Hi all
Just a post about how I finally managed to resolve the cooling issues with Smurf, which may help others with the same symptoms - and the cause is unbelievable, rendering the system unbleedable!
SYMPTOMS: After changing the thermostat and filling with water (due to it being stuck open), I filled the system back up but was struggling to bleed the system. I was getting no hot air through the vents at idle, only at above 2k RPMs, and overheating which would disappear at above 2k RPMs
Most of the cooling system had been replaced in July 2014 at 96,700 miles (now on 112,000) including hoses, radiator, viscous fan, fan, belt, tensioner and therefore these were not suspected. The water pump had been inspected as fine and put back. I replaced the water pump as suspected this may be the issue, but that didn't make any difference.
As pretty much the only thing not changed was the heater core, this became the prime suspect. My theory was that if it was blocked, this would prevent air from being purged through the system on the drive when bleeding, and that a prod of the throttle would get there air moving. Either that or the heater control valve was blocked.
Well this week I got fed up of having these issues, so I decided to remove the heater control valve to flush it through, and to flush the heater core. Both were flushed and no crud came out, and had good flow! I also flushed the engine through from the back, again good flow and no issues.
Next my attention finally came to the radiator. Bearing in mind it's done about 15k miles I'd expect it to be in perfect working order.
The radiator has two hoses on either side which are connected to the block, and a small pipe at the top which act as a vent to the bleed nipple and back to the reservoir. The picture below shows the route that water should take from the radiator to the bleed nipple and the reservoir
First I flushed the pipe through to the bleed nipple and reservoir, which worked fine with good flow
Next I flushed the other way, to the right hand side of the above picture and into the radiator through the below hole
No flow - ah, a blockage I thought. So soaked it with neat radiator flush and left - this didn't work. So, getting annoyed I ordered a new radiator from ECP using their handy code, at £115. The only place which had it was Basingstoke, which is handily close to the Zed Shed.
At the Shed @windym , @GazHyde , @pgunter and I thought we'd try and unblock it with compressed air - which again didn't work.
Curiosity got the better of us as we weren't sure where it routed to, so out came the saw
What did we find? The hole that should have been a hole, indeed wasn't a hole!
That brass insert above either a) should have been removed as part of the manufacturing process, or b) had been inserted by some numpty! @GazHyde likes a hammer, so he knocked it out
So, that's what has been causing all of my issues. A new radiator 15000 miles ago had a manufacturing defect, which meant that the system could not be bled and I'd not have a hope in hell of sorting this issue without another radiator
So, a strange one, but one you should check if you have the same issues. New radiator installed, a quick fill up and now I have lovely heat in the cabin whether motoring or at idle, and it no longer overheats.
FYI, if that isn't blocked, you should have a good flow through the reservoir, like the picture below
Thanks for reading!
Just a post about how I finally managed to resolve the cooling issues with Smurf, which may help others with the same symptoms - and the cause is unbelievable, rendering the system unbleedable!
SYMPTOMS: After changing the thermostat and filling with water (due to it being stuck open), I filled the system back up but was struggling to bleed the system. I was getting no hot air through the vents at idle, only at above 2k RPMs, and overheating which would disappear at above 2k RPMs
Most of the cooling system had been replaced in July 2014 at 96,700 miles (now on 112,000) including hoses, radiator, viscous fan, fan, belt, tensioner and therefore these were not suspected. The water pump had been inspected as fine and put back. I replaced the water pump as suspected this may be the issue, but that didn't make any difference.
As pretty much the only thing not changed was the heater core, this became the prime suspect. My theory was that if it was blocked, this would prevent air from being purged through the system on the drive when bleeding, and that a prod of the throttle would get there air moving. Either that or the heater control valve was blocked.
Well this week I got fed up of having these issues, so I decided to remove the heater control valve to flush it through, and to flush the heater core. Both were flushed and no crud came out, and had good flow! I also flushed the engine through from the back, again good flow and no issues.
Next my attention finally came to the radiator. Bearing in mind it's done about 15k miles I'd expect it to be in perfect working order.
The radiator has two hoses on either side which are connected to the block, and a small pipe at the top which act as a vent to the bleed nipple and back to the reservoir. The picture below shows the route that water should take from the radiator to the bleed nipple and the reservoir
First I flushed the pipe through to the bleed nipple and reservoir, which worked fine with good flow
Next I flushed the other way, to the right hand side of the above picture and into the radiator through the below hole
No flow - ah, a blockage I thought. So soaked it with neat radiator flush and left - this didn't work. So, getting annoyed I ordered a new radiator from ECP using their handy code, at £115. The only place which had it was Basingstoke, which is handily close to the Zed Shed.
At the Shed @windym , @GazHyde , @pgunter and I thought we'd try and unblock it with compressed air - which again didn't work.
Curiosity got the better of us as we weren't sure where it routed to, so out came the saw
What did we find? The hole that should have been a hole, indeed wasn't a hole!
That brass insert above either a) should have been removed as part of the manufacturing process, or b) had been inserted by some numpty! @GazHyde likes a hammer, so he knocked it out
So, that's what has been causing all of my issues. A new radiator 15000 miles ago had a manufacturing defect, which meant that the system could not be bled and I'd not have a hope in hell of sorting this issue without another radiator
So, a strange one, but one you should check if you have the same issues. New radiator installed, a quick fill up and now I have lovely heat in the cabin whether motoring or at idle, and it no longer overheats.
FYI, if that isn't blocked, you should have a good flow through the reservoir, like the picture below
Thanks for reading!
