Topic

Gasket is fixed yes.............................. however it would appear that we have an air lock in the cooling system. Not sure if I introduced it as I had to move the expansion tank and to do so removed the return pipe from it to get more room as I was replacing the drivers side suspension sphere on Thursday.

This morning I gingerly drove it the 6 miles to F. Tempest & Sons at Stickney for the suspension to be pumped up and low an behold we have suspension. They also set the head lights up on the beam machine. Cost £45 all in. Then it was stop for a drop of fuel as it was way low then up to Spilsby for the 4 wheel laser alignment.

The temp gauge was normal then it started to dip and come back then it just dropped and stayed there. This evening I went out to the small market town and it was stuck on the floor then when I came out it suddenly worked until we hit some bumps as I over took a pretend 4X4. Will have a go at bleeding the cooling system if the weather is OK tomorrow.

The front is a wee bit high right now. If it does not settle then it will need lowering slightly.

That's a bit rubbish if someone has fixed it then you have an airlock.

Get it bled again

That sounds more like an electrical fault than a cooling issue, tbh.

Have checked the wire to the sensor and it is fine. So unless the sensor has a loose connection inside then it's not that. once she has cooled down I will bleed it again. As I said I do wonder if I allowed some air into the system when replacing the suspension sphere. The gauge worked driving up to Spilsby then started dropping and rising before settling at the bottom again.

The MOT is booked for first thing Monday morning so fingers crossed.

Edit:-

have now bled it cold then hot and got no visible air out. Gauge is reading again ...................................... at the moment. Will see how things go when we go out in the car.

If the needle is dropping and rising quickly, it'll likely be electrical.

If you do have air at the sensor, then bleeding at the point on the metal pipes will get it out.

David,

I have bled the system at all three bleed points three times now doing it both cold and hot and got no air out of it that I could see. Went for about a 20 mile drive late yesterday afternoon and the gauge worked fine. Just de-iced the car and started her on the drive whilst I checked all the lights for the MOT this morning and the gauge started to move normally. So all I can do is keep an eye on it and see how it goes. The coolant will be changed again in a few weeks once I get some stainless under floor pipes. Might see if I can get another expansion bottle so it can be all cleaned out and just swap them over then clean this one up as a spare.

Yeah, electrical fault then. If it starts happening again I would check the plug is making a good connection on the sensor. Then it's just a case of finding the fault.
The main thing is it is just a gauge problem and not more serious.

Well ti was working then it was not etc ........................ etc, The engine cover has to come off to get at the brake pipe tot eh O/S/R wheel and that is one that is requiring renewal for the MOT so we will have yet another look at it then.

She failed her MOT this morning on these two brake pipes with corrosion on the bends and the O/S/R top ball joint.. I suspect that the faulty sphere that same corner has allowed the ball joint to take a hammering. Anyway after a bit of palaver getting the old one unscrewed the new one is all fitted and she is back on her wheels. The garage will do the brake pipes and weld up the N/S sill for the MOT.

Just goes to show that the tester down in Hampton, London, didn't look very well under the car ..

Will not be resubmitting it for test until next week probably this is due to some one pointing out that thee is an MG specialist who makes up the brake pipes I need as a car kit so have ordered the rear kit to replace both sides and the front to rear pipe in copper. These will not arrive until Thursday or Friday so have also ordered a new Gunsons Eazi-Bleed to replace my old one that has had it. It is over 30 years old so I suppose I cannot complain really.

Hence the brake pipes won't be done before the weekend now. Soooooo maybe I can get the sill welding sorted so it's all ready once the piping is done and bled.

Well the sill has been welded up. Not the best job I have seen and it was a bit of a palaver if you ask me. Will not be using that garage any more after this effort. ................................... but it's done so now we await the brake pipes............................................... and the weather of course.

Much to my delight the stainless Goodrich hoses arrived this morning so in although the weather is still a bit rough. In a lull this morning managed to get them fitted:-

Nice shiny Goodrich hoses.

The O/S bleed nipple would not budge and even a 12mm full hex socket spun on it. So Irwin to the rescue once again. Tapped the Irwin socket onto the bleed nipple so it got a bite the just unscrewed it. Used a nipple out of the spare front calipers to replace it until new ones can be sourced.

The old rubber flexible hoses were passed their best:-

Not much hexagon left of the ferrule.

The flexible hose metal end is well rusted too. Well rounded off bake pipe ferrule.

As there was little too no chance of getting the metal pipes undone due to rust I just chopped them through with big wire cutters. Now if the weather would just ease up perhaps could get the copper lines fitted.

Well Sunday dawned fine so a good day to get some more done. First was to investigate the passenger outer door handle problem,it just stopped working .............. one moment it was fine then it didn't open the door , so opened the door from the inside then lowered the window ...................... ahhh forgot that it does not go up and down very smoothly so have a look with door card off and oiled up the pivot points, greased the runner tracks for the scissor mech and tried it now it goes down smoothly but going up it sticks at a certain point even to tripping the overload and stopping entirely

Turns out it was the rubber track at the front of the window a good spraying with silicone spray has it sorted and now going up smoothly as well as down.

Now with window working it was lowered and outer handle removed.............................. the problem was soon evident the pivot screw had come undone allowing the pivot bar to slip out of place. Clipping the sring back in place and tightening the screw sorted it out.. Then on checking the latch itself it was found that is wa snow not releasing so after much fiddling the latch mech was removed to inspect. Lot's of fluff and road grime noticed to a good clean and then lube of the mechanism and then the struggle to put it all back in place and tighten up. Door no opens from inside and out..

Whilst the door card was off time to check out the speakers and why are they not working.... Ahhh corroded connections so a good clean up spray with maintenance spray and they are once again working. Now just have to find the balance control on the head unit and there does not seem to be much left and nearly all right at the moment.

Door card replaced and onto the copper brake line fitting. This si where it all went down hill .................................................... FAST

A good 1/3 of all the plastic clips touched broke. The belly pan had several badly rusted bolts one even the Irwin socket struggled to get purchase on. Finally got it off and the front to rear line unclipped. There was no way I could get the line out in one piece so had to resort to cutting it. After shaping the new copper line it was a nightmare to get it slotted down in place past the hydragas pipe but ti was eventually achieved after much cursing and twisting about. Then it was found that the copper is smaller diameter than the original so does not fit into the clips snugly. So will have to wrap some insulation tape around the pipe where it goes into teh clips to hold it snugly.

The O/S/R brake line is partly fitted but some of the clips that hold it up broke so as you cannot see them under the body work some method of securing the pie safely has to be thought up. Might have to drill a couple of holes to take bolts to hold "P" clips. Not happy about that but needs must.

It's obvious that whoever thought up the brake line routing was total pillock who never gave a seconds thought to service and replacement. The N/S/R line is impossible to see let alone reach without destroying the resonator box or removing the rear sub frame ............................................................... what utter stupidity.

So in the damp and fog this is my job for today. Cut out the resonator box to get at the brake line.