Coolant leak - I think!

[Nick H]

Trapped rain water could be a possible cause.
I was changing the master cylinder last weekend and a bit of brake fluid droped on the chassis. So I washed it off with a hose.

I left the car outside drying off for a good couple of hours. On placing it back in the garage I noticed
a pool of liquid. I thought it was brake fluid but it was some of the water I used to wash down the area that was trapped in the fuel tank/cross member area and was running out of the drain holes on the fuel tank cover plate. It spread just like yours but was on the left side of the car.

Double check the coolent system though.

Regards

Nick H

[Rich H]

Any joy with this one Carl??

[Carl Hammond]

Hi Rich, all.

Well, funny you should say that Nick, because I do believe now that is exactly what has happened, a simple case of trapped rain water! :roll:

Reason being I had the car out last night, first of all checked the coolant level - which was fine. Then I took her for a little spin to run her up to temp, checked levels again - no problem. Completed a 20 mile round trip and all seems to be well, no leaks or anything!

Rich, I didn't get around to taking the wheel off in the end. However, I did manage to get a decent look underneath and didn't spot any signs of trouble. I did leave the car to sit for a while to make sure - still nothing! Been to check her today for any after effects, to my surprise no puddles at all!

So, there you have it, it must have been rain water that got in through the tub somehow, right? Surely, if there was any coolant leak, it would have done it again by now, wouldn't it??? :?

Anyway, appreciate all your help guy's and it's nice for a change to have an easy solution! lol

Just have another 'issue' to get to the bottom of now, but will post more on that later...

Cheers

Best regards

Carl

[Rich H]

Water gets trapped all over the place on the D's

I was following Claire the other day and as she drove up the hill a huge amount of water came gushing out of the back fascia. I was concerned for a second, before remebering Phill had jet washed it the evening before...

Carl Hammond Wrote:Just have another 'issue' to get to the bottom of now, but will post more on that later...

Oooh - I look forward to another brain teaser then :lol:

[Nick H]

Hi Carl,
Glad this one appears to be sorted .

Regards

Nick H

[Carl Hammond]

Claire Usher Wrote:I bought some of that 'chav' silicon blue hose, and replaced
as many of the short connecting rubber pipes with it as possible and also new hose clips.

I've always been paranoid about Flopsy's cooling system, having had the head gaskets done twice (resulted in 2 new cylinder
heads from Darren Bowker), and had numerous otterstat failures. I've now got a switch on my
centre console that lets me turn the fans on manually just in case now.

Has your car got a self bleed kit fitted? Air in the cooling system can cause problems too......

Hi Claire, sorry I missed your reply before.

All sorted now as you can see it turned out to be a case of trapped rain water! :roll:

Don't get me started with the cooling system on my car though, I reckon she could give Flopsy a good run for her money, what with all the problems we've had of late!

I felt awful for poor Chris N, as for the last few months he seemed to be working around the clock to get to the bottom of my car's cooling issues and still yet to no avail!

We've tried almost everything now including;

New Otterstat (2nd one within a year)
New Thermostat (old one was in a shocking state)
2nd hand Brass rad installed (old one was all rusty and shot).
Complete flush out of the system and replenished.

Water pump was changed around 4 years ago by previous owner.

Had to resort to having my fans on perm since - which is a bit of an energy sapper! Even then she's cooking at just under the 220 mark!! Head gaskets aren't getting hot at all though... That manual switch sounds like a plan though and shouldn't be too difficult to fit.

Could the gauge readout be wrong? Any other way to accurately check the temp?

Apart from a new rad/water pump, Chris and I are fresh out of ideas as to what is causing this problem!

By the way, those silicon hoses sound good Claire - not sure about the 'chav blue' though! lol

Best wishes

Carl

[A Van]

Bit of cross threading going on here..

It looks like everything has been replaced Carl! Julian did have a problem with his water pump where the impellor hadnt been pushed on properly hence it could scavenge the water around particularly when driving speed, but you have a new pump....

If your fans come on while driving Carl you have a real problem as in this country it will be cool air hitting the radiator when driving..and temp guage is at 220f..thats around 104 celsius

If you continue driving it round at that temp you risk doing some damage or making the existing problem worse, as you know these engines need to be as cool as possible!

Get the cooling system tested for hydrocarbons, make sure you havent got a head gasket problem.

Guys over at DMCTALK had a discussion on this.

http://www.dmctalk.com/showthread.php?t=12579

[NickT]

I presume you have the air bleed kit on for starters.

have you had a look at the thermostat and check if it is opening correctly and at the correct rated temperature? I think Alan Hammon investigated his problem and the thermostat was installed upside down !
I would double check this.

I would double check all pipes for any blockages and the radiator again.

Another cause could be silt collected at the bottom of the engine sides.
At each side of the engine there is hex screw you can undo and then flush through from top of engine to the bottom.

NickT

[Guinney1971]

TBH Carl, I'd take on board what NickT has just said, as even after the first engine rebuild
the engine still ran hot (220 like yours), and then it went t1ts up big time, and the engine
came apart again, and gaskets were changed for a 2nd time and another cylinder head was
fitted.

I'd deffo look into getting some sort of pressure test done or gas test on the cooling system,
it could be that your car has early symptoms of head gasket failure. If you catch it sooner
rather then later, then its *possible* to get away with not having the heads skimmed - but
not recommended tbh, as you may end up having to take it all apart again if heads are
'banana'd' like they were on RichH's car.

I dont want to sound like a prophet of doom, and I'm sure its something silly, like maybe a bit
of air in the system or something. These systems, by the nature of their design are buggers
for trapping air sometimes. Have you got the self bleed kit fitted?

I only bought the chav blue hose cos it was what a guy at work was selling cheap at the time.
You can get any colour you like tho - but I've deffo had a bit more peace of mind since changing
the hoses on my car, the one that blew went with such a bang on the motorway

Let us know how you get on mate?

[Carl Hammond]

Well, last night this took a turn for the worse!! If I didn't have a coolant leak before, I definitely do now!

Had the car out last night to give her a good clean through, had her looking absolutely mint. Thought I would just take her for a quick spin around the block to dry her out, all seemed fine and I was a happy bunny! Then... DISASTER!

I was lining her up to put her into the garage for the night, Alex was watching to make sure I wasn't getting too close to the wall! However, that was to be the least of my worries! Alex started shouting me to turn the engine off as there was suddenly a load of coolant began pouring out the back of the car!!

I quickly shut off the engine and clocked the temp which was reading over 220! Flipped open the engine cover, to hear a bubbling/boiling coming from the header tank and a fair amount of steam! Fortunately, it immediately calmed down - thank god! Disconnected the battery to be on the safe side and checked in and around the engine bay and underneath the car to determine where it was coming from! By this time, the leaking had all but stopped, but at first glance does appear to be coming from the middle of the car, just in front of the engine bay?

My first thoughts are, one of the middle coolant hoses has split? But then the car had barely been running 10 mins and the water that came out was stone cold?!?!

Checked the header tank, which was almost empty - not surprising as most of the coolant was now on my garage floor now! I know this was over 1/2 full beforehand. But I don't recall it being as brown as I saw it last night when I shone a torch in there?!?!

Also, checked my oil - as advised by Pete, as any unusual signs could point toward head gasket problems!! Eek!! Fortunately, this still looked a nice healthy brown colour - phew!

I am kicking my myself that I didn't keep an eye on that bloody temp gauge when I was parking her up, as I can't be sure what occurred first now? Either the temp went and caused this blow out, or the blow out and sudden loss of coolant caused the needle to rise rapidly. Some reassurance would be very welcome here guy's! :?

I really, really hope I haven't done any damage as a result of this...

