Woo hoo. New cooling system !!!

[Cristian G in Oz]

Well I finally got to change out my cooling system today.

The bearings in my water pump were dying, so I took the plunge.
I ordered a pump, thermostat, fan coupling, top and bottom hoses from Pelican.

So, off I went to change everything.  The water pump came out surprisingly easy (I was prepared fro a struggle), the thermostat came out easy and then I set about disassembling the inlet to change the plastic hose and the long one that goes to the bottom of the radiator.
I think I got to this just in time as the water pump housing was cracked and the impeller was also cracked in two places.

When I got the inlet off I found all the fuel hoses were cracked and perished, so i changed out all them as well. That should fix the "fuelly" smell when starting in winter!!

I also bypassed the TB heater while I was there. I just connected the outlet on the head to the metal "U" pipe then left the other end connected as normal to the plastic hose on the side of the block.

When I got everything back together I had a leak from a bolt on the thermostat housing and one form the radiator.
I couldn't sort them, so just went for a drive to finish bleeding the system and see how things go.  After a 10 min drive I figured all is well, so went home. Both the leaks had gone when I got home, so I will see how they go tomorrow morning.

The biggest thing I have noticed is that the temperature now sits smack bang in the middle of the gauge. It was on the first quarter mark before, and both the thermostats 88deg ones.

I'll let you know how things pan out over the next couple of days.

Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of anything.

Cristian

[RED IS 91]

great job!
These motors are so easy to work on .I changed plugs on my 94 toyota 4runner v6 yesterday and had to have 2 extensions and a wobbler to get at them. I really like the simplicity of the m42.

[nicknikolovski]

Well done indeed, don't worry about the temp gauge issue, this is normal. It should be in the middle anyway.

[Cristian G in Oz]

Well, things seem to be going ok.

The leak form the thermostat housing seems to have "fixed" it's self. It seems that if I drive the car so that the car gets to normal operating temp it's fine. If I do a short trip then it may weep a little.

I Now have another 2 questions though, (one of which I think has been asked before).

1.) When I start the car it stumbles on idle for a up to 30secs. All I have changed is what detailed above, what else could cause this stumble?

Could it be related to the next question...

2.) When I start the car and drive off putting the engine "under load" I get what looks like steam/condensation (similar to a start on a cold morning) coming out the exhaust. I have had sniff of it and it doesn't smell sweet like coolant, but it does smell like a rich mixture. It does go away after a few minutes of driving though.

All help/suggestions are appreciated.

Regards

Cristian

[Cristian G in Oz]

OK guys,

I think I have a problem (see above plus below).

Today it's 35deg c out and when I started my car to come home from work I still got steam out the exhaust.  Could this be a head gasket? Could it be a cracked head?
So far I haven't got any cappuccino in the sump or the radiator.

Would it be worth dropping a bottle of "radiator stop leak" into the cooling system (if it keeps me going to christmas)?

As a side note, the car wouldn't start this morning. I had to jump it off my wifes subaru  but then everything was fine for the rest of the day, apart from the usual hard to start and stumbling idle on start up.

I hope someone has some suggestions or advice.

Thanks

Cristian (just a little worried) in Sydney.

[nicknikolovski]

Check your compression readings - that could be the stumbling issue. And steam from the exhaust is almost certain of a blown head gasket, cracked head, cracked block or warped head.

DO NOT put that radiator stop leak shit. I've seen another M42 engine where that stop leak shit caused the coolant to become rusty looking and even blocking coolant passages. It almost looked like there was mud inside the cooling system.

Also after reading your first post, I am worried that the cracked water pump impeller may have caused the possible head gasket problem and therefore may have cooked the head.

[Cristian G in Oz]

Nick,
the water pump was still functioning it was just the housing above the impeller that was cracked. I will try to get some photos on this weekend, but I have trouble posting photos in forums.

I was thinking that the steam is from a cracked head gasket that popped when I put the new radiator cap on.  The water would be leaking into the cylinder. This would also account for the steam on start up and possibly the hard to start from yesterday and teh stumbly idle as it clears the water.

I will try to do a compression test this weekend and see what it comes up with.  Also if I can borrow a boroscope from work I will have a look in the cylinders to see if one is squeaky clean. I don't like my chances of the boro though.

Thanks for your ideas.

Cristian

[Cristian G in Oz]

OK things have gone pear shaped.

I did a compression test today and got 150 to 160psi on all cylinders. No progress here.
I then had a look in the cylinders with a boroscope and #2 and #3 had coolant in them.
I couldn't find a break in the head gasket but I'm going to rip the head off anyway.

I collected a VRS kit and head bolts this arvo, so next week I will be working through a few evenings to get it done.

Cristian

[big red]

Sorry to hear that. Hope everything is working out. Let us know how its going, if you get time.

[Cristian G in Oz]

OK, so the worst has happened.

My head is cracked between the water galleries and the combustion chamber on the exhaust side of #2 and #3 cylinders.

The head took me 3.5hrs to get off, and I was surprised at how easy it was.

The sad news is that as I now have to get a reco head I don't have enough to do the timing gear at the same time (which it needs).

I will get some photos over the weekend and try to post them.

Cristian