Excess coolant from header tank

[planenut]

That is bad news; did the thermostat get checked out?

[Ginger Teddy]

I never did get to the bottom of why the car overheated but when mike stafford from mjsautoandmarine came to the fens from sussex to replace the head gasket in april 2018 he did say that K-Seal was present as did these guys who have just done the work.
Hi planenut ,yes the thermostat was replaced twice in the three weeks just in case one may have been failing, I believe in never overlooking what could be the obvious.It appears when I lock it up it pips as if a door or bonnet or even tailgate is open ( I have checked them all twice) then minutes later the alarm goes off.I did wonder if battery was low so have put it on a trickle charge to see if it stops, but I wonder if it`s because the bumper has been off and not positioned in line with the bonnet that has upset the sensor ( could be why car was unlocked when I went to it at the garage) all in all a bad day, Regards Paul

[yelnats]

This will not help you with your problem,but may save you and other members £1000,this being the FPN fine if you' leave a vehicle's engine running unnecessarily whilst stationary on the road other than when in traffic'.Legislation introduced to improve air quality, which is already an issue in certain parts of the country.For some reason this has not been bought to the attention of road users via the press etc.So what's the point although,of course,ignorance is no excuse.Should have been publicised more widely IMO.
Hope this helps to keep your pennies safe.

[planenut]

Originally Posted by yelnats

This will not help you with your problem,but may save you and other members £1000,this being the FPN fine if you' leave a vehicle's engine running unnecessarily whilst stationary on the road other than when in traffic'.Legislation introduced to improve air quality, which is already an issue in certain parts of the country.For some reason this has not been bought to the attention of road users via the press etc.So what's the point although,of course,ignorance is no excuse.Should have been publicised more widely IMO.
Hope this helps to keep your pennies safe.

............................................?

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by Ginger Teddy

.... Mike Stafford ... did say that K-Seal was present as did these guys who have just done the work.

That certainly looks to be the cause of the overheating and coolant ejection as I suggested in post no. 33.

Paul, don't pay for any more work to be done on your engine. Instead embark upon a sustained effort to flush out as much K-Seal as you can. MGJohn has an effective technique using nothing more than Holts Speedflush but in a different way. This won't be easy and you'll have to do it many, many times. A few more thermostats will probably fall by the wayside in the process. Good luck.

Simon

[yelnats]

FTAO Planenut and MG John,the clue is in the initiating post {engine idling 20 mins} My post was an opportunity to advise,but presumably you knew about it anyway? If you did ,did you tell anybody?
Off topic,end of.

[Ginger Teddy]

Hi Simon, yes I wiil embark on the flushing of the system as MGJOHN did say before how to go about it, and have purchased several bottles of the product today.As things are I have nothing to lose by giving it a go, hope weather is kind over weekend.Looking around the car today the bumper isn`t fitted as it was and you can almost get your finger in where it once sat flush with the front wings and the bonnet again a fair gap, and when you lock it it beeps once( so you know something isn`t shut properly) until you push down on the bonnet then press the fob and it stops.Why oh why don`t people give the respect you give to your vehicles and treat them accordingly ? I have had the bumper off twice before to fit the gold resistor and to get easy access to the washer bottle and replace the pump and I managed to line everything up ok.I should have gone with my gut feeling after I mentioned before some time back a 75 sat in the garage and wouldn`t start and it wasn`t known what to do about it, but then that said I don`t know where I would have taken it! Thankyou folks for your help and advice, much appreciated Regards Paul

[Brunty]

Got Copperleaf 1.8 club SE back from the garage, slight coolant leak originally suspected water pump that was fitted last year, turned out that head gasket had failed on cylinder number 1. Had noticed that running temp was around 96 - 97 degrees, expansion tank was pressurised even after 24 hours, fan had failed, new one fitted by arctic 3 - 4 weeks ago, but damage was already done. Had noticed in the last few weeks that from cold start clouds of smoke out of exhaust and engine management light on due to misfire, turn off, start again and rev engine, turn off starts ok. Slight top ups of coolant needed. No sign of mayo on dipstick or filler cap. Anyway whilst in had new rear backplate kit fitted from DMGRS to match new upper and lower arm kit fitted last year, new disks and pads, new front offside wishbone fitted as advisory on MOT, new cambelt kit, thermostat,serrvice, and huge bill. Copperleaf last had head gasket failure 8 years and 28,500 miles ago, lets hope for another 8 years. Lovely car, mechanic who test drove it after work was done says he pushed it hard and noticed rear offside shock absorber pattering, so already had everything else done on the rear including new spring, this is next on the list once garage re opens.

[Ginger Teddy]

Hi folks, just to keep up to date I have today managed to get round to flushing the cooling system with speed flush as recommended and have a couple of issues.I cannot remove the bleed screw as the head has been rounded off ( have I read on here that if leave header cap off for a few minutes when you start engine it will disperse the air ? ). And when I drained system by undoing the heater return hose and the hose at the bottom of the radiator ( where prt thermostat is ) I got about 3 litres of antifreeze out only and no more.I refilled with 2 litres then added speed flush and could only add approx 1 litre.I have run the engine at a fast idle for 10 minutes ( radiator remained cold ) as not able to drive as overheats, and am at this moment waiting for it to cool. water level is still on max.It appears a different spec rad cap had been fitted when work was done as it has the number 200 on the top and I always use the genuine cap with 140 on the top and has the orange piece at bottom of cap( cap with 200 is all black! Any advice on these issues would be much appreciated or am I flogging a dead horse ! regards Paul

[T-Cut]

I find my 1.8T cooling system purges itself without any specific top-up'n'bleed routine. I top up and run it, then repeat till the level stabilises. A persistant air lock you seem to have may indicate a blockage.

The 200 (kiloPascals) pressure cap isn't standard for these engines and has a 30psi (approx) relief pressure. That in itself is of no consequence, but does potentially put the coolant hoses under abnormal stress. A least one member here runs with a 200 cap without issues, but I'd personally get the default 140kPa replacement. The 75/ZT's standard hoses aren't very robust.

Edit: It would be worth detaching the upper and lower radiator hoses and checking how easily water from a hosepipe passes through it. If it's had a large dose of sealant and done incorrectly (as it typically is), any blockage is likely to be in the narrower passages of the cooling system.

Edit 2: On re-reading the thread, I see you bought a new radiator but it's unclear whether it has been fitted. I note that you now have the Payen elastomer gasket. Apart from this overheating problem, do you still get the overpressure from the stone cold system?

TC