Often in France Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 I recently changed the hoses on my 1.4 K series and had a lot of difficulty bleeding the system. After fitting the recommended T piece I thought I had sