Thread: I think it's Terminal

Well we raced off in the wee hours of Saturday to go get my '84 rangie i had just purchased. First impression, I was marginally disappointed at the condition of it as the owner had talked it up pretty well. It was untidy and he had made no attempt to make it the slightest bit presentable to a buyer.

Anyway, i made a promise to myself to ask more questions in the future and parted with my hard earned $1,800 and drove off in my new baby. Off to the servo to fuel up then on the road home. I may mention at this point that i never checked the water and oil as the owner assured me he had done it all that morning and it was good to go, that and the fact the servo was a mad house when i was there.

It was purring along nicely and i was eagerly looking at all the gauges as you do with something you don't know and all was well, temp was under half and had not moved at all, even on some of the big hills. About 150k up the road it started to lose a little power i thought, so i quickly scanned everything again, no problems there so i kept bopping along, albiet a bit nervous now. Came to a long steep pull and got about 3/4 up it and all hell broke loose, blue smoke started pouring out of everywhere and it started rattling like mad and the power dropped right off. I couldn't stop where i was as there was no room so as it was only 50m to the top i chugged up and stopped over the crest on the edge of town. The engine immediately died.

On further inspection under the bonnet there was oil and water everywhere, it's like it had exploded or something. Everything was as hot as hell and sizzling from everywhere. What i don't understand about this is that there was no warning at all, the temp gauge was at about 3/4 by the time i pulled up and it was running well up until then.

All i can think is that there has been some sort of internal blockage in the cooling system and it has got to the stage of cooking itself without showing any outward signs until the show started happening.

The motor as far as i am concerned is terminal. It can be wound over ok now but makes no attempt to start. Anyone have any clues on this one. I am not a happy camper at this time and i am suspect about the seller having bodgied something up in it.

Cheers................Pete!

The radiator hose probably burst first, then the oil pressure seal of the timing cover or the oil pressure switch let go. Possibly not terminal. Water running out fast means the temp sender doesn't get hot water past it. A low water alarm is very useful on these cars. If the motor IS terminal a 3.9 shouldn't be hard to find.