Thanks, I'll give that a go if I get time today!

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'77 Leyland Mini Van

The plug in the back of the block to drain the coolant...where is it? Is it this one (looking between the exhaust manifold and the host clamp)?

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'77 Leyland Mini Van

Yes that's it but don't be surprised if nothing comes out.
The water jacket silts up with rust etc back there, and nobody ever takes that plug out..
Once upon a time (early 850, Minor 1000 etc) there was a tap (petcock) on there, which made sense then when people drained their blocks out.

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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.

Yes , thats the one , they sometimes have a copper washer which does,nt like being squished , like I said run the motor to get it up to temp but not to hot , it,s a bugger of a thing to muck around with , just be careful you don,t burn yourself , I,ve done it three times on the "Snail" and every time there was lots of %$*&^ and ^(*%$ plus a couple of &^%$ and *&#% thrown in as well

Get some thicker wire about 4 or 5mm and make an open L shape so you can poke it in and see it you can get a flow happening , it you can happy days you can proceed with a proper flush , if you can,t you just to have persist with poking till you can get some crap out ( sounds a bit wrong )

Send me a rude PM if you feel like telling me off when you burn yourself

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Thanks Dr and Snail, I've successfully flushed the radiator now. Looking nice and green in there, for once.

I took it for a drive for about 45 minutes, had to stop halfway for fuel and dropped a sizeable puddle of green on the petrol station floor. After that, I continued on and she stayed in the 'N'ormal range for the next half hour. I got home and she dribbled a little more when I stopped.

I did as you suggested, snail. I waited a little while for her to cool down and removed the cap. I topped up the coolant and started her up. No bubbles, but after a minute or so the level started to rise and then drop away getting higher and higher each time til it was blupping a bit out every 8-10 seconds. I assume this is just the system pressurising as the stuff heats and expands, though?

In any case, the damn thing is still pushing out coolant through the overflow after it's been running for a little while and is stopped. Maybe I'm just overfilling it. Mine doesn't have a fill level, but I've seen that they're just below the top (maybe 10mm) on other mini radiators, so I assume it would be the same for mine. Surely you'd be able to see the coolant level from the top of the radiator?

I'm stumped anyways

Oh and I did burn my arm! My fault. Dropped the ratchet and went to retrieve it without thinking...

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'77 Leyland Mini Van

Righty Oh , sorry about the burn , its a bugger of a place , I did the same thing dropped the ratchet and reached out Mother F*****r , as to the radiator level the factory listed amount for the system is 3.55 litres , basically if after it has cooled down if the level is just over the fins that fine , it is tempting to keep topping it up to near the cap but of course that just disappears
Do you know which thermostat your using ? I,ve got an 82deg one in mine
Now to the other point , how much coolant did you put in ? To much glycol in the system does,nt seem to sit well with the water pump , if there is some corrosion there it cavitates and aerates the system which of course tends to push some out the overflow
In my system I,ve got rust inhibitor ( and a bit extra ) and 500mm of coolant , when I refilled as per the method I posted , by using a bucket of hot water from the tap I could measure out 2.8 litres , I had added the rust inhibitor and coolant first ( probably should have mentioned that ) after that I only had to top up to level the system out

We are getting there !!

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Thanks for the quick response and for all your help so far.

As for the thermostat, I don't know. Where is it located (I'm moving house and my manuals are all packed in boxes)? Is it normally marked on it somewheres?

As for the coolant amount, I added a 500ml bottle of rust inhibitor, then topped it up with water (I'm not sure how much). After it had the spew after my drive I topped it up with coolant so probably another 500 ml there I would guess.

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'77 Leyland Mini Van

I,m only using this as an example ( quick google search only ) , I,ve got a Quinton Hazell 82deg

(example only)

http://www.minicooperspares.com/product ... anguage=en

the little bugger is in the thermostat housing left of the radiator on the head, the temp range is stamped on the edge



( Edit : I,ve just seen that my bloody accelerator cable is underneath my clutch spring I don,t remember seeing that before , shuffles off to garage )


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Ah right I thought it was just a sender for the temp gauge. That being the case, I had soldered the wire onto it after the lug broke off as I couldn't side how the wire was normally attached.

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'77 Leyland Mini Van

The sender your referring to is below the thermostat housing , the short pipe in the foreground goes between the thermostat housing and the radiator , of course removing the housing to replace or check the thermostat will mean replacing the gasket ( just to be sure ) and torquing it down correctly

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So I drove the car to my new house today, but when I stopped, I listened carefully as I heard a bit of bubbling. Thermostat housing gasket is leaking like a mofo. I can see it clearly now the coolant's green and I'm amazed I never saw/heard it before.

http://vimeo.com/31991309

Anyhoo, I guess I'll be ordering a new gasket and I might as well replace the studs while I'm at it. I'm assuming a torque wrench will be a handy thing to have? Is it worth replacing the thermostat as well?

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'77 Leyland Mini Van

why? leave them be...



yes

and not all radiator caps are alike - I think the CPC brand caps are wrong - http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=42245

Yep , its cooked alright , a new gasket and a new 82deg thermostat for sure , yes a torque wrench to fit the housing back properly , offhand I cant recall the exact foot pounds

The better gasket is this one , the rubber ones are ok but not great

http://www.minisport.com.au/prod129.htm

Karcraft in Sydney would be the better place to get the bits you need , they will stock the gasket and a Quinton Hazell 82deg thermostat , you may also talk to them about getting some Loctite Gasket Sealant#2 ( not #1 )

http://www.karcraft.com.au/home.php


The next one of course to deal with is why was your head so hot ?
Are you using Premium 98 or 95 / 91 , 98 is what you should be using
How is your mixture and timing ?
If you are running lean and your timing is not quite right you will be running hot ?
Have you got a mechanical or electric fuel pump ? If its mechanical they have ( should have ) a filter inside , over time it blocks up , at idle or in city traffic its not that noticeable but a long drive at highway speed and the car leans out a little and if the system is already lean and the timing is out then the system is likely to fail somewhere over time

more things to check

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Finally got an hour or so to do this yesterday.

I put in one of those 82 deg QH thermostats and I stupidly only bought one gasket, but made a second out of cork (probably a mistake). I couldn't find the torque setting for the housing nuts in either of the manuals I have, so I just used the old forearm torque-measure.

Seems to be leaking around one of the studs now. I'll take off the housing again when I get back home in a few weeks and order a new paper gasket in the meantime. I suppose it's possible I've cracked the housing by doing up one the nuts too tightly, it is only ally after all, right? Should I be using loctite as well?

Ben

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'77 Leyland Mini Van

Back again Ben, how are you going ?

As far as torque probably no more than 25 or 30 ft/ lbs

As far as sealant for the thermostat housing , its been discussed just recently, no need for a cork gasket , paper is just fine with the proper sealant

http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=74732

Hope it all goes well

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