rad expansion

[CapperTom]

Hi all, ive had a problem on my pinto capri of overheating for a little while, its a new rad and has coolant in it. Its just hit me i took the expansion tank off the bulkhead too fit twin 40s and now it just vents onto the ground, could this be it? does it affect it?

Thanks in advance

Tom

[Tom]

what do you mean 'vents' to the ground? have you got an open pipe in your cooling system?

[CapperTom]

Yeah, where the lil pipe off the filler neck goes into the tank on the bulkhead of a capri, now the pipe is just open and vents onto the ground? Could this be affecting it then?

Thanks

Tom

[cyrix]

Well the Mk1 capri never had the expansion tank and vented to the ground, nor is it a pressurised container it vents into anyhow.

[Rick]

you have to have some form of venting else itl just POP dunno about capris but on escorts you just have the pipe out the top of the rad and pointing down out the way if it does boil over

[richie_stix]

might be non electric fan coupled with old pinto... my old engine overheated alot and was a 1.6... my newr 2.0 doesn't (unless baking day, traffic for hours)? shouldn't matter bout expansion tank as thats just a place to catch the over boil... yours has probably boiled off soem coolant aswell!

[NeilT]

just had a simular problem with my 1.6 pinto (no 40's so i still the expation tanck) turned out the kenlo on mine was sh@gged so i have stuck an old skool viscus fan back on it then that was banned so it locked on all the time now and it works a treat lol

 

so i might be a fan issuse if you havent all ready been down that router?

[MK2Ed]

Hi all, ive had a problem on my pinto capri of overheating for a little while, its a new rad and has coolant in it. Its just hit me i took the expansion tank off the bulkhead too fit twin 40s and now it just vents onto the ground, could this be it? does it affect it?

Thanks in advance

Tom

 

Hi mate, it should vent to the ground, so don’t think this is your problem, sounds like overheating issues generally. Here’s some food for thought for ya :

 

Take the top hose off the rad and start the engine... water should gush out the top hose.. no water = pumps gone…

 

Take the bottom hose of the rad... again water should gush out the rad. no water = rads blocked… (may not be this in your case as new rad)

 

When the engine is running is the top hose and bottom hose a different temp?

 

When its been running take the cap carfully, give the hose a squeeze first, if its solid dont undo the cap, your block/head gasket/head has a leak, if you can still squeeze it then take the cap off if the waters steaming out then the engine is hot, can you take the top hose temperature with a thermometer?

 

Your gauge may be faulty but are you losing water? If so how much? can you see the fins in the rad? BTW The top of the rad is the expansion tank, any excess water is pushed past the rad cap and out the overflow.

 

You may need to change the stat - Burtons sell three types of themostat 82,88 and 92 degrees, so there must be some use in having this choice

 

You may want to change to a leccy fan but in reality the electric fan should almost never cut in whilst driving unless you are either stationary or crawling slowly in traffic

[toad650]

The water in the system will expand as it heats up, the rad cap will have a pressure rating usually in Lbs once the system reaches this pressure it opens letting coolant out usually into the expansion tank. As the engine cools and the coolant cools the water from the expansion tank will flow back into the rad untill the pressure drops below the cap pressure so shutting.

 

The expansion tank is there so you don't have to keep too much of an eye on you rad water level as you won't loose coolant unless it over heats. If you can get a higher pressure rad cap the water will boil at a higher temp, if you change the thermostat the coolant will start running through the rad at a different temp so might help if you get one that opens earlier.

 

Did you flush the whole system out when you changed the rad all the pipes, block, head, inlet manifold, heater matrix etc both ways? are you using just water or coolant/antifreeze as well? as this will help a bit too.

 

Are the 40's and your timing set up right as this can cause overheating. and as said before is the fan working ok? Prob best checking the easy free stuff before looking towards head gasket n stuff.

 

Good luck

[CapperTom]

Thanks for all your help, yes the block and head has been rebuilt and im pretty sure the blocks ok. The carbs were set up on a rolling road a little while ago and i have a electric fan fitted with a sender in the top hose, i know its working because it just keeps randomly coming on and off apart from when your moving 30mph+

Thanks again

Tom

[Beakster]

Yo,

 

There's 2 types of pinto Capri radiator. There is the 2 core metal top and the 1 core plastic top. If you have a plastic top rad then this is your problem. On a tuned engine or on a hot day they just can't keep the engine cool enough.

 

I had a plastic top and it boiled over every day. Got a new metal top rad for £50 and its never gone above half way since, even on the track.

[CapperTom]

Its a plastic top Do you know where too get the metal ones from?

Thanks

[Beakster]

Here you go:

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300234828007&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:VRI

 

Like I said, it will make a hell of a difference. The plastic top ones are pants.

[vibrating_Cake]

id also reccomend an expansion tank separate to the rad, ive used a nissan almera one (believe it or not) but im converting back to the origional as i am undergoing a zetec conversion. ill get pica of how i did it if you like.

when engine running hot the water in the expansion tank does get very warm so there is actually flow in and out of the rad into this tank while the car is in use.

saves loosing coolant and every little helps =)

[julian.jay]

Any chance of the photo of the expansion tank. This could be of interest to me too.

[bortaf]

A rad with an expansion tank uses a different rad cap, you system wont be sealed and so will boil up

[vibrating_Cake]

 

i have the almera one tooked out of the way next to the washer bottle. ill get better pics later!

its a vented bottle too so no need to worry about pressures building up in there