[Lily]

Well guys, it's hot. My poor Argos fan is struggling to keep me fresh and I am typing this from my garden, since it's impossible for me to work from my office.

With temperatures climbing past 30°C in many parts of the UK this weekend — and 33°C expected in some areas, breakdown services are seeing a 20% spike in vehicle failures.

The combination of extreme heat and busy weekend travel (we all want to go to the beach, after all) is pushing many cars to their limits. Here's how to avoid getting stranded and what to do if you are:

5 Things to Check Before You Drive: 🚗

• Coolant: Check engine coolant levels. If your red coolant light comes on, stop immediately.
• Tyres: Make sure your tyre pressure is correct and tread is above 1.6mm.
• Oil: Check levels are neither too low nor too high — both can cause problems.
• Fuel: Expect more traffic and delays. Don’t risk running low.
• Electrics: Lights, indicators, fans, and A/C — make sure everything is working.

How to Cool Your Car Down Fast: 🧊

• Open all windows on one side and swing the opposite door to ‘fan’ hot air out.
• Start the engine, set A/C to coldest, and use external air (not recirculated).
• Direct airflow through the lower vents to push hot air up and out.
• Once it’s cooler, close windows and switch to recirculated air.
• Park in the shade and use a windscreen sunshade whenever possible.

If you want to know more, check our blog here: Breakdowns surge as heatwave sweeps across the UK

Have you ever broken down in hot weather? Got your own tips for beating the heat behind the wheel?

[brian159james]

Hello,

Fantastic guide... Thanks for sharing.


Best Regard,
Brian

[Rolebama]

My car is fine, it's me that I'm more concerned about. Phew!!!

[Drivingforfun]

My mum had some kind of overheating problem with her 1967 Mini when she was 18 or so, her and her dad had to drive it to the mechanic stopping every mile to fill it with water... it was summer and her dad was insistent on having the heater on full to stop the car overheating

I'm sure one of the older members will be able to vouch, or more likely tell me they were being stupid as the amount of heat drawn off from the heater is inconsequential, or something 😂

[olduser]

early Minis had a V belt drive for the cooling fan and Dynamo or later Alternator (1960's I think).
The crankshaft pully was made of two pressed steel discs spot welded (3 welds) to a steel hub with no torsional damper.
The sheet steel pully would crack around the spot welds due to metal fatigue allowing the pully to open slacking the belt off so the fan did not cool the radiator.

The radiator was sized for the world market, much later a cheaper (smaller cooling area) radiator was fitted for the home market.

Using the heater could make the difference between boiling and not boiling so worth a try the difference between boiling or not is a fraction of a BTU (old money) or Joule (new money).

In my minis, I fitted an electric cooling fan, and fitted a solid crankshaft pully.
The original fan consumed power so it was noticeable on a small engine also less noise.

The fan came in a kit with brackets to move the radiator closer to the air outlet in the wing with a rubber seal to ensure exciting air went through the radiator. There was a thermostat to go into the bottom hose, it only needed to turn the fan on in queues. This set up worked even after I had tuned the engine.

Most modern cars have electric fans fitted and it is worth checking they are working.
Twin fan setups may have a motor in both or a motor in one with a belt drive to the other.

When topping up the coolant remember, there will be a space for expansion as the water heats up, and room has to be left for that, if you overfill the surplus will be expelled as the engine heats up but this is diluting the antifreeze which is also antirust. While you are checking, check the pressure relief cap is working, is the seal good and moves with the spring.

NEVER TRY TO TAKE THE FILLER CAP OFF WITH A HOT ENGINE, YOU WILL GET SCALDED. (If you do get scalded no doubt you will get scolded😀)

[Rolebama]

I came across a few problems with the Kenwood electric fan setups back in the day. The thermostat was mounted inside a hose. This was all well and good in theory, but because it deformed the hose, would cause water leaks. I found fans incorrectly fitted so they tried to blow air against the natural air flow causing overheating, and a few incorrectly wired so they didn't work at all. Why Kenwood even bothered to include a manual amazed me, as the majority of motorists don't even look at the car manual.

[Drivingforfun]

@Rolebama was that the case with manuals, even back in the day? I got the impression that back in the day the man of the house was responsible for the car and would take it seriously and with pride... maybe that's WAY back in the day...the day before even 🤣

[Lily]

@brian159james thank you! Glad to hear you found it useful. Did you travel anywhere this weekend?

@Rolebama how was your weekend? I barely slept thanks to the heat, I am really considering buying an AC unit. It's rainy and cold here now, and I couldn't be happier.

@Drivingforfun did your grandpa insisted on having the heater on? I missed something because I don't get it 😅

[Rolebama]

@Drivingforfun I am aware of the reading of the manual was considered an insult. Men knew everything back then.
One thing that has always amazed me is that people will spend up to £250 on a TV Recorder, and spend hours poring over the manual. Yet spend £35,000+ on a car, and never even take the manual out of the sealed plastic bag it comes in.

