Thanks Glyn I appreciate that...gives me pause to think.
I returned those coil packs as they were the wrong ones and never ordered the right ones because it was running fine. I did fit two new plug leads.
Lately tickover has not been perfect..not as I want so I cleaned sensors but still the same.
More in my next post.
On the way up the car overheated after about 30 miles for the first time ever. I let it cool and as I released pressure I could see sludge enter the tank.
I decided to carry on and it drove 200 miles perfectly normally. I then did about another 120 miles all perfectly normal.
Thursday I had to go in to Thurso for some plumbing parts which is 45 miles away.When I set off back it again overheated. I stopped and let it cool. The tank looked sludgy but the water level hadn't dropped.
I was thinking about it that night and realised I didn't remember the rad fan coming on..the heat seemed to all be in the engine..perhaps the thermostat?
The weather turned bad and spoilt any chance of outside work so I decided I would flush it out and come home.
I flushed it out and refilled and drove to the hotel. Temp gauge normal.
I decided to check for air and top it up if needed.
Then the drama started..🙄
I checked the heater airing point and water came out.
Next the rad airing point.
Here is a Tech Tip for anyone as thick as me and how not to do it.
I got my 13mm socket and extension and undid the plastic plug. As it loosened I removed the ratchet and spun the extension by hand. Once it was undone I lifted the extension and being shiny smooth plastic it dropped out of the socket down by the side of the rad.
Golly Gosh..or words to that effect..don't worry Brian it will be underneath the car.
No.
A good rattle around with a long screwdriver resulted in no plug falling.
Golly Gosh..this is splendid. I will remove the bumper. It only takes 15 mins and it will be sat looking at me.
Golly Gosh..it wasn't.
A good rattle around and something small and black rolled along the crossmember in to the cut out never to be accesed again.
Golly Gosh..this is a splendid way to test my resolve..or lack of it.
So here I was on a hotel forecourt with an immobile car.
I dipped the oil and there was a really tiny piece of white on the tio..about the size of a match head.
Golly Gosh..this is splendid..the start of a HG failure.
I had two tool boxes with me. One for plumbing and the other full of mechanicing tools. I srummaged thru the car tool box looking for a bolt all the time aware of all the times I had read on this forum of people being stranded because nothing would fit.
Golly Gosh..even more splendour.
I saw a bolt sticking out from an 18mm socket and remembered I had to hammer a socket on to the caliper bolt when I did the brakes. It looked about right.
I tried it in the rad and it fit. I just had to knock it out of the socket so the bonnet would close.
I got it out but it was too long for the head to seal against the rad. Golly Gosh..it's getting more splendid by the minute.
I wrapped ptfe tape around it and made a collar half way up and managed to get a seal.
So now we have a 210 mile drive home with a bodged rad plug and a potential HG going.
No stress then...
The car drove back perfectly. Temp gauge never moved, oil temp and pressure good and absolutely no water loss when I got back.
Could it be the thermostat sludged up or faulty?
I dipped the oil and nothing..just clean oil.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Well knock me down with a feather! Been there, worn the T shirt etc. You have joined the club!
Yes I too did exactly that and now the bleed screw rolls around the chassis from one side to the other depending on whether it is a left or right hand bend.
Based on my experience it is hit and miss whether you get what you need when you order a bleed screw. Apparently there are two sizes and I think they might share the same part number in certain supplier’s minds.
In the end I got three. Two are right and one is too small in diameter. You helped me resolve the “bleeding issues” after I had changed the cam belt etc earlier this year.
Of the two bleed screws I got the metallic one (probably ferritic stainless) has no bleed channel whereas the plastic item does. I used the metallic item, held it with a magnetic probe and gently started to screw it in after levelling the car with a jack such that the rad point was the same level as the head tank water level. As I happened to have some PTFE sheet gasket off cuts I cut a sealing washer from that. I’m not sure if I can identify the right plastic screw or not but I’ll try if you wish.
Good luck.
