Help! Cooling Problems

[Often in France]

*confused*Sorry I know this subject has been done to death but I have tried most of the things I can find in the archives. I changed a number of hoses on my 1.4 K Series and followed the refill / bleeding procedure as per the manual. However bottom hoses and bottom of rad didn't warm up and engine temp rose to 100. After numerous re-bleeds I changed the thermostat and repeated the refill / bleeding process including jacking front end. Still no joy, disconnected the heater inlet hose at the stat housing to check for air and tried again. Initially syst *cry*em worked and the stat opened so all hoses and all the rad became hot. However after shutting down and allowing 10 mins cooling same problem returned. I forgot to drill the new stat so could that be the issue? Any suggestions gratefully received - T piece for bleeding now also ordered off EBay.

[Paul Richards]

Sorry

I have no magic answer for you. For some reason I have always found it difficult to bleed the cooling system on a 1.4K. It appears to be much harder than a 1.6 or 1.8, but I don't know why it should be.

I have usually filled the system as per the manual and then spent time squeezing all the hoses, topping up the coolant a little bit at a time (easier with a bleed T). I seem to recall blowing down the hoses as well, anything, just to remove all the air.

I can only suggest that you just persevere.

I've never resorted to drilling a hole in the thermostat, but it may help as a last resort.

Good luck.