My 1980 Transit ci Motorhome is Overheating

[rodders]

Thanks all for Suggestions and Advice. Just been in for M.O.T. Needed new exhaust and and crack in the exhaust manifold had to be welded. Casting so poor had to be brazed. Told to do a proper job requires heating up in an oven. Steel or stainless rods no good. Went to a scrappy and the manifold on offer had a crack in the same place; must be a common problem. Not blowing now and a bit more power I fancy. Wondered wether I could fit a bigger fan to cool her. At present it's a belt driven yellow one (not viscuous). Can you get larger sizes.? I've taken the thermostat out. Going to do another rad-flush. Runs great until I reach that first hill ! Then the gauge goes in the red and she starts pinking. I dread these hot summers !

[madmark]

hi mate if the standard yellow fan isnt keeping it cool the a viscous wont,you could try getting another fan maybe fit eletric but i dont think this is your problem! is the engine in very good running order???? have you had a compresion test done????? the reason i ask this is i had a pinto that done the same ,when takeing the head off some of the valves were burnt out ,also i had a viscous fan that wasnt working! the standard rad and fan should cool the engine no problem as long as the rad is in good condtion!

[rodders]

Ta Madmark; The engines sweet. Only done 46,000 from new (got all the M.o.t's).Only starts pinking going into red on gauge. Burnt out valves would explain it though. (unleade fuel?). Compression Test-ok.

[madmark]

one thing that will help abit is run it on super 97 ron not 95 this might help the pinking side of things, if it is pinking when the gauge is in the red then she is getting to hot thats for shure! is there anyway you can have the rad checked by a rad makers ,sometimes even if a flush is clear the rad cores might still be no good!

[jay]

i would try another radiator as it sounds like your one may have a blockage in it i had that in a mini once,put a better one in and it was cured,you could see if the rad is getting hot all over without any cold spots.

[bortaf]

my Turbo LDV used to overheat in a matter of seconds every time i got to a hill fitted a new rad and it was fine, the old rad was well heavy compaired to the newish one i fitted (full of crap)

[baconsdozen]

Try running the engine with no thermostat,if you rev it you should be able to see water flowing by looking down the rad filler hole.(Do it with the engine cold for safety). If you can't,either the rads blocked,or the pumps vanes are corroded or spinning on the shaft.If you take the top hose off the rad,rig it up so that it will spray away from the engine and rev the engine (just for a second) water should spray out,if it doesnt the pumps had it or the blocks blocked with sludge.I'd be worried about wether the exhaust valves after running with a so called petrol booster fitted inline,none of those things work and do nothing to stop valve seat damage with unleaded.

[escort]

hi
a mate of mine had exact same problem he done everything still could not cure it
we finaly found the problem advance weights in distributor had seizd[so not advancing the timing enough]
spayed wd40 and freed them of [checked they were working with strobe light] problem solved
might not be your problem but sounds like youve tried everything else worth a try
george

[rodders]

Thanks for that George.
Worth checking out the distributor weights. Like you say I've tried most other things. I'll get a garage to av' a look.Will let you know.
Running without thermostat and tried a new Rad'
Rodders

[rodders]

Hi All,
Finally discovered why the Tranny was overheating/pinking:- Decided to fit a new waterpump as I'd tried everything else. The old one must have been the original and there was quarter inch gap between the fins and the seating. The slanted seating had worn/rusted down. The fins were ok.
Wish I'd checked this earlier,
Rodders

[MarkM]

Just another thing to do even though you have now replaced the water pump, the return pipe up to the header tank (the one to the right as you look at it), take it off and run a drill through the connector on the tank as these get clogged very easily and even though you have a nice shiney new water pump now you could still get some odd temp readings. It can't hurt to do it as it takes less than 5 mins.

[Smooth Hound]

Have a look at the small pipe that goes into the expansion tank at the top is it flowing well , as if not then perhaps there is a fractioal blockage perhaps at thermosstat or water pump from when you flushed out so it is fine normally but not enough when the pressure is on, also you could try a thermos stat that opens at a lower temperature so's preventing it getting to such a heat in the first place. Just a thought .
Good luck .
Mike. And you could check for air locks by loosening one pipe at a time es pecially higher up whilst running until nothing but water is released , making sure your expansion tank is full and the pressure has built up a bit first, and as soon as your tank is about quarter full tighten all jubilee clips and the wait for the engine to go cold then top up again and do the same all over again, that will shift air locks.
Good luck.
Mike.

[rover]

The above two seem to be good suggestions apart from two things..

1, he has fixed the problem with a new pump.
2, its a MK2, so the rad is filled directly by removing the filler cap in the middle of the rad.

Rover.

[MarkM]

The above two seem to be good suggestions apart from two things..

1, he has fixed the problem with a new pump.
2, its a MK2, so the rad is filled directly by removing the filler cap in the middle of the rad.

Rover.

Oh well...I knew it was fixed but a poor flow will sort of be cured with a new pump and for the time it takes to clean the pipe union a good preventative measure...but if it don't apply to the MK2, well ok then...age wise I would have expected a MK2 to have the header tank as most engines had them by the time MK2's were being produced. But if it t'ain't there then it can't be fixed.

[bortaf]

Glad you sorted it