Going to Barmouth

[smokeyjoe03]

Were going to Barmouth from Wolverhampton next saturday in the punto, now unfortunately we have to go through dinas mawddwy (thats not a spelling mistake btw) which is one hell of a steep hill to climb. Last time we went, we went in dads car, a 2ltr HDI berlingo, and the temperature guage flew up (he was towing a trailer tent in all fairness)

I just wondered if there are any warning sigs to watch out for that indicate the car is about to overheat, except for the obvious copius amounts of steam. Unfortunatley its a 55s and din't come with the luxury of a temp guage.

Also are there any specific driving tactics that could be employed to prevent this from happenning, like staying in a lower gear etc...

 

[Helz]

Nice place, we used to regularly holiday at Barmouth Plenty to do if you like getting out and seeing the scenery. We did it a few times in a 1.1 VW Polo (packed to the rafters) so it's definitely do-able in a small car. Make sure your car is checked over well before you go (especially that the coolant is well topped up), get a run-up to any hills and do stay in low gears to give you more grunt up hills and take regular breaks and I'm sure you'll be fine

 

[Renegade_8]

The first sign of distress in the engine is usually pinking or "pinging" with a rapid fall off in power. You should work the engine at or about peak torque to get max efficinecy and to load the cooling system as little as possible for the power output, however on a big hill with a heavily loaded car you may need to rev it hard to climb at a safe speed, one where you are not going to get rammed by a motoring fashion victim in a silver expensive german bolide closing at a differential of 70 MPH from behind. However if the car is in good shape it should cope without a problem, the problem with some modern cars is that the fan is controlled from the ECU so you don't know it is not working until you really need it. However if it's wired via a temp switch in the rad you can short across that and ensure the fan runs. If you can't run the car up to a temp where it cuts in to test the whole system just run the wires into the cab and fit a manual overide switch there. Cars are test driven in the most difficult environments known to ensure we never hit the edge of the envelope, I once drove a hired Ford LTD through Death Valley the car ran like a sewing machine the whole way. I did wash the dead bugs out of the radiator the day before.
Oh Ps we had a holiday in Bala in the 70s and went To Barmouth several times, we loved it.

 

[smokeyjoe03]

Cheers for the replies, we love barmouth (still prefer aberystwyth). Were going to shell island for a weekend, best campsite ever, hardly any rules and once the tide is in nobody can get on or off the island

Cheers for putting my mind at rest anyways guys, should be a good ride out now

 

[smokeyjoe03]

Got there in just under two hours so Peevey (the punto) did better than I expected, carried all the stuff, got up all the hills and even managed a few overtaking manouvres. Never underestimate the power of a fiat huh?

Got a bit lucky on the way home, unbelievably I was pushing 90mph down the M54 (in a fully laden, 1.1 55s with a usual law abiding driver) and a white corsa behind was flashing his lights so I thought "silly chavs wanna own the road" but I moved over anyways. about 5 miles down the road he had pulled a BMW over, turned out he was a copper Lucky I didn't get pulled.

Very pleased with the car though as this was the 1st big test its had