Hi all

Got around to taking the radiator and water pump out today looking for an obvious cause to my major overheat. I was hoping to find a rubbish water pump and atleast being able to say - well that's the cause.

So this is my water pump, I know there are some crappy ones out there, but I'm not sure if mine is classified as a high flow or not? It does not have a bypass take off on it. Can't seem to find any part no.'s


Radiator seems fine, water seems to flow very freely through it.

Any help would be great

Cheers
James

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Yes, that is what they would call a high (or Higher) flow water pump. The lower flow type had a cheap pressed metal impeller which isn't actually all that bad. I unwittingly had one in my Cooper S for 5 years up in the Northern Territory. Often the culprit is a dirty radiator and water jacket, but we tend to blame the things we can bolt on out of habit. If the bearing turns smoothly with some resistance and without any grinding then it will be fine again.

While its off and you want to avoid any more overheating, have the radiator cleaned and rodded out, it will cost under a hundred dollars from a radiator shop. This will mean the tank tops will be taken off, but returns a zero timed radiator again. They may try and tell you to buy a new core for 300 dollars however, standard trick. Assess for yourself and tell them to do their job as described. get in quick, the rad shops are winding down for the XMAS break.

Clean the water jacket out on the block as well. There will be a lot of gunk in the lower half of the block that will take some motivation to move along. Drain the illawarra of drinking water if you have to, but clean the solids out as best you can washing from the heater tap and rear drain plug as well, and consider a chemical treatment once its back together.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Thanks for that Mick. I reaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllyyyyyy don't want to get my radiator reco'd. It's only done one car trip since brand new and to be totally honest that rad is THE most expensive rad you can get from Minispares and the like. -sigh-

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Then, you would probably be able to determine the radiator is just fine...

Since it is a little easier and cheaper, I would consider a clean sweep on the rest while its all out. New 72 degC thermostat, check the radiator cap (maybe its a little bit low in rating, should be 13 lb) clean the block out, and maybe for stamps try and source a radiator return bottle.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

If the rad is clean, check your ignition timing. If retarded, you are sending more heat to the water jacket of the head when the exhaust valve opens. Because, it is burning late.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Cheers Doc,

If my timing was a little too retarded - Would the car of been running fairly average/rough as?

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If retarded, it will seem less responsive to throttle.
Back then in the absence of a timing light, on most Minis we used to keep advancing it a bit until it got rough/started to ping, then bring it back a little until that stopped.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

To be honest I haven't played with timing yet, I always let my mechanic set it.
The car never missed in throttle and if you put your foot into it it could get up and go.
With timing should it be set at idle or high RPM? All I remember the mechanic saying was 'it's set at 32 degrees adv at 5500 rpm'

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The factory specified setting advance at idle.
However what matters most is what advance it's at when under power, so your mechanic is doing it correct.
It's worth checking what it is at low speed though, as the advance curve may or may not be correct.
With unleaded fuel most Minis seem to like around 8-10 degrees static advance.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

once you are satisfied that the timing is correct I would flush the heater matrix out, flushing both ways, the other thing I would do is check that you have the correct radiator cap if you can fit it without some downward pressure it may be the wrong cap

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" A Hundred Years From Now It will not Matter what my Bank Acount Was,
The Sort Of House I Lived in, Or The Kind Of Car I drove ... But The World May Be A Better Place
Because I was Once Important In The Life Of A Child"

Thanks John.

I don't run a heater in my car. My rad cap takes somewhat downward pressure to screw in. (short neck)

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I see that the bypass is blocked off, so are you running a thermostat? If so, is there an alternative bypass hose fitted? If not, does your thermostat have some holes drilled in it so that water can flow when the thermostat is closed?

Hi there

No there is no other bypass fitted. I am running a 74 degree thermostat and no I haven't got holes drilled in the thermostat. This is an issue I've only realised recently that there probably isn't any water really flowing when the car is cold.

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I wish I had some sort of witty quote in my signature

In the old days most thermostats (Holden etc) had a `jiggle pin' in them to let a little water through. Was a good idea..

If you don't have a bypass, a single 3mm hole drilled in the thermostat is all you really need.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.