welding equipment, it really needs MIG or better, something to get it to flow rather than blobs on the outside.

I'll have hunt round see what i can get my hands on locally. We are backing up the plan with a building a second de-cat exhaust using the red car as a template. (I've got the black car in Chester)

I'm not sure it could be passed off ..........

 

[zcacogp]

That deserves respect; taking a car straight from a home-done clutch swap to the start line with so little testing. Well done Tom.

How colour-blind are your local cops? They don't look that different ...