Henry Boler
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Posts posted by Henry Boler
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And another update of today.
Today started very strangely, car wouldn't start properly, which has never happened before, immediate thoughts were oh finally the head gasket has gone and a cylinder is full of water! Would you believe it, an O-Ring on the plug in the front carb float chamber had shrunk overnight??? So there was a petrol flood down the driveway, how this happened and why at the same time as the water problems I'll never know. Anyway, two o-rings later and shes running beautifully again!
Loads of driving done today about 4 individual journeys including motorway. Got out before switching the engine off and checked the sight glass, then switched off and continued keeping an eye on it. There has been no signs of air in the pipe at all today! It actually looks like it's working perfectly now! The heating has been working fine also.
I guess this was just a really stubborn air lock in the system...
I'll keep you all posted as time goes on. I'm going to drive her to Tadley, the other side of Basingstoke tomorrow, that's a good 50 min journey mostly on the motorway so should be a good proving run. Then hopefully the weekend after I'll drive to London, then the week after that Wales!
Night All.
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To confirm, the other day, I used the drain taps to drain all the coolant into a container, It came out so clean you could have sold it as new! I really don't think I have anything in my cooling system that shouldn't be there.
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Yeah I hope not too!
If it's any consolation I have seen no such jelly stuff anywhere at all... It's been running the red stuff for about 5 years now too...
Update Today: So I made three journeys today, from my parners house to work, then work to home, then home back to her house. The last one was down the motorway for about 6 miles at high speed, I have not topped up the system today or opened the rad cap.
Changes to note, after each journey there was air in the overflow pipe, however the water level in the overflow bottle appears to have stabilized, there are no ferrocious bubbles coming from the overflow and also the overflow pipe / metal parts of the sight glass were cold. They have been too hot to touch in the past. There was also not coolant all over the bodywork from the overflow.
Just to put a spanner in the works! I love old cars, they're so mysterious!
Henry
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I've just ordered a new head gasket. I will however take the car to a garage tomorrow and have the coolant sniffed just to see what it is!
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It certainly looks like that's gonna have to happen.
Mines a flat top block, no recessed bores. I never had any luck at all with my spitfires recessed bores and head gaskets!
I just worry, I think I did about 20 head gaskets on my old spitfire... Never really worked!
I reckon the GT6 could be done in a couple of hours no problem!
I assume that was just a bad block... Had everything else done and fitted the head a different way everytime, 20 different ways!!
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It's very annoying isn't it! Can't trust her on a long run now... Yeah, that is rather odd... Also I had a similar ish issue about 4 years ago with her which was solved by changing the water pump...
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Just got home. Still got bubbles...
New thing though, the rear most external head nut was bubbling from the thread!?
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Where is it then???I see, so is it a problem that I have pink stuff in mine? It was washed out very thoroughly before it went in.This stuff to be precise http://www.halfords.com/motoring-travel/engine-oils-fluids/antifreeze/halfords-oat-antifreeze-concentrate-2-litres...Okay, the overflow bottle does seem to fill itself up a lot, I keep siphoning water off it to keep the level down so it doesn't make such a mess every drive!The rad cap I bought this week from Rimmers had a very thin seal on the top so I changed it for a spare I had on another cap, that now seals fine. You can tell it works as every time the engine cools down as the sight glass fills with water.So if I could extend the radiator filler with a tube of some sort that is higher than everything else, I should be able to run the engine for ages with no air coming out?The rain has stopped here now!!Henry
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Haha, well ate least someone is!!
That's good to know, rules out one other thought I had...
It's been very useful to me in the past so I will always have one on every car I have!
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This is the sightglass if you wondered. It's the shell of an old fuel filter...
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To add to that, I just drowned myself in the rain to have a quick look.
The sight glass has filled back up with water from the overflow bottle.
I took the rad cap off and managed to get a thimble full of water in, that includes pumping the bottom hose to help move water around in the system.
The overflow bottle is full right up to the neck with coolant.
Just a thought, what would happen if there wasn't enough antifreeze to water in the system?
Also is there a right and wrong antifreeze to use? My system runs @ 13psi...
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Ooh, Lots to reply to!!So to confirm, the cooling system is as far as I'm aware extremely clean. I've had everything off apart from the core plugs and nothing bad ever comes out and I've not got any blockages, I've checked the flow in every direction, including the block and head plugs. I even went to the trouble of rebuilding the water pump housing, cleaned out all the faces threads and tidied up the hose tails, chamfering the rough edges and checking the bypass works fine etc., the heater matrix is fine and the tap works perfectly too. Really thorough check!The radiator looks immaculate where visible internally...My gut feeling is definitely head gasket at the moment, the whole reason I have always had a sight glass fitted is from when I had my Spitfire and it would let me know when it was time to buy a new head gasket each time with a good couple of weeks pre warning of total failure! Air in the glass means problem...She is still running very well at the moment by the way. No signs of failure yet from that point of view... So Like you say Pete, a compression test probably wouldn't reveal a lot. I could try though.Re the air blowing coolant out thing, how long should I be able to run the engine with the cap off without coolant coming out? Obviously it's going to expand at some point and pour out, then boil as it's under pressure... When I do that it runs for a good 5 mins without more than a tablespoons worth coming out. It jets out on the motorway, give away is the coolant on the inside of the bonnet and over the chassis.How full should the overflow bottle be cold? How much water should come out of the rad when hot?I think that answered everything from you both!Henry
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I think the thermostat is fine as the car maintains normal operating temperature, also I can see when it opens as I get a visible water jet coming in half way down the filler neck.Radiator wise, how would I know if the tubes are blocked? I've cleaned the radiator out very thoroughly numerous times over the last few years and it has always cooled very efficiently.Head Gasket I hope isn't the problem but who knows... The thing is all this only started when I decided to flush the cooling system the other day... Which implies something related to that has changed to cause the problem but I don't know...Last night after my post from Southampton, I just decided to get in the car and just drive it home it was fine, heating was back on and all... This morning is worked fine as well but was bubbling when I got to work. It seems that driving hard down a motorway, even for a short run like today which was about half a mile on the motorway gets the system bubbling... Head Gasket?Stupid Car!!
