Jump to content

Bodging with Alabama Shrimp


AlabamaShrimp

Recommended Posts

Well I thought it was time I started a thread that will be infrequently updated with my general messing and bodging with my cars as I've got a few and they all seem to be broken at once.

 

Today after me putting it off for ages I finally tried to find out why my mk2 Fiesta had been over heating as it seems to be the current consensus that the water pump is OK but one of the bolts of seized so just leave it for now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

post-17845-0-65988900-1496263756_thumb.jpg

 

So here it is a 1988 pop plus. The heater gauge goes near to the red then drops to half way.

 

No oil in the expansion tank, water levels staying the same. Only the normal gunk in the rocker cover for these engines and starts first time.

 

Thermostat was changed the other week and the old one checked, opened all OK. So is it a blocked radiator as I put some rad weld in it a few months ago as it's only 2 years old but got a small leak in the bottom

 

post-17845-0-20748900-1496264005_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks OK off the car

 

post-17845-0-28844900-1496264057_thumb.jpg

 

Flushed it all out and only a small bit of brownish water came out, it didn't leak from the bottom.

 

OK thermostat off. Thermostat cover had this little return tube totally blocked

 

post-17845-0-51002500-1496264167_thumb.jpg

post-17845-0-78778100-1496264191_thumb.jpg

 

Brown gritty stuff was removed and I cleaned the tube too, don't think it could have been causing that much trouble but I took the expansion tank off and cleaned that too.

 

The hose from that to the engine though had this oily crap in it

 

post-17845-0-86658400-1496264309_thumb.jpg

 

Cleared it as best I could as the other end wouldn't come off and flushing the engine through was just coming out clean water.

 

post-17845-0-47436300-1496264392_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So expert gasket made

 

post-17845-0-44563000-1496264446_thumb.jpg

 

Sealed with some red crap and all put back together with no thermostat or antifreeze and taken for a longish drive, we'll long enough that it would get hot normally.

 

Takes ages for the temperature gauge to move so stopped half way to give the hoses a squeeze in case of air locks but after 20 minutes the gauge was still only reading

 

post-17845-0-40711800-1496264596_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So dodgy thermostat (but the original works and the replacement was brand new), blocked radiator, but no crap came out or it's just being a twat and drive it as is for as long as I can?

 

Forgot to say before there was no heat coming from the heater (even though it showed hot. Still none today no idea why)

 

I'll drain some of the water off though and put the last of my antifreeze in just to be sure and see where it goes from there.

 

Next thing will be the flat paint.

 

post-17845-0-22677600-1496264765_thumb.jpg

 

Buffed two years ago but it's come back

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry, completely inane question here, is that front bumper standard on a pop plus?

This isn't one of those cars that needs a sound thrashing to bleed air out of the heater is it?

Or maybe I'm wasting my breath and you've fixed it already but just building up the suspense... It's working.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No such thing as an inane or stupid question. No the bumpers are Ghia ones I got years ago as the metal ones rotted out, there's a design fault on the later Fiesta bumpers where the plastic trim holds water.

 

No idea if thrashing it will get any potential air out. I took all the hos s off it the other week and flushed it out but only a bit of stuff came out, but, they have the in and out next xt to each other so I might have only cleaned the header tank and it could be blocked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's not too much to the cooling system on an ohv Fiesta. You could have some of that gunk in the heater matrix if the thermo housing was clogged with it, parts are still plentiful and cheap as chips though so no big deal if you have to replace stuff like rad and water pump or even the head gasket. I'd try the old dishwasher tablet in the expansion tank trick and see what happens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From your symptoms I'd be inclined to think your heater tap has been blocked by the use of the radweld.

 

Does it heat up a lot when you give it the beans and then cool back to normal when driving normally? This would suggest narrowed waterways which you wouldn't detect with a flush as the water still appears to flow just fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What's a heater tap? If it is the rad weld that's narrowed the waterways can they be cleaned? Is that what the washing tablet in the tank will do?

 

The car has never run hot but started by going really hot in about 10 minutes but then dropping straight down to half and stopping there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lovely car mr Shrimp.

Makes me miss my old Paris blue metallic B reg mk2 1.3 Ghia. It was a great little car. 1300 cvh was quick too, and I had blue velour seats!

 

Sadly it was pretty fucked, very rusty and had a big black tide mark all the way around the bottom 6'' of the car. It's long gone now sadly, I wish I'd stuck it in a garage somewhere instead of selling it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mine was from the same area, the Ford garage in Dewsbury (Grahams IIRC) still had the dealer plates on, and when i got it, it was a one owner ex giffer, no centre console or radio, and was mintier than the Trebor factory, loved that car, so simple to work on, and made a handy van when you folded the back seat. F30 OVH I miss you, was scrapped about 18 months after I part ex'd it, tinworm was creeping in, and the miles were well into 6 figures. It survived a reshaping by an Astra and a Transco Sherpa, it needed a new 1/4 panel & stub axle after the Sherpa incident, a mate had a jig in his garage and we cut off the old quarter, straightened the floor, welded up the new quarter, and it was then it gained the XR2 suspension. It drove fine, but I think that damage caused the rot to get in

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So with parts of the cooling system suspected to be partly blocked by radweld I thought I'd take the article out today for a drive still with no thermostat in.

 

All going OK and the temp gauge only got as high as in the photo

 

post-17845-0-96399600-1497022854_thumb.jpg

 

As it was a tiny bit higher than last time I thought I'd check the heater. The twat blew hot!

 

It wasn't uber hot but it worked and it hasn't done that for weeks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So back in went one of them. The water in the thermostat housing was clear so I'm convinced that it isn't hgf and must either have been blocked up somewhere or had an air lock.

 

Anyway, new gasket made, paste applied and back together. Was a bit of a bugger to start the car for a change today but when it did there were no leaks so I've to take it for a drive later and see how it goes

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was then that I stupidly thought I'd have a quick look at a lumpy bit of rust on the inner wing.

 

Of course I put my finger straight through. Looks like it's a small patch that's rusted through. As my welding skills and patience are shit they'll be no fancy cutting out and making a new bit it'll have to be patch over patch.

 

Not today though as I still can't get in the garage due to a broken door....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...