blankczechbook Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 i'd have asked his trained ear "if his trained hands might mind whipping off the rocker cover" - to know for sure he's now at TDC.. if you had it running on 4312 before and then he's swopped it.... once you are sure then get a marker pen and note on the dizzy cap the lead order to safe redoing this step each time did he have a strobe with him to see where the timing is at? these aren't very complicated cars at the end of the day - so the diagnostic process doesn't normally take very long. air/spark/fuel. air - well you should see the carbs opening... spark - timing and fat spark - easy to check both. Fuel - pump ok? - if it runs with a bit of neat fuel squirted in - then worth a bit of carb cleaner spray to degunk the idle jets sometimes before stripping the carbs.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stussysoil Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Cheers for that blankczechbook, Apologises for popping over for a beer and trying to give him a hand, I may not have your experience but at least I got off my A*** to try and help. And at 10:30pm I must remember to take some overalls and my full tool kit. Oh yeah and forget that I am expecting the call from my girlfriend that she has gone into labour How about you stop slagging me off and give him some real things (and a description) to try rather than general comments Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detailer Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Just give it a good kick - always helps I find Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_prelit now westfield_bumble Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 I basically run a pipe from the water pump to the bottom of the rad. A pipe from thermostat to top of rad. A pressurised cap on the top of the thermostat housing and a pipe from the small outlet on the thermostat housing upto an expansion tank thats none pressurised. Think the basic principal of the system running this way is that the presured cap on the them housing allows water past when it gets to hot. Then as it cools it sucks the coolant back in. The heater connections on the water pump and the inlet manifold have been blanked off. HTH Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minisweeper Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 Would you mind taking a pic scott? I dont quite understand how the thermostat cap prevents water/air from going down the release pipe under normal circumstances as it doesnt seem to block off the hole...? What have you used to blank off the inlet manifold (i assume that's the exit between the carbs?) Chris - agreed. Considerin your shocking performance yesterday can you shelve the baby and bring your garage round with you at the weekend to make sure we're not short of anything....must be your turn to supply the beer too! I take it you didn't miss the call due to my vodafoneless valley at least? Must be counting down the hours now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stussysoil Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Hi mate, no I did not miss anything in your vodaphone free zone and no news at the moment still waiting . I will put the beers on ice now, just need to get some cigars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westford Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 OK minisweeper, I may be a new poster on here, but I have had plenty of experience in overheating crossflow engines in westfields...............it is the reason I was able to pick mine up cheap! The original coolant pipe setup you have is basically correct 1A to 1B and 2A to 2B....but where it goes wrong is 2C which is tee'd off I asume? This pipe is quite a large bore and is intended to go via a heater matrix - which adds restriction into the system in that branch. Without the restriction water can flow too easilly in that circuit and so upsets the system. I tested this by adding a small clamp to pipe 2C to restrict the flow and my car now doesn't overheat and dump fluid. With that pipe fully open I could rev the car and see the water level being pumped so hard that it would raise the level in the expansion tank! Also make sure that you dont have any trapped air in the system by parking the car face downwards on the steepest hill you can find - try and get the back a foot higher if possible! Running the engine up to temperature like this will force any trapped air back up the pipes to the expansion tank - top up if needed. One final thing Item number 3 the fan temperature switch has its on and off temperatures stamped in small numbers on one of it's spanner flats - check what numbers they are, as there are many different types, I have an 82C thermostat and the switch on mine originally had a 103C switch on temp - after a call to Burton they recommended that I fit an 88C one. My car is now fine and I am happy that I no longer have to reach for the manual fan switch they fitted to make it run. The car was so bad before it would boil with the fan constantly on, so it was pipe routing and airlocks that caused the problem, the fan working automatically was just a bonus! Good luck, Westford Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_prelit now westfield_bumble Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Will try and get pick at weekend. Think i got blank fittings from my local plumbers merchant. Think they might be gas fittings for some reason. The cap on your therm housing is it just a blank or a presured cap. (from the earlier pic it looks like a blank as it has no innards from that angle.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minisweeper Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 No exactly - i took the picture side-on so you could see there was pretty much nothing to it. That's why I'm slightly confused about just leaving the overflow to breathe to expansion/road. Plumbers merchants sounds like a good idea. I'd need to take the rocker cover off in order to get the old fitting off though which would be a bit of a PITA and I assume I'd need a new rocker cover gasket in the process? Interestingly enough Chris says his inlet manifold pipe is connected straight into his water pump (as mine was previously) - this just doesn't seem to make any sense whatsoever?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_prelit now westfield_bumble Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 If your still piped as your last photo then the cap you have is correct as you only need 1 pressured cap in the system and thats on your expansion tank. If you change your system to similar to mine you'll need a different cap on thermo housing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blankczechbook Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 ... a few drops of neat fuel into the carbs - or use starter spray down the bodies to see if it fires up.. ...if so then a bit of carb spray to clean up the jets - works wonders!!!! i did make a valid suggestion very early on thank you - still not sure if this has been tested yet - others also have mentioned this little trick for testing spark/fuel... Chris, I am havent met you so i am not judging or trying to wind anyone up... but he's said you have a "Trained ear" which i thought meant you were a mechanic... and hence with some tools - the strobe isnt too specialist - far from it... and isn't needed once the rotor is roughly in the right place - hand/ear timing can get you more than 95% there.... OP has a non running car which you've tried to help with - credit to you for getting there - I can't, hence asking a valid question - has the rocker cover been off to check TDC ? - no strobe req'd for that..... crosshead or allen headed is all that it takes.. Have you got a Haynes from an escort or cortina to look at BTW - worth getting for a few quid off fleabay and can be very useful. You are welcome to come to my garages and I'll find the cause for free - if you can get it here :-) - so yes - it looks like taking it to a garage unless someone else might be able to end this tale of woe.. and ps - good luck with the birth - we have our second due in a few weeks time, so then all spare time will disappear again for a while... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_prelit now westfield_bumble Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Blank is 3/8ths bsp i think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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