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Okay, so unfortunately, no luck... I'm in Southampton now and the water fell out...
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Okay, so I got home, backed all the nuts off and re torqued one by one. Then topped up the system and ran the engine with the cap off, bubbles came out and then I think they stopped. Went for a really quick drive round the block and there was air in the overflow pipe but it wasn't bubbling. So I let it cool down and have topped it up again and removed all the air in the overflow pipe and the cap so it will be obvious if there is any new air in there. Gonna drive down the motorway soon and see what happens.
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Will do. I think you might be on to something there anyway as I ran it this morning for 5 mins with the cap off and every 10-15 seconds there was a small cluster of bubbles coming up, and the water level never went down at all which I guess if it was air locks escaping it would do...
Just a quick question, I'm sure the answer is yes, but does the rocker shaft have to come off for this?
I'll tighten them up tonight when I get home.
Henry
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That sounds like a plan. How safe is it to do that? Is there any chance of damaging the fire rings or anything?
I seem to recall doing it on my spitfire years ago not long after a gasket change and it then blew, but that might just have been the unlucky spitfire engine that didn't like head gaskets...
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Update, I couldn't get the cap off it's still got loads of pressure in it which is unusual for my car at the moment... And nothing but a bit of water came out when I turned the cap so thats a good sign I guess as well. I'm off to southampton for dinner now, 15+ miles each way, I'll let you all know how she goes later!
I had a load of old spitfire ones I found! So I thought whilst I was at it I'd see if any or all worked!
It's funny as all this started on the way home from my local ish meet in Petersfield, the Southern club! Actually rather a long way for me, almost an hours drive each way, but I like driving so that's fine!
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I'm not sure if I'm losing water or not at the moment. I'll chech in a few minutes when the system has cooled and is below atmospheric pressure.I checked the heating on the way home from work, 2 minutes from startup and there is warm air coming out of the vents, the temperature gauge still reading cold at this point. I'd say that was a good sign of a functioning system. Still taking 5-6 miles to get to operating temp as you say.Yes thermostat is fine, I boiled a pan of 5 of them together on the hob this Sunday and they all functioned in the same way at the same time...I will try running the car tomorrow morning with the cap off from cold. I have done it for a little while whilst I was topping up the system and there was no sign of air coming out or any water being forced out either...
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Are there any give aways that this could be head gasket related? Would there be any smells or colours in the coolant?The car has always made a few bubbles from the overflow, it's never caused me a problem and I do long journeys no problem, I have tried very hard to stop the bubble in the past, instead I have a sight glass halfway down the hose that shows me that it is still drawing water back in after a run.When my old spitfire bubbled it meant it wanted a new head gasket within about 50 miles but the GT6 has done a good 10,000 miles this year with no problems at all.
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I changed the thermostat for one with a jiggle pin as I figured the old one wasn't helping...
I'll keep trying things and let you know how it goes!
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That's what my initial thoughts were/still are sort of...
I ran the engine and kept filling it up until air stopped coming out, then I left it and did the process again and again. To be fair I did get more out every time. I drove her to work today 10 miles, and there were bubbles coming out again, but the heating remained on. When shes cool I'll see if there is room for more water. The water is definitely running as there is a massive water jet from the hose that enters halfway down the filler neck.
I'll keep you posted!
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Hi All,
I know this is kinda similar to another thread on the go at the moment but I didn't want to hijack it so here goes...
I have a problem with my cooling system at the moment, it wont keep the water in!
This problem annoyed me enough to rebuild it all the last few days. So as far as I'm aware there are no leaks, there are also no blockages and it's all lovely and clean inside, always has been, which I guess would make it obvious if there were any contaminants getting into the coolant.
What happens is I start with an empty system, I fill it up, fire the engine up run it for a few seconds which blows the trapped air out, I then top up with water and pop the cap on. Then from cold I go for a drive, within a minute I've got interior heating working just fine as you'd expect, I warm her up a bit more then as she gets hotter the heating fails, i.e. air in the matrix and then gradually everything comes out through the pin hole in the top of the expansion bottle at a very high rate, I then switch off and watch the expansion bottle sit there bubbling...
I am stuck for ideas, I've tried everything I can think of, is there anything I might have missed? Or am I getting the fill procedure wrong? I've done this for years, my spitfire never had a problem, this GT6 has never been as easy to fill but I've never had this much grief...
Henry
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I'm half tempted to get the old girl on a rolling road to see what's coming out the wheels!
My one always starts first time, even when it was -12'C outside! Doesn't pink, and has never run on, and this is the first time I've ever put anything other than 95 in her.
Richard, what do you mean by 'no lean off'?
Coolant Over Pressurising
in Cooling System
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Update...
So I got to Tadley and back, but the engine was not happy. Struggled to start this morning and blew most the water out on the way... The engine sounded slightly rough at high load as well.
So the cylinder head has just come off! Looks like there are blockages in the water ports where the head meets the block. More details when I have a proper look tomorrow!
Got all but two of the studs out, they are very stubborn!
Henry