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janmarine3
South Africa
286 Posts |
 Posted - 05 Sep 2011 : 06:13:15
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Hi Len,
From my experience with 1600 and 1725 engines the temp needle does not often go over the quarter mark, that is 170 degr F.
On very hot days and in slow or standing traffic it does happen though and if the radiator is very full it will blow out the overflow under hot conditions due to expansion.
If your temp has always been normal and suddenly starts playing up then something has definately changed for the worse.How old is the engine and how is the water quality in the cooling system, brown muddy colour water shows rust and debris and chemical build up.Running without quality anti-freeze is a no-no .
There should be no air bubbles in the radiator when the engine is running,normally this would be coming from the head gasket that is leaking, which is one of the things that our engines do when on the oldish side. On a lighter note your trouble might be that the radiator cap that is faulty, the pressures should be from 7 to 11 psi in the radiator.A faulty thermostat will normally cause overheating because it is not opening at the right temperature and the water in the engine is hot and cold in the radiator due to no flow past the thermostat.I have also found that my engine don't like even small water leaks then it shows on the temp gauge as getting a little hotter than normal.Also check the condition of all the hoses, they must not be too soft and collapsing . We should also remember that our cooling systems just cope under normal conditions and anything that goes wrong like fan belt tension etc affects it right away ( not a forgiving system ) That is why additionally we install electric fans , six blade fans and I closed off all the holes in front to concentrate more air on the fan area.Careful with this one, it might be the beginning of your head gasket failing and thereafter comes water out the exhaust , or water in the engine oil if you don't catch it quickly.Cast iron heads are tougher, but ally heads can warp quickly.
Another sign of head gasket failure is a miss on the cylinders in the morning after cold start or if it has been standing a while, because of water leaking in the head, which goes away after a while.
I am sure the guys can give you more info too about their experiences.
Cheers
Jan. |
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