Club 80-90 Forums

Hi Fellow Members,

I managed to convince the missus that a T25 camper was the ideal vehicle to take our family on budget holidays and after reading that the petrols were thirsty and diesels were underpowered I decided on a 5 speed '89 pop top with a 1.9 TD AZZ conversion. According to an old V5 it had been a 1.7 diesel. The previous owners only had it a short time and weren't that knowledgeable about it so I decided to give it an oil/filter and cam belt change. The mechanic mentioned in passing that it would need a new header pressure cap as he reckoned it wasn't the right one which could have explained why the temp gauge needle barely got into the white portion. He also said the header tank was gundged up so he said he flushed out the cooling system with some coolant flush. We came to the conclusion that the previous engine had head gasket failure hence the AZZ engine swap. Given what happened next I'm not sure it was done particularly well.

With all the family on board cruising along at 65 mph on the M25 steam started filling the cabin. I thought it was smoke at first so pulled in straight away. Stranded between the motorway and the A30 slip road with a two year old and a baby at night in November was utter hell so I need a solution to this overheating problem asap or its bye bye camper van. In addition to putting the family in danger the missus is already grumbling about the money I'm spending on it so if anyone can identify a simple fix or pass on the details of someone who has experience with either the cooling system of a 1.9 DT conversion like mine in the Hertfordshire/London area I'd really really appreciate it.

You don't say what the gauge was reading might be that the cap has given up? Heater matrix leaking? Lots of things to eliminate before you bin it. Where was the steam coming from?

Ive heard of a lot of AAZs running hot..a lot install universal remote oil coolers from demon tweaks (cheaper than brickwerks) but also bear in mind that if the fuel pump timing is out this will also cause it to run hot...im saying all this as a side note to the coolant system...good water pump, pipes, rad, matrix, expansion tank etc

Oh yeah when you get a good van im sure your mrs will love it in the end

The engine lid should have prevented steam entering if it were the engine, my money is on heater matrix/associated pipework also. I used to get a little steam in frosty weather when the heater valve was leaking so that is worth checking also. ( It just leaks up around the gearstick gaiter).
I notice also that there is no indication mentioned of where the overheating was detected. As said above - gauge reading was.....? Where was the steam coming from.....?

Ah right. I got some coolant flush as there was sludge in the header tank and toping it up with water I couldn't help but notice water pi**ing out one of the coolant pipes . Sure enough it had ruptured. I've a new one on order and also an new dalek style header cap as the old one didn't have a pipe sticking out the top of it so the pipe to the expansion tank was just dangling there. I wonder if this was causing the temp gauge to barely register?!?

Thanks for the comments though. It'll take a few outings before I get all the niggles ironed out...I hope

Oldiebut goodie wrote:The engine lid should have prevented steam entering if it were the engine, my money is on heater matrix/associated pipework also. I used to get a little steam in frosty weather when the heater valve was leaking so that is worth checking also. ( It just leaks up around the gearstick gaiter).
I notice also that there is no indication mentioned of where the overheating was detected. As said above - gauge reading was.....? Where was the steam coming from.....?

Yes, sorry. about the gauge. It barely read into the white since I've had it. I did notice just as the cab was filling up with steam that it was only slightly higher, say middle of the white section of the gauge. I've read on this forum it should be dead centre so its way out.

Replace the pipe, fit a new darlek cap (good quality one, cheap one are sh!t) fill up and bleed it REALLY well. Use this as guide http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/bleed ... 29710.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; it's easy to bleed using that guide. If you don't follow it, you will end up overheating it again. Gauge reading low, could be anything from faulty gauge, faulty sender, wrong sender. You might even have no stat fitted, meaning it's over cooling.
Give the rest of the coolant pipes a real good look over too.
Good luck, and if your going to bin the van over this, put it in my bin!

lloydy wrote:Replace the pipe, fit a new darlek cap (good quality one, cheap one are sh!t) fill up and bleed it REALLY well. Use this as guide http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/bleed ... 29710.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; it's easy to bleed using that guide. If you don't follow it, you will end up overheating it again. Gauge reading low, could be anything from faulty gauge, faulty sender, wrong sender. You might even have no stat fitted, meaning it's over cooling.
Give the rest of the coolant pipes a real good look over too.
Good luck, and if your going to bin the van over this, put it in my bin!

Fantastic advice. many thanks for that .

I replaced the split pipe and seems to hold the coolant ok. I didn't realise I had to bleed the cooling system. I'm going to order a new thermostat and a new sender. Are the AZZ senders compatible with the 1.7 diesel gauges??

Is there a thermostatically controlled radiator fan on these vans? I've had it running on the drive but hadn't noticed any fan cutting in.