At last!...

[morrag]

Y'know Rod, much as I admire your perseverance! I would be thinking in terms of a larger, rear mounted fan/rad. set up, and run the coolant through the frame tubes, if that's not possible, use copper tube strapped to the frame. I know one of Mr M trikes used a rear mounted rad. and should I have overheating probs. on my car type "3", as I am informed others have, I shall use a similar unobstructed air system, Regards, Morrag

[ROD]

All points duly noted..hence why im posting at this ungodly hour, cos I cant stop thinking about it! Its not doing my depression and anxiety probs any good ! Lol. Ive never experienced so much mechanical hassle as with this contraption! Thanks to all for the input, its really apreciated!  Everything else is completely sorted, even made a nylon rain cover for it! Lol
My plan is to fit a larger fan ala Craig.If this works, and due to the threat of losing my garage/moving home, it looks like I will sell it (someone will get a bargain!)and other projects.We'll see.

[Olds]

You may well be right about needing a larger fan. Ideally the fan should be as wide as the core. A small fan mounted very close to the rad only cools the part of the rad that it covers.
Hope that you get this sorted but don't have to sell.

[ROD]

Thanks.Fan now ordered! If all goes well, more testing next weekend

[digger06]

sorry, I think all this larger fan/rad,  reverse fan blades etc is all wrong,

my reliant trike runs ok with a standard rad, not running coolant through the frame....
it ran fine with a standard reliant fan mounted a good 3 inch away,
and it also works with a bike electric fan pulling air through it,(,,,as it is now..)

it doesn't kick the fan in unless im in traffic,
 it does,nt get hot nor kick the fan in running down the motorway, no fan comes in, it keeps cool enough in the open,

I have run both ratio axles with 15"wheels, and high profile tyres, and the extra strain doesn't overheat it,,,,
I have run this over 5 yr now, through town and down motorways, all is fine,,,
its basically standard set up except the leccy fan, (done for looks more than anything else)

what I,m saying is I think you are masking the problem by bigger fans/rads/etc, not solving it,
mines proof a st set up is perfectly fine....

besides the fan, the only other mods are a big bore exhaust, and bored manifold, a weber carb, and matched ports on the manifold/head...

[BikerGran]

So Digger - what's your suggestion for Rod's trike?   No-one wants to put it right more than he does!

[ROD]

Lol, I agree BG.Point taken Digger.Just fitted a very carefully built engine,re sited the rad to the 'correct' position, etc etc,so I now have no option but to try the fan route, cos the originally fitted bike fan is the only thing that has remained constant through the TWO other engines that are b****xed as Ive tried to try to cure this, I cant see any other probs.and Im at the end of my tether with this problem.Ive spent A LOT of money , plus it is also minimally responsible for my illness,so its gotta be worth a try, as a last shot. And yes I know its 'just a bit of metal,lock the door and walk away 'etc...I did that for about a year!....sorry guys ..heart on sleeve moment! Lol

[terry t]

lets have some photos of your trike Rod and digger from side on about the length of the trike away in the middle with the camera about 1mt up from the ground. to see if there are some differences lets try and help Rod sort this. if any other member has a reliant based trike please post a photo as well   

[Manky Monkey]

Have to agree with Digger -I'm stumped. I've had half a dozen Reliant trikes, both front & rear radiatored, with no problems. Just can't understand the trouble here.
Sorry Rod, I know that doesn't help at all, but part of the attraction for me was the Reliant's simple, rugged design -they'll run quite happily no matter how much you mess with the lay-out. I'm baffled.

[digger06]

So Digger - what's your suggestion for Rod's trike?   No-one wants to put it right more than he does!

not a clue,,,,
I just don't want him to start on the wrong trail,
personaly, I would have put it down to water flow through the engine or a cracked head/lining,
but its been checked?
or wrong dizzy,the fact it doesn't overheat when going slow tells me the advance/retard is wrong?
because when a reliant overheats, it does so at low or high revs in my experience.
but, I havnt seen his engine, or worked on it so I could not realisticly say,
I can only go by my own trike

[digger06]

At last!...

that's a very old pic of mine, you know how it is, things change
the wheels,guards, and bars are different, but the engine remains the same,
it was built to retain as many standard bits as poss, like the rad and connections , etc,
reason? simplicity if I needed to get new bits.....the bike fan isn't that big, but its a multiblade fan , not just 4,
I would not says its really powerful ,its placed as near to the rad as poss though......comes on a few degrees after the stat opens, but I cant remember exactly....

you prob checked this, but is the stat correct, ? there are some new uns about that are incorrect....
myself, I would go by simple things first, but, you have most probably already done so..

[BikerGran]

Digger, you really ought to do a search and read ALL of Rod's posts about his Reliant engines (please note engines multiple!) and radiators and rebuilding and new heads and...............

You'll be amazed - honest!

[digger06]

Digger, you really ought to do a search and read ALL of Rod's posts about his Reliant engines (please note engines multiple!) and radiators and rebuilding and new heads and...............

You'll be amazed - honest!

I have done so, but just could not remember if the stat was checked,
if I was near,i would be down to  help,
no matter how careful someone is, something could be missed, but, its getting unlikely, judging by the amount of times its been apart....
I can only put it down to that, as his design is good and should work,
wish I could help more...

[terry t]

Nice Trike digger.
looking at yours you have a big air gap between your engine and rad.
looking at rods going back through hes build there is hardly any gap

now rods already said that in a reliant it closed in and hes is open
but being closed in air is circulated around the engine as hes is being deflected past

[Olds]

OK lets start again. Causes of overheating.
Poor coolant flow caused by- gunged up rad- gunged engine- collapsed hose- defective thermostat-defective water pump
Poor air flow through rad.
Restricted exhaust
Incorrect timing
Incorrect carb settings
Poor fuel delivery to carb.
Dragging brakes
Partial seizing of engine or transmission
Faulty temperature gauge.

Think Rod can cross most if not all off this list.
SWMBO isn't putting her foot on the handbrake cable is she ?

Mine has the rad behind the down tube, very close to the engine. No overheating problems, but then I don't do long fast journeys two up.


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