Coolant fun.

[Richard MorrisParticipant]

I’ve had my car five months now, and am slowly sorting out cooling issues. Mostly related to very little use over the last six years.

firstly the lower coolant hose was perished and leaking. Then the radiator was extremely furred up and despite flushing was still running hot. A recommended rebuilder retired the day I phoned him, and a recored one from club spares leaked. As did the brand new replacement one, but from a different location. Hopefully rad no 4 is ok. I’ve got fitting down to 10 minutes!

anyway, the reason for this post, is that I am getting a lot of foam made in the headspace when I add a bit of antifreeze. Still bubbly with water alone, but not foamy. It seams to expel most of it when I’ve parked up. No smell of it on the move. I have filled the coolant to the bottom of the metal “cage” in the filler neck.

It’s not getting overly hot now-  you can undo the brass cap as soon as you stop and open the bonnet. And after 120miles this weekend the coolant was this rusty brown colour.

My thoughts are the water pump is cavitating, or there is a head gasket failure, but there’s no oil in the water, nor does the foam smell of exhaust. Local group has suggested a poor engine Earth causing electrolysis but I am doubtful.

Otherwise it handled the m4 and roads to oxford well, accelerating up to 60mph at one point, and no smoke of any sort.

any suggestions?

thanks,

richard.

 

 

• This topic was modified 3 weeks, 1 day ago by Richard Morris.
• This topic was modified 3 weeks, 1 day ago by Richard Morris.

[BernieParticipant]

My immediate thought is that the bubbles are the result of a combustion gas transfer from at least one cylinder to the cooling water labyrinth.  Possibly a gasket failure or a crack somewhere in the hardware.  Either option would not necessarily result in oil/water contamination.

But, if you are not overheating, that seems unlikely.  However, to be sure, a compression test is likely to show any cylinder leak and there are testing kits available that will detect combustion gas traces in the coolant.

If  the problem persists and you are still concerned, I would suggest draining the system, flushing and filling with fresh water to see if bubbles persist.  But I don’t know what else to suggest if they do.

Sorry, I can’t be more helpful.
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[Richard MorrisParticipant]

Thanks Bernie, however this issue has now been overshadowed by a semi exploded battery and a dynamo giving 1v output max. These issues are probably related.
interestingly, I had just flushed the system again after a long trip to oxford , and the next weekend trip out noticed that the ammeter wasn’t showing a charge. Also, there was no frothy coolant.

I’ve ordered a new battery. Martin de little thinks he has a recon dynamo in the garage and so hopefully everything will work out. But what’s happened to either the battery, or dynamo I do not know. There was no sign of overcharging, or acid escaping.

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[BernieParticipant]

Yoiks!

Good luck with the dynamo.  If MdL cannot help, I think we have some in secondhand spares, contact Ian Harvey,

secretary@traction-owners.co.uk

 

 

[Richard MorrisParticipant]

Thanks, it’s all a learning curve. I’ve done more km since Easter than it had the last six years, and that will show up in any slightly temperamental components.

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