[Rolebama]

@Lily I had a great weekend. It was too hot for the wife to hassle me about any odd jobs, either in the house or garden, so I spent most of the weekend doing nothing more than depleting our alcohol stock and catching up on some reading.

[Lily]

@Rolebama sounds like THE perfect weekend to me. I just pictured you in a hammock, book in one hand, cold beer in the other. 😎

Similar situation at home, it was too hot to do anything productive, so we all had a proper rest! (no sleep, but rest). Visited Tenby, finally got to enjoy it under the sun!

[Drivingforfun]

@Rolebama same with houses I think, people will bodge stuff resulting in a 5 figure insurance claim!!!

Is there a negative relation between value of an object, and care put into learning about it?

[olduser]

Originally Posted by Rolebama

I came across a few problems with the Kenwood electric fan setups back in the day. The thermostat was mounted inside a hose. This was all well and good in theory, but because it deformed the hose, would cause water leaks. I found fans incorrectly fitted so they tried to blow air against the natural air flow causing overheating, and a few incorrectly wired so they didn't work at all. Why Kenwood even bothered to include a manual amazed me, as the majority of motorists don't even look at the car manual.

I would have thought people would have had the sense to fit the thermostat away from the ends of the hose.
From memory, the fitting for the thermostat was very effective but as you say if fitted near the end would cause a leak.
The shape of the fan blades (aerofoil) showed which way the air went, maybe they did not build model aircraft.

[olduser]

Originally Posted by Drivingforfun

@Rolebama same with houses I think, people will bodge stuff resulting in a 5 figure insurance claim!!!

Is there a negative relation between value of an object, and care put into learning about it?

I think the reasoning is on really expensive items:
I can afford it, therefore I am rich, therefore I must be clever, therefore no body can teach me anything.

My father-in-law was a ship-wright, and often worked on pleasure boats, I got roped in doing engine routine maintenance.
The middle income owners could be taught to use a dipstick or to clean cooling water filters if I mentioned the consequences of not doing it, the rich guys attitude was, sort of, don't bother me it fails I just get another!

[Rolebama]

@Drivingforfun My next door neighbour as was, decided to take out the entire wall between dining room and living room. He just attacked the wall with a sledgehammer until it was gone. He had pre-arranged with his brother-in-law, a builder, to plaster over and redecorate. When the brother-in-law arrived and saw what he had done, he went straight out and got some acrows and a girder. After making the place safe, he spent the rest of the day explaining about supporting walls.

[Rolebama]

@olduser I think that there is a correlation between common sense and money. It seems to me that the more one has of one, the less of the other.
Of course, it could just be that he has a man to take care of that sort of thing.

[Rolebama]

@olduser The Kenwood thermostat had a capillary tube attached which had to be 'threaded' into the hose. Then re-tighten the jubilee clip around the hose with the capillary tube distorting the circular shape of the hose. Bearing in mind that most of the stubs for the hoses had indents to assist in positioning clips, this was never a good idea.

[olduser]

Originally Posted by Rolebama

@olduser The Kenwood thermostat had a capillary tube attached which had to be 'threaded' into the hose. Then re-tighten the jubilee clip around the hose with the capillary tube distorting the circular shape of the hose. Bearing in mind that most of the stubs for the hoses had indents to assist in positioning clips, this was never a good idea.

I never saw one like that, with the fans I used a T shaped fitting that involved making a hole in the bottom hose (off the car) putting the fitting in the hose the head of the T inside (the head of the T was shaped to match the hose and when clamped up sealed the hole) then a similar shaped washer on the outside followed by clamping nut. The upright of the T was also threaded inside to screw the thermostat in.
There was also an indicator light inside the car to show when on, and a manual switch.

I did come across one guy that had fitted the thermostat into the hose near the end of the hose, he said, because his fingers could not reach into the hose to hold the T bit in place until the nut was tightened up. He then cut a piece out of the radiator pipe connection to accommodate the fitting but the hose leaked!?

The thermostat had an adjustment to set switching point.

I think, I used the same fan on about four Minis so it must have been well made.

With the mechanical fan removed, there was more power to the wheels and less noise and vibration from the fan.
But what was surprising was how little the fan came on, I did a few (crude) tests and found there was an area of low pressure under the wing, so without any help air was sucked out through the radiator.

Happy days.

[Rolebama]

@olduser I can only say I never saw one that fitted like that.
I found a fan with a very flat motor, which fitted directly to my radiator, meaning that I could scrap both the fan and the shroud on my Mini. Also made refitting the radiator a doddle. Just dropped straight in.

[olduser]

Perhaps I used an early version, the motor was quite robust traditional DC motor, the commutator and brushes were quite robust. This was in an alloy housing, I think it was bolted to the new alloy radiator brackets which moved the radiator away from the engine nearer the outlet in the inner wing.
The fan blades were straight, broad with a camber and under camber suggesting not high revs. Very dark brown stiff plastic I think 4 blades, blowing out through the rad, and under the wing.

Of course this was about 1959 - 60 so I would not stake my life on the accuracy of my memory.