DaraSue and 10907's excellent adventure

[David T]

If you are overheating when moving slow and the fans are running (or should be) the problem is something to do with the fans. Some things to check include:
The circuit breaker for the fans is popping
Check that the fans are both working
Check that both fans are secured to the motor shaft
Check that both fans are pulling in air from the front and blowing it out the back
The otterstat switch could be bad
Verify the otterstat switch is on the bottom of the pipe (early cars had it on the top)

[dn010]

Coolant level?

Edit - while you're at it, check the condition of the expansion tank cap.

[Farrar]

Yeah, it sounds like there may be a bubble of air in the coolant system somewhere, or you may even have lost some coolant. I'd fill it up with coolant the next time it's been sitting overnight. You can't do any damage by overfilling the system -- any extra will be dumped out by the vent tube onto the road behind you (unless your cap isn't working properly, but I assume DMCMW checked the cap as part of their inspection).

[DaraSue]

The weird thing is, it doesn't do it when I'm moving slowly. If I'm parked the fans come on and everything seems normal. Every time it's done it it's been at highway speeds. Maybe Farrar's onto something because it seems related to the angle the car is at - pretty sure I've been on an uphill grade every time it's happened, and this morning when I came down a steep slope west of Medicine Bow, the temp dropped down around 160 and stayed there for a while.

Hopefully Mike is reading this because I have no cell service here for my daily check in, LOL. It did it again today but there was a parking pull-off right there so when the needle started scraping the 220 line I just stopped for a bit. I've moved on to thinking of it as a brief inconvenience rather than something to freak out about, because it seems to be running fine other than that, and I'm not in such a hurry that I can't afford to stop and cool off.

[DaraSue]

I expected today to be fairly uneventful since I was only going to Rock Springs, another 250 miles or so. And for the most part it was.

A couple of interesting things happened, though. I stopped in Sinclair to get something to eat and take a nap. While I was parked, a retired couple pulled up next to me in a Vixen and said they'd seen my car from the ramp and just had to take a look. The husband told me about how Bill Collins designed the Vixen so there was a DeLorean connection there, which I vaguely recall hearing about once upon a time. Neat! We took pictures of each other's cars.

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The other "interesting" thing I already mentioned. On the bright side I'd been wanting to stop and get some pix of my car with the storm in the background anyway.

IMG_20160825_154456.jpg IMG_20160825_154539.jpg

Oh yeah, and my odometer rolled over to 22000. Alas I didn't capture the exact moment like I did at 21. I think I might have put more miles on it in the last 3 days than it's gotten in the last 10 years

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I'm within towing distance of home now. I could have made it if I drove another few hours but I guess I'm not quite ready for the adventure to end yet. Or at least, this particular adventure... JB

[DMCMW Dave]

A couple of interesting things happened, though. I stopped in Sinclair to get something to eat and take a nap. While I was parked, a retired couple pulled up next to me in a Vixen and said they'd seen my car from the ramp and just had to take a look. The husband told me about how Bill Collins designed the Vixen so there was a DeLorean connection there, which I vaguely recall hearing about once upon a time. Neat! We took pictures of each other's cars.

I'm within towing distance of home now. I could have made it if I drove another few hours but I guess I'm not quite ready for the adventure to end yet. Or at least, this particular adventure... JB

The Vixen actually uses the same manual transmission as your DeLorean. That's about the only shared part though. Occasionally we sell a clutch kit to a Vixen owner.

I've got a theory or two on the cooling issue, but I'd start with bleeding the system as everyone else has said. This typically won't cause the problem you are seeing but it could. If there's a bunch of air trapped in the radiator, it's very inefficient but would cool the car fine at low speeds/idle.

[David T]

The Vixen actually uses the same manual transmission as your DeLorean. That's about the only shared part though. Occasionally we sell a clutch kit to a Vixen owner.

I've got a theory or two on the cooling issue, but I'd start with bleeding the system as everyone else has said. This typically won't cause the problem you are seeing but it could. If there's a bunch of air trapped in the radiator, it's very inefficient but would cool the car fine at low speeds/idle.

If it is overheating when moving at speed it *could* be an air bubble but my guess is some kind of airflow problem with the grill, the inlet, the ducting, or the radiator. Are there any emblems, license plate, etc that could be blocking the grill? Another thing that could cause overheating under load is if the timing is not correct or the mechanical or vacuum advance is not working. Last thing to check is if a hose on the suction side is collapsing and starving the pump. Feel if the hoses are soft and/or kinked.

[DMCMW Dave]

I agree, it sounds more like a flow restriction in the cooling pipes. Maybe a kinked hose?

[DaraSue]

I checked the overflow bottle after it had been sitting for an hour or two and it was about half full. To bleed it I need the pressure tester as referenced here, correct? http://www.dmcnews.com/Techsection/cooling.htm

Arrgh, the one thing I couldn't find at Wal-Mart. I understand auto parts stores will sometimes lend them out?

The seller said he replaced the radiator so maybe something's screwy with the lines. There's nothing on the front end that 's not supposed to be there, except the plate holder, but that was installed at DMC MW so it should be kosher (and it doesn't have the plate on it yet.)

[Rich]

To bleed it I need the pressure tester as referenced here, correct?

Arrgh, the one thing I couldn't find at Wal-Mart. I understand auto parts stores will sometimes lend them out?

You can bleed it without a pressure tester, it's just simpler and faster with one.

Yes, some auto parts stores will loan them out. Department store auto sections won't have them. NAPA or another major auto parts place will.

I advise owners to invest in a good one, like the kit made by Stant. It's good for troubleshooting, saves the trouble of trips to get/return the loaner. Also, with the rad cap adapter you can check the radiator cap.

LINK: Stant test kit

Remember, you'll want to drain-refill the coolant every 2-3 yrs. And then bleed the system.