Cars of Crackers - Boat.

[Imhotep]

Another vote for not HGF. The other thing is at the rate it’s going through coolant (and looking at the photos, onto the floor), it’s got to be leaking somewhere. If your coolant starts to look like my 3.0 Mondeo’s did; worry then:

 

I know HGF presents in loads of ways but at that rate of coolant loss I’d really expect the coolant to either look like it does there, or the car to be running like a bag of shit. 

[Crackers]

3 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

I'm in mid Sussex just north of Brighton. 

Ah, fair enough, I'm in that area most weekends but unfortunately not with the right* car. 

I'm hoping 10L of fluid will turn up tomorrow so I can have a go at the traditional method - I don't have a vacuum bleed kit. 

[Crackers]

Remember this? 

Well, it still exists, so that's one thing.

Workshop is all open but nobody's in. How hard can it be!? 

[Split_Pin]

Pay them what is owed and get a flatbed via shiply to transport the car back to you.

Make sure you never go back to that garage ever again.

[vaughant]

Worst car I ever had to bleed a coolant system on was an e36 beemer as the radiator sits really low.

I used to find parking it on ramps with the cap off overnight really helped as the rad then got up above the car.

Berlingo's and escort's are great, little bleed screw in the heater matrix pipe on the bulkhead, fill system, release screw until coolant comes out, done.

[Mrcento]

1 hour ago, vaughant said:

Worst car I ever had to bleed a coolant system on was an e36 beemer as the radiator sits really low.

I used to find parking it on ramps with the cap off overnight really helped as the rad then got up above the car.

Berlingo's and escort's are great, little bleed screw in the heater matrix pipe on the bulkhead, fill system, release screw until coolant comes out, done.

My old CRX Del-Sol was an absolute bitch to bleed, in fact i find most Jap cars are a pain. Another thing they seem to struggle with (the other being rear brake calipers, which are universally SHITE, but that's another point)

It's bizarre how so many makers struggle with it, It's not difficult to get right, just give an upper bleed point. Even Fiat managed to do it right in a budget city car like the Cinquecento and have an upper bleed screw and lower bleed point (which fwiw is one of the best designs ever, on its own dedicated hose you can feed out of the wheel well into a bucket and tuck back away again when done).

[Crackers]

Right, I've got a free afternoon, 10 litres of coolant, and a new cap. 

Today is the day. The MG will drive home from the layby where it has lived for the past 2 months. 

[Rustybullethole]

May the force be with you.

 

[beko1987]

57 minutes ago, Crackers said:

Right, I've got a free afternoon, 10 litres of coolant, and a new cap. 

Today is the day. The MG will drive home from the layby where it has lived for the past 2 months. 

Wether it wants to or not 👌

If it starts to all go wrong reasonably close to home, drop a gear and drive the bastard harder until it properly dies...

[New POD]

On 19/02/2026 at 17:52, Imhotep said:

Another vote for not HGF. The other thing is at the rate it’s going through coolant (and looking at the photos, onto the floor), it’s got to be leaking somewhere. If your coolant starts to look like my 3.0 Mondeo’s did; worry then:

 

I know HGF presents in loads of ways but at that rate of coolant loss I’d really expect the coolant to either look like it does there, or the car to be running like a bag of shit. 

If you ever own a v6 omega that is typical for cars used only on short journeys or using Castrol oil.  

[beko1987]

34 minutes ago, New POD said:

If you ever own a v6 omega that is typical for cars used only on short journeys or using Castrol oil.  

The ex made 1.2 and 1.6 ecotecs do the same 😂  Never killed any of them (the corsa just survived cos corsa c, and came around after we met and I gave it some basic servicing, the 1.6 in the meriva had a yearly oil change and occasionally we'd take it further than a 7 mile radius but otherwise 🤷)

The 1.8 in the Zafira wasn't as bad for it, infact I don't remember ever seeing it but I think it got hotter faster in general which helped

[Crackers]

Let's take a short interlude from my bad cars, more on that later. 

I just realised it's 5 years today since I started this thread - collection day for the P6 that started it all. 

I sold it to get some cash in the bank - which I've ironically now completely lost from the last few automotive disasters. 

Ironically then, it was my most reliable British vehicle so far. So, happy anniversary to the one I shouldn't have let get away, and here's the first photo I took in my ownership! 

[SiC]

Did you fix it?

[Crackers]

I have no idea. 

But... It did move! 

I'll go back to it on Sunday and see how much water is left in it. We definitely got some air out, but when I took the cap off after getting it hot, it still wanted to chuck some coolant out the top of the header tank. 

[Crackers]

Right, 2 days later, it's got the same amount of water it did on Friday (slightly over the max level) - I've siphoned some out and given it a good drive, it seems to be alright now and hasn't pushed anything out 🤞🤞

Not going to say it's definitely sorted until I've had checked a few more times but it looks promising. Thanks to all who posted the method for bleeding it. 

Unfortunately, I must have sinned in a previous life, because there's a new warning light on. They're not usually mounted externally though. 

 

[richardmorris]

Sticking caliper or a collapsed flexi hose?

[Split_Pin]

Very easy to change, just make sure you get the right ones as 190s are larger.

[Crackers]

Ok MG, fight me.

 

[SiC]

I'd chuck a new hose on it while you're there. Cheap enough hopefully and you'll be bleeding the system anyway.

[Crackers]

There's something for sale on here that I want, so I now need to make a real effort to thin the fleet.

The caliper for the MG arrived today and I'll hopefully get some good weather soon to get to work on it. 

I've just dropped the price of my dead Jag to £950 in case anyone on here wants it. It's not really about the money at this point. 

 

[Crackers]

I don't wish to jinx things, but I think it's alright now...

Coming to a For Sale section near you soon. 

[Crackers]

Right, wasting no time at all, it's for sale now. 

Please go and have a look - it's driving really nicely again now and has both working brakes and coolant system. 

If anyone fancies a go, PM me. 

 

[Crackers]

The story draws to a close.

The Jag is off to a new owner to be investigated and eventually go back on the road. The new owner runs a garage so can make it a somewhat more economical repair than a paying customer.

A positive outcome for me, and hopefully there's a good car in it for someone else going forward. 

Oh, and the MG sold too. Things might be looking up slightly in the Cars of Crackers fleet at last. 

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Crackers said:

The story draws to a close.

The Jag is off to a new owner to be investigated and eventually go back on the road. The new owner runs a garage so can make it a somewhat more economical repair than a paying customer.

A positive outcome for me, and hopefully there's a good car in it for someone else going forward. 

Oh, and the MG sold too. Things might be looking up slightly in the Cars of Crackers fleet at last. 

Are you still on the trains?

[Crackers]

1 minute ago, High Jetter said:

Are you still on the trains?

These ones? 

Aye that's me on the deck receiving the token. 

[High Jetter]

3 minutes ago, Crackers said:

These ones? 

Aye that's me on the deck receiving the token. 

Uh, mebbe t'other side? 😀

[Crackers]

17 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Uh, mebbe t'other side? 😀

Nah. Signalbox is behind the photographer, so if you took in the token from the far side of the train, you can't get back across until it's stopped. 

I should put some more bits in the Railshite thread when I get round to it 👍 

[Crackers]

In a twist that will shock absolutely nobody, I'm buying another car.

Mode 1: Legs. 

[S2000]

I’m firing up the beast ……

[Crackers]

I know they've got good aero but that is bloody impressive.