yet more coolant issues

[WARRIOR72]

right im back to square one again!!everything seems to be fine on the surf check the coolant all ok..start it up runs fine,warms up lovely..take it on a 4 mile run,come back and its got a leak AGAIN.the hoses keep pressurising again and water seeping out the hose ends past the clips,ive replaced a few with jubilee clips incase the old types werent up to it but im running out of clips...first it was radiator hoses then hose into inlet manifold,then water pump hoses then hose near valve on heater matrix,now its the hose coming from the matrix near the rad.temp is fine inside lovely hot air coming from heater(s) oil level is bang on normal.can all this be down to just air in the system. could it be something more sinister like a cracked block? (just replaced the head and that was definately cracked!!) starting to lose faith now

[MattF]

Have you replaced the rad cap and 'stat?

[WARRIOR72]

yes matt got em both from roughtrax along with oil & fuel filters,and all 4 aux/fan belts.pump replaced and timing belt done too, just cant believe there would be that much pressure caused by air.... oh and new head bolts (payen) too!

[BUSHWHACKER]

Did you fit the thermostat with the little jiggle valve at the top?

[WARRIOR72]

Did you fit the thermostat with the little jiggle valve at the top?

i think so mate, i couldnt get it to fit in any other way would it be a good idea to take it out and try it? i could cut my old one to pieces so i still got the seal there!!?

[MattF]

Right then. Unless the top hose is going rock solid once the 'stat opens, I wouldn't worry too much about pressure buildup just yet. There are far more possible causes. Are all the hoses original? It may be that one of the hoses has perished, allowing air to be sucked in and keeping the system airlocked. I had something along these lines a while ago. Kept tightening the Jubilee clips up on the hoses, (all new ones), and the bugger sprung a leak somewhere else each time I checked. Turned out to be an adaptor that had corroded and wasn't sealing properly. Also, in the overflow tank, is the end of the pipe from the cap immersed in the antifreeze? Is that pipe from the cap into the overflow clear, no blockages?

[WARRIOR72]

definately no blockage,as i released the cap slowly just trying to get air out and it shot a torrent of water out of it!! theres plenty of coolant in exp tank. ive had trouble bleeding coolant sytems before but never to this extent im honestly near tears

[WARRIOR72]

just checked stat in correctly....remarkably it is

[MattF]

Pretty hard to suggest what to do next, then. May be worthwhile popping your old rad cap back on just to make sure you haven't got a dodgy new one, but I would've expected that to cause a different problem. Only other things to try then are either checking the coolant for exhaust gasses or pressure test it, (to see if your worst fears are correct with regards to the block), or replace all the hoses and see if that makes any difference.

[WARRIOR72]

ill perservere for a while thanks for your help guys... wish i got someone to do it for me now hindsight is a wonderful thing. will it help bleeding the system without the stat in?

[MattF]

If you think you may have got cartloads of air in there when you refilled it, drain the coolant out and refill the system *slowly*. Don't gurgle air into it by throwing the stuff in. Otherwise, just keep checking the level under the rad cap, keep the expansion tank half full, and wait for it to expel itself.

[WARRIOR72]

will do mate i think it must have a hose sucking in air somewhere, as you suggested possible,its running too good to be anything serious,( )t i took it on a good twenty mile run earlier,viscous fan working as it should,electric fan cutting in/out,no loss or gurgling of coolant in system, very hot air coming through vents frnt and rear,was fine till i got home was idling for about 45 mins i decided to turn the heaters back to cold,was fine so i turned off.then noticed it had just started leaking from the hose clips going into the rear heater gonna replace them tomorrow and start again.may get a block tester off e bay to put mind at rest!! thanks for your help again

[POPEYE]

Dont know if this would cause your problems mate but i found my rear heater blocked when i was cleaning the engine etc, i'd made up a sort of water pressure gun out of an old shutz gun with a hose on the pick up pipe into a header tank of hot soapy water, with the air attached it made a powerfull water gun, i stuck it up one end of the rear heater pipes and first a jet of old red coolant come out and then it blew the tube joint apart from the header tank, did this twice and then eventually blew out a load of reddish $hite, heater was working fine prior to strip down but it must have been blocked,
I've since run a garden hose through it with hot water and it's flowing ok,

[WARRIOR72]

cheers ian,matt. the thought had occured about the heater even though its blowing lovely warm air out,it has started leaking now from the pipe going into the rear heater underneath,but i think something a bit more serious is afoot!! i drive it to work today (only 2 miles )and it was ok. i let it cool down and after about two hours went to undo the cap to see if coolant needs topping up.after nearly blowing my hand through the bonnet with the pressure,lots of wierd browny gas filled bubbles come out,along with about 2 litres (i kid you not) of coolant.when the coolant came out and ran on the floor i noticed the familiar rainbow effect on the top of the water ie oil!!?
have now decided to strip the head off again and have a look at the gasket/bolts. although i used payen bolts the gasket was made in a set by matsurama (who i have heard of and thought to be a decent make).would you agree this will be the best option? who would you reccomend for new bolts/gasket.roughtrax or milners?

[POPEYE]

Sorry to hear that, yeah sound like the worst, judgeing by the cambelt story i go for roughtrax, tell barry the story and see what he says, someone said make sure the bolt hols are clear of debri os the bolts wont torque down properly,

just hopeing mine runs at all after my fiddleing about