Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Aero 8, 2012< Plus 8, SuperSports, Coupe & Aeromax Aero 8 Supersports - water temperature

many thanks for all your responses.
I have "isolated" the car - step one!
I will have a good look at at he coolers etc over the weekend.
It sounds neurotic behavior on my side but "the other half" wouldnt go in the S1 for over six months after witnessing at first hand the loss of a rear wheel when doing 50 mph and how curiously it overtakes you and looks like a bouncing bomb!
T

Mine behave's the same as PJ's.

I rarely use the aircon or heater because both are useless. So with all of that turned off, it runs cool in hot weather (95 ish) and hot in cold weather (100 ish).

It also reads half full when full of fuel - and the dial wanders around like a drunk.

I've learned to ignore these things.

I wouldn't ignore one of my wheels going past though!

Hi Neilda,
That gives me even more comfort about the warmer running in winter.
My fuel gauge does exactly the same as that and the first owner of the car sent it back to the factory 4 times and it never got sorted. I tend to drive until the warning light comes on as there is still around 2 gallons of fuel left in it.
The most annoying aspect of the car is the factory fitted radio - hopeless!!
T

My plus 8 performs exactly the same.

My plus 8 is the same it has two operating temps - about 90 and about 100 depending on conditions. Speaking now with a bit of BMW knowledge there are two things to consider.

Firstly Bmw normal on a BMW temp gauge spans quite a range of temps which hides what I think is intended variance between low and high operating temp at any point in time whereas on the plus 8 it is the actual temp that is shown due to the set up of the gauge.

Secondly on a bmw straight six the thermostat housing has a mechanism to change the operating characteristics of the thermostat from the ecu in that it has a heater element controlled by the ecu. I suspect that the V8 has a similar mechanism and the running temp is dependant on outside temp plus other variables.

I tend to zero the odometer when 'full' (I never feel it's full because it's incredibly difficult to get petrol into it) and look for a garage near the 200 mile mark.

My radio works and sounds pretty good - I use my iPhone physically plugged in (and charging) and use the BBC iPlayer on the phone.

Just as a follow up to the posts above....

I wonder if the wandering fuel gauge could ever be sorted out? Knowing how much fuel you have would be an interesting novelty.

Secondly, the problem of fuelling the 8 - and I assume all Aero's. It's my biggest bug bear. Going to the garage and standing there trying to dribble in 40 litres of petrol is an exercise in patience. Seasons change and staff change shifts whilst I am filling up. It can't be that difficult to make it easier.

Clearly MMC can make a Plus 8 with an accurate fuel gauge and a normal fill up time as Tarka shows it to be the case. But they had the car for over 12 months as a development and then demonstrator, so someone must have worked it out.

The fuel gauge is, down to a quater full, as accurate as the one on my BMW M140. It then gets a bit variable, but if the car is sitting stationary the digital readout is spot on.

Filling up can be a bit pump sensitive, some pumps seem to pump more rapidly than others and it is those that tend to cause a premature shut off, but at Tesco Salisbury I can normally fill it properly without having it stop and start.

On the subject of water temperature, I have spotted the same condition on my Aero 8 /5 and thought there to be an issue which I had planned to ask the chaps at the factory about, but it reassuring to see it mentioned here. In my case, I spotted it first last year ascending the Swiss alps, the higher I got the higher the temp rose, up to 110 C, despite putting the heater on full, temperature remained the same. Back on the flat and ambient temperatures of 39 - 40 C temperature consistent between 95 and 100. This year, been touring around France in ambients of 37 - 40, temperature consistent at 95 to 100 UNTIL on my return last weekend, had an early morning departure in the fog and ambient temperatures of 2 - 6 C, water temperature up to 108 - 110C. As the journey progressed, ambients went up to 18 - 21 C and water temperature dropped back to 95 - 100 C.
My understanding is that the thermostat in the engine is an electronically controlled valve rather than the old wax stat and bellows affair, so I surmised that it must be compensating lower ambients / humidity with higher inlet manifold temperatures to maintain the optimum combustion temperature for emissions control. Just a thought. Very good to know that I'm not on my own with this though!!

That makes complete sense... thanks!