Thread: It's happened again!

Originally Posted by morg

I have spent the last week on fraser where it ran like a champion. I drove it up to Orchard then back again and didn't drive it at all during the week. I had a fluke temp guage probe in the radiator that I periodically plugged in along the trip and (a bit worringly) it never got above about 75 degrees. I admit i had ripped the guts out of the thermostat earlier as the temp guage was showing red after only a short drive.

Presumably you didn't have the radiator checked then?

It sounds as if the engine has been running too hot, even though the gauge said otherwise.

You might get away with a head gasket, but how hot it got, will determine whether the rings or pistons have been damaged. I would have the radiator rodded, or re-cored and the rest of the cooling system in top condition before driving it again,

Cheers Charlie

Mate there is something going on here the 2.25 litre Rover petrol engine is one of the best engines built, it has carry over diesel engineering
Not sophisticated not power full but Bl@@dy durable
Invest in a TM2 ENGINE WATCHDOG TM2, Engine Temperature Sensor and Low Coolant Alarm never rely on a standard Rover temp guage

The radiator was about 12 months old the first time it blew and is now about 2 and a half years old. When it was out of commission i kept it full of water as directed by the mechanic.

Even though its not that old, should i get a radiator place to rip the tanks off and check it out?

Also, if the probe in the top hose is reading 75 degrees would I get a different reading, possibly hotter at the bottom. Which way does the water run?

Sorry for the Q's but I'm mechanically inept.

Cheers

This might ease the pain
http://www.aulro.com/apc/showproduct.php/product/3641/cat/12

If you have been using good quality corrosion inhibitor and rain-water, or better, the radiator should be in good condition but it wouldn't cost much to have it rodded anyway.

The water will be hotter at the top of the radiator and cooler towards the bottom; it can be checked with a laser thermometer.

If the cooling system is OK, then the head, or head gasket seem to be the next suspects,

Cheers Charlie

Hi,

Ripping the guts out of the thermostat is paving the path to doom. As is putting in the replacement listed by the well known chains of car stereo suppliers, which is invariably the one specified for a Holden 186.
To best of my recollection, the real McCoy is a skirted thermostat, the skirt of which covers the bypass port. So, if it is removed, the bypass is allways open.
If the thermostat really does need removal due to sticking, which is easy to check, pull the bypass housing off the side of the thermostat housing, and spade it with a piece of beer can or similar untill you can get a correct thermostat element from a supplier that knows landies.

Andy

This reply has been a long time comming but here it is anyway.

Thanks to all below that gave advice, it was all worthy and useful.

For any new players or mechanically inept members like myself the follwing may save you hours of rooting around and some cash as well.

So, head gasket went again. Looks like, as stated below part of the problem was the old school notion of "just rip the thermo out". Removing this did indeed cause the bypass to be open all the time therefore meaning the radiator wasn't really doing much to cool the water in the engine.

Another issue could have been the use of an old school copper head gasket. When I got the head cleaned up the rebuilder bloke thought he'd do me a favour and order a gasket kit. At the time I thought this was great. I have now learnt that on a 30 year old engine that probably could have slight warps etc a composite (?) gasket would have been a much better option.

So all in all this time it looks like I'll get away with a gasket kit, genuine thermostat and landrover mechanics labour this time.

If anyone has any comments or other ideas about the above please let me know as I am definately a "put in fuel and turn the key" amature. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Originally Posted by morg

Another issue could have been the use of an old school copper head gasket. When I got the head cleaned up the rebuilder bloke thought he'd do me a favour and order a gasket kit. At the time I thought this was great. I have now learnt that on a 30 year old engine that probably could have slight warps etc a composite (?) gasket would have been a much better option.


Cheers

I don't think that the age of your engine, or the copper gasket have a part to play in the second failure.

When you had the head seen to, did the engine man mill the face of the head flat? If he did was the face of the block checked for flatness? You can do this yourself with a steel straightedge and a set of feeler gauges.

Did you install the head using a tension wrench to tighten the fasteners and were they done up to the torque specified in the workshop manual?

Failure to do any of the above could be the reason why the gasket failed,

Cheers Charlie