To make matters worse, I should be doing a Prom tomorrow night too, only a local job for a friend, but still really didn't want to let the kid down now!

Any tips people, perhaps I can patch her up so she'll at least she can make her big night out?!?!

Finally, I just want to say a huge thanks to Peter Filsell for all his superb help and advice last night and above all else putting my mind at rest! As Claudia said, you are a true gem mate!

Thanks as always for any help in advance.

Best regards

Carl

[NickT]

I would remove the thermostat while the engine has lost some of the water and remove the bottom hose of the radiator.
Connect hosepipe and jam the end in and flush lots of fluid through until what comes out of the radiator is clear at least.

Check the thermostat while you are at it.

Have you got an air bleed kit on the car? i can't remember.

It might be worth putting a new radiator on your car. Ask Al, he may have a spare super cored one.

It should be safe this time of year to just put water in for testing purposes, but drain and re-fill with correct 50:50 antifreeze/ water mix once you have cured the problem.

You should be OK with head gaskets etc if they weren't hot for long and good job you didn't dump cold water in straight away as this can lend itself to thermal shock.

Call me if you need any help anytime, you have my number.

Nick.

[NickT]

Forgot to ask, did you have the system pressure tested?

NickT.

[jerzybondov]

Carl... so sorry to hear this mate. I'm afraid I can't offer any kind of advice but I can offer some sympathy...! Upon finding out that my ventilation system still doesn't work after a week of pissing about I was fed up last night - but it's nothing like this...

Good luck getting it sorted...

[Guinney1971]

it sounds like you've got air in the system, and its literally chucked its toys out of the pram -
if you've not got a bleed kit, then water will escape through the overflow pipe on the coolant
bottle - which is just above the back right hand section of the chassis - it is possible that
water has run down that, then dripped/poured onto the ground that way.

I would tho, just get the car up on ramps/jack it up tonight and have a look underneath and
check all the rubber sections of pipe that join the aluminium coolant pipes.

Also, and here's another good one to check - Phill had a problem with Sorbet loosing coolant
a few years ago, and it was down to the failure of the cap on the coolant bottle - basically
it wasnt holding pressure anymore, so kept throwing water out of the overflow.

Keep us posted matey, finger's crossed for you that its not your head gaskets, but when you
refill your cooling system, a tip is to have the back of the car jacked up or on ramps, and
with the engine running carefully bleed the cooling system every few minutes and top the water
up until no bubbles are present in the water you are bleeding out and the water runs pretty
much clear.

If you've not got one, invest in a self bleed it - not sure if James RG still does them or if Dan
Shane can point you in the right direction. If not, I'll post up a picture of mine, and you can
buy the hoses and stuff to make one yourself.

Good luck, and keep us informed.

[Carl Hammond]

NickT Wrote:Have you got an air bleed kit on the car? i can't remember. Nick.

Hi Nick,

Sorry people I keep forgetting to answer this question! :oops: The answer is, Yes! I do have a bleed kit on the car. Do I know how to use it...No! :? Oh dear, I really don't deserve to own a classic car do I! :oops:

Chris N has done sooo much work on the cooling system - he's been an absolute diamond, considering the time and effort he's spent on her! He would be able to tell you more in depth what work he's carried out. Chris, you out there mate???

From my little knowledge I have, so far parts/work that's been done is...

New Thermostat - which Chris said was working perfectly.
New stainless header tank - thank god for that, I think my old plastic one would have exploded into little pieces by now!
New Otterstat - which was working 100% in another car!
2nd hand rad - but still better than the old one and a brass one at that.

Chris also flushed out the system a number of times before topping up with antifreeze/water again. I imagine he would have pressurised the system a number of times too? In fact, he tried every trick in the book to try and keep her cool! Water pump is getting old, but still doing its job!

Running out of options to be honest, got less choice than a Welsh Fish & Chip shop! :lol:

C