Thread: Mick's 101 Projects

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

I'd missed out on buying a few.

And now you have got the market cornered

Originally Posted by garrycol

And now you have got the market cornered

Not quite yet. There is one other I would like.

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

Well, I bought a new radiator cap for a Range Rover, topped up the coolant with Tectaloy 60 and ran the 101.
Coolant was still being thrown out.
I compared the old cap to the new one. It's the same. I measured the depth of the seal on the cap, 19mm. I measured the depth of the neck on the radiator, 20mm.
I think that may be my problem.
I got one of the stainless steel radiator caps for the Merc and measured it, 22mm. I'll see how that goes.
In the mean time, I'm waiting for the cooling system to cool. I had the pressure tester on the hot radiator. At 15psi it dropped 1psi in ten minutes. That may be just due to the cooling system cooling down. I'll check it again later today.

Hello Mick, when i bought 101 about 15 years ago it had been sitting in museum for at least 10 years. Radiator was full of gunk. When it was taken out for a test run it overheated badly. I pulled off heads did valves and got heads machined, also pulled out radiator and had it pulled apart and all tubes cleaned, then resoldered up again.Radiator was only flowing 25%.Sounds like the radiator is partially restricted. Take it out and get it tested for flow. Also you could try reverse flushing it or as temporary measure turn on heater tap to get extra cooling.On the fuel pump issue , make sure the 2 wires on the top or the fuel pump are connected firmly(have good electrical connection) and run an external after market electric fuel pump as back up( they are 12v so you can run a wire from the + side of the 12 v battery that is grounded. Look up REMLR site re photo Rons and yours that Ron posted and it will tell you a little about its army history....John

Firstly, welcome to the forum John.

Originally Posted by ex 101 junkie

Hello Mick, when i bought 101 about 15 years ago it had been sitting in museum for at least 10 years. Radiator was full of gunk. When it was taken out for a test run it overheated badly. I pulled off heads did valves and got heads machined, also pulled out radiator and had it pulled apart and all tubes cleaned, then resoldered up again.Radiator was only flowing 25%.Sounds like the radiator is partially restricted. Take it out and get it tested for flow. Also you could try reverse flushing it or as temporary measure turn on heater tap to get extra cooling.On the fuel pump issue , make sure the 2 wires on the top or the fuel pump are connected firmly(have good electrical connection) and run an external after market electric fuel pump as back up( they are 12v so you can run a wire from the + side of the 12 v battery that is grounded. Look up REMLR site re photo Rons and yours that Ron posted and it will tell you a little about its army history....John

Thanks for that John.
Did I make it sound as if I bought a lemon? Well, no I didn't buy a lemon. Far from it.
I'm experiencing the usual issues when you take ownership of an old vehicle. The previous owner looked after it well.
I pressure tested the cooling system and it dropped from 15psi to 14psi in two hours. I think that is pretty good. It also has clean green coolant that flows very well.
The problem appears to be an incorrect radiator cap. The cap wasn't sealing in the radiator neck. Refer to my previous post.

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

Well, I bought a new radiator cap for a Range Rover, topped up the coolant with Tectaloy 60 and ran the 101.
Coolant was still being thrown out.
I compared the old cap to the new one. It's the same. I measured the depth of the seal on the cap, 19mm. I measured the depth of the neck on the radiator, 20mm.
I think that may be my problem.
I got one of the stainless steel radiator caps for the Merc and measured it, 22mm. I'll see how that goes.
In the mean time, I'm waiting for the cooling system to cool. I had the pressure tester on the hot radiator. At 15psi it dropped 1psi in ten minutes. That may be just due to the cooling system cooling down. I'll check it again later today.

As for the fuel pump, we'll see how the new one goes. I have a few spare 'in line' 24V pumps just for such an occasion as a 'in field' repair.
There are a few little items that are either missing or broken which I will gradually fix over time. Other than that, it is in great original condition.
I hope to have it up at Corowa next year. Too far away to make plans though.

Ok.
So a few things have been happening. I think the radiator cap issue has been solved. There is another thread on that subject.
So, I've been doing a few runs in it. Yesterday I went for a descent run in warm weather towing the camper trailer. This is what I'll be taking up to Corowa. I was sitting on a little over 80km/h and the temperature gauge was sitting a little over ninety degrees. It did get up to a little under one hundred. There were a few small drops of coolant up around the cap but not enough to be concerned with. It's much improved.
It was running so well. I was quietly confident, until a little more than 10km from home. The motor stopped. After a while it started and I drove a little further when it stopped again.
Hmm... You guessed it, out of fuel.
Looking back in the log book and comparing to the km shown on the speedo, I had driven about 320km on that tank.
Now, the tank is 109 litres. Very rough calculation, I'm getting around 35l/100km. Not good. I'll see how much fuel I get into it later this morning.

I topped it up with fuel today. 92 litres. Which is about 29l/100km.
Well, I guess it is a brick.
This weekend it will be a brick towing about one ton of trailer. I think I may be driving from petrol station to petrol station.

Hmm, sounds like it needs a good tune up. Mine averaged just on 20 for the 3,500KM to Glenreagh and back - towing a slightly smaller trailer, but it had an engine in the back on the way home.

When thrashing it without the trailer, and using the overdrive, it moves up to around 25.

Just checked the fluids. The last time the oils were checked was 320km ago for the Caribbean Gardens display.
All the levels are ok except the transfer case. Almost two litres down!
I'll have to check it a few times on the trip.