hi,
history:
my car's been off the road for 20+ years. I've got it mot'd now, and I'm busy "shaking the tree" (small runs) and lots
of things are failing. Please can I run the following passed you, to see if I'm on the right track.
current problems:
* car won't start without throwing petrol down the 32/26 weber (clone) dgv. The dgv's accelerator pump was leaking last week, so I swapped
that (now fixed). Do I need to rebuild the thing? (I think so). Float bowl has fuel in, but there's grot in the fuel bowl. Gaskets look
knackered.
* white smoke on hard acceleration? headgasket gone or carb problem? <- no mayonaisse on oil cap, coolant looks oil free, but it is bubbling like
it's overheating.
* fuel not getting to carb? pipe has fuel coming out of it, but pipe's ancient... priority? <- I've swapped pump to carb with new pipe,
and the old pipe, although hardened, was in good shape when I cut it up. I also turned the thing over with the distributor cap off, and it pumped out
fuel ok.
* mechanical fuel pump, I'd like to swap, but it's not a priority, if it's working. any recommendations please for a cheap-ish pump and
regulator. I'd like to keep it in-line without a return if possible.
* fuel gauge reads wrong, so tank might come out at some time.
* it's got fresh fuel in, but there might be some old stuff in the bottom of the tank. I was hoping to run it long enough to use all the old
stuff up.
* oil's 20 years old. Is changing that a priority? <- oil actually looks in good nick.
* coolant, I've bypassed the heater at the moment, and I can't remember if there's a thermostat in or not.
* I've not got a water temperature gauge at the mo and have a cheap oil temp gauge connected to the water sender. I can flip the gauge, but that
will mean having the dash out again and that's not my priority at the mo. Any other way to check water temp? "oil" gauge reads high,
and I can hear the coolant bubbling up to the expansion tank. <- I reckon I might have an airlock or a blockage, top hose is getting warm
though.
Sorry for long post, it's been a bit of a brain dump so I can see the wood for the trees.
Thanks,
[Edited on 2/11/24 by timB]
Bubbling coolant certainly sounds like head gasket. I'd imagine that after 20 years it needs a quite thorough going through, certainly oil, fuel
lines, plugs etc. Carbs will want cleaning at least.
I imagine you'll have to do what I did - weigh up if you really want to keep that engine, cos this is the perfect time to ditch it if you were
going to upgrade. I kept my pinto, mainly because I ended up spending money before I'd really thought about changing it. Mine was dead for 7
years.
I'd allay suggest having a think if you really want to do the work yourself, or just give it to someone to sort. I took mine to boggs brothers, who did a great job getting it sorted.
thanks for the reply. I reckon if I start considering an engine swap, I might as well consider getting rid of this car and getting a sorted, second hand seven. I'm sticking with this one though, I've got a lot of history with it.
Some info on engine might be useful.
Probably best to address one thing at a time.
Cooling/ headgasket...
Does it have a header tank or just rad? Is the bubbling with the pressure cap on and after how long?
People get obsessed with oil in water or mayo in oil but those only happen in some of the many possible gasket failures. If water to cylinder is the
failure you'll get pressure in the water and water in the cylinders. Both sound like your symptoms. How long does it run before it bubbles? Have
you pulled the plugs and indpected and looked into the cylinders?
If after a short run (<5min) and before it's got hot you release (carefully) the cap, is there pressure? Are any of the plugs very clean or
rusty? Are any of the piston crowns steam cleaned? If you run it, switch off when hot and then let it sit a while, is there any water in a cylinder
when you remove a plug?
Thanks, that's useful info. I'll have a look tomorrow. I've got a mate with a borescope i can lean on if necessary.
It's a xflow/kent with an expansion tank coming off of the thermostat housing. Rebuilt about 5k miles, but 30+ years ago.
I’d take the carb apart and give it a good clean, there’s probably loads of corrosion in it, make sure you clean through the passage ways of the idle
jets. Have you got the choke connected for starting?
I don’t know much about crossflows but it does sound like the HG has failed, it must be fairly simple job to replace? Can you check the head bolts
tightness if you just want to run it for a short time before you decide what to do?
One thing to watch out for is core plugs. I had a longer period of slightly mysterious water loss on a blacktop zetec. Eventually I suspected head gasket but then found a core plug with a pin hole in it (on the outside - of course the inside of it was terrible) hiding behind the front pulleys in the cylinder head
quote:
Originally posted by spegru
One thing to watch out for is core plugs. I had a longer period of slightly mysterious water loss on a blacktop zetec. Eventually I suspected head gasket but then found a core plug with a pin hole in it (on the outside - of course the inside of it was terrible) hiding behind the front pulleys in the cylinder head