Club 80-90 Forums

Hi all, yes another question about coolent leaks!

We have a leak and can not seem to see the source, (we replaced the water pump 18 months ago) could it be the waterjackets? If so, I know its a big job, but can it be a DIY job in the driveway with engine in situ? or is it major heart surgery? If so, any other important jobs that we should do at same time?

Cheers

Salty

What engine?

It's a 1915cc petrol, watercooled.

Best done with the engine out on a bench .... be prepared for a can of worms and look at the exhaust, engine mounts, clutch etc etc and all the studs while the unit's out and accessible.

Ian

IF it does turn out to be water jacket seals then you have my sympathy

The following thread is quite long but well worth reading IF you plan on tackling water jacket seals yourself.

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=52374" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The potential for an unsuccessful outcome is not to be ignored. This is a BIG job that can go wrong (ask me how I know ) and then you have wasted a lot of time and money only to still be faced with an unusable engine.

Personally, having gone down this route myself, if I had to do it again I would rather buy an Elite re-con

Hopefully it will be summat MUCH simpler (like a core plug etc etc)

Before you drop the engine out, you really need to find where the leak is actually coming from.. there should be a green (if green/blue coolant used) fuzz in the area of leakage or where its run down..

Bare in mind the rad is at the front and there are lots of conections in the system.. so any one can be leaking.. its not unheard of pipes to crack and split with age also...

As said.. if it is the water jackets leaking... this is a task that can be difficult, a lot depends on the age and condition of the engine.. if its original/been in a long time.. hasnt had coolant changes in that time.. the risk get much higher...

My core plug went under the carb inlet manifold once (similar post recently https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=97544" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; maybe with all the cold weather and coolant not up to scratch?) it dripped on to the engine block and when there was enough it ran around the engine block and dripped from the head gasket seal it looked very much like the cylinder head Gasket had gone. also once engine was up to temp it would evaporate off the block instead of drip, so it looked like it was intermittent or seemed to fix once engine was up to temp, drove me nuts!

A seeping thermostat housing (late type) can also run along the jacket seal before it drips.

As I said earlier IF the jacket seal(s) needs doing you'll do a much better job much easier out and on the bench.

Ian