J_Reparaties

Due to an original Otter switch , refusing to switch off, except when kicked with a hammer…I decided to repair/replace.
I found replacement switches on the internet, used in the Jaguar type (cooling fan switch) ; NOT the switch for the choke as used also in this car ; this one switches on at temperaturs too low (and - engine running - never off again). I experienced it.
I found the switches at:

1- Coolcat www.coolcatcorp.com in US.: they sell a copy with modern internal switch and one spade connector. Switch on at 185°F ( is ok) , no switch off temp. Price 39,95$. Heavy postage charges for sending to Europe, so only interesting for US owners.

2- Barratt’s, www.sngbarratt.com . Difficult to find on their new website, unless they improved it, but I found it in an earlier version and finally called them. Same reference car, Jaguar E type.Part number is C45086. Switch on temperature is 92° c , switch off 87 °C. It is the same triangular shape , but it has two pins instead of one spade connector.Price is 21£+ postage.

The replacement is easy.
Take out the original Otter switch. Be careful not to shear off the three screws. Some WD40 before putting a spanner on the bolts helps. Be careful not to damage the cork gasket, or you will cut a new one ( easy job). These cork gaskets can also be bought , but can be replaced by a “normal” paper gasket .

Clean the copper Otter switch housing, put a new gasket if needed , and the replacement Otter switch can be placed and fixed. I had to widen the holes because the three screws on the main part were not exactly at the same distance from each other. I drilled with a drill 1 mm wider than the hole and the switch fell in its place perfectly.Cut off the ends of the original wire and put on two connectors. I used two connections for bullet type connectors squeezed a bit till they made good contact and soldered them on the wire for extra contact. A modern double connector that goes right unto the pins is also available ( at a price ) at Barratt’s, but I preferred the “vintage” look of the two wires and the two connectors.

Mine works a treat. The fan switches on at correct temperature on the temp gauge and switches off after 3 to 4 minutes at idle.

I had an overrider switch installed together with a warning lamp on the dash when I had to switch on off manually. As they are still there I kept them in working order, so in the unlikely event the switch doesn’t behave I can still switch on/off the fan. Furthermore I see the warning light on when the fan switches on automatically, which is always reassuring.

Therefore you only have to add a spade contact that allows you to put two wires on the spade where the Otter switch is connected to the Lucas Relay ( extreme left side connector I think).

The fan motor has always live feed , directly connected at starter solenoid spare spade, so that nothing interferes with the rev meter ( see another thread )and is protected by an in line fuse of 30Amps.

Been fiddling around for some time with the cooling system. Seems to work the combination of:
Themostat standard opening at 82°C=180°F
Switch-Boss (200065)(steering the electric fan) closing contact at 92°C and opening the circuit again at 87°C.

When I bought my Sabra in 1975 it was overheating - allways, I got to believe it was just poor design.
Learned recently from "Clem" who has bought a new Sabra in 1967 that he never had cooling problems. He had in his mind: "The Sabra is really a desert-car, it can stand the highest ambient-temps without any problem".
Conclusion was that something was wrong with MY car so I had to find out.
Problem was made complicated by the fact that:

Car had been long driven without antifreeze, so when I purged the water it was allways VERY rusty.
Otter switch wasn't original.
There was no thermostat in the car.
Temp (and fuel) gauge showed the weardest readings.
Cooling fan engine was replaced by a far less powerfull one. (The fan-blade was still original.)

Repairs
At first I had the radiator recored with kind of a sports-core, bought a new cap.
(Further not chronologically)
Flushed and flushed again the engine in every direction, even removed the core-plugs to remove rust-particles from of the cooling-system.
Used anti-freeze.
Put in thermostat and new otter-switch (Switch-boss). (See above)
Had been checking the sender for the temp-gauge and this looked OK.
(Elsewhere documented) tried several systems to get a constant enough tension at the two gauges.
Put in a cooling fan (engine and fan) from a VW Golf (early), fits if you drill the three holes for fastening the engine 1mm wider.
In fact since I replaced the core the car never threw water out anymore. But this "perhaps" due to the fact that I allways used all the tricks to keep temperature down including manually bypassing the otter switch. (As every Sabra owner seems to do.)
Only with the VW-Golf fan I started to feel comfortable in my Sabra in "heating-situations".
After a faster drive being forced in a queu made the fan come up (everyone has a fan-indicator-light??) and switch off again, and back on and off...
Still in my opinion it was a pity to replace the original fan-blade with a plastic one (VW) and the Golf-engine too looked "non-original".
Recently I got an original?? cooling fan engine in my hands (after 30 years of Sabraing). Tried to find an original one or a look-alike.

Came up with the heater fan of an MGB (nice car to ask for at scrap-yards or shops)(the engine is bigger but it fits nicely in the hole where it should be.). I bought the 62-70-odd (one speed only) type.
Put the original Sabra-blade on it. The engine has a long axle so you can put the fan-blade very close to the radiator, but you can remove the blade without removing the radiator. The three fixing holes fit (remember I widened the holes but perhaps will fit without drilling the holes wider). Not easy to fit the spades of the electric wire in the holes to catch them but life shouldn't allways be easy.
Just (had a sunny day over here 28/08/2005- remember) been driving around all day at speeds too low for a Sabra 40-60 km/h followed by an apotheose of 1/4 hour queing over 1 km and the fan did it's job like it had to do. My idle-rpm is very low but I've found out today that when driving at 60km the gauge showed cooler in 3th gear than in 4th gear (almost no throttle remember), perhaps due to the fan on the waterpump-pulley or to the flowing of more air through the engine.

Didn't climb the Mont Ventoux at temperatures of over 30* but "Clem", watching his gauges wouldn't have noticed anything special today as with a Sabra you only hear the fan-engine when the engine is off (Scimitars get kind of an helicopter-sound when the fan switches on)..

I gave the relay - controlled by the otter switch - a separate (secured) lead of 20 Amps that's allways on 12V even when ignition is off.
I'll leave this for greater security but there's still the problem that the fan only cools the radiator, not the hoses leading from waterpump to radiator.
Guess this means that the fan will be blowing too long when the engine's not running. Putting the otter switch in the radiator body would be a solution, but this would be too far a modification (to my appreciation).
Lately, when I stay near the car after switching off ignition and the fan switches on, I wait a few minutes and then start the engine again for some seconds. This gets cooler water in the upper hose where the otter-switch is located and stops the cooling fan.

On the road to the last (July 02, 2006)-meeting I noticed that at 130km/h that when the warning light of the fan came on, temperature didn't drop anymore.

Noticed that the fuse to the fan had blown. Put in a new one that blew immediately. Got to the meeting and back home without problems: the fan is only needed at very low speeds. I took of the fan-engine and dismantled it: saw no problems nor causes. For now I can only conclude that the MGB-fan (meant for use inside the car - and showing ventliation-holes at the front-side) must have got current when it was blocked by snow and ice (last winter), and that the permanent magnets have changed their magnetism under influence of the current flowing through the blocked rotor.

I bought the same fan-engine (bought again with Anglo Parts) and put it in: no problems anymore but as long as I have no real cause of the engine going wrong I'm not satisfied. A fan-engine should work longer than one year!
The new engine didn't run half an hour and broke down again. Anglo Parts now provided me with a new one for free but I don't trust it anymore.
Refit the Golf fan and will be looking for a better solution.

This is part 200062, the Sabra's one is Reliant-made aluminum and was corroded and leaked.

This one comes from a Thames VAN. (Thanks Geoff)

distance between the connecting holes centers 80 mm
diamater of the holes: 8.5 mm
outerdiameter of the tube 44.5 mm
It has markings moulded in:

IF5
400
8250
These parts don't come with the Ford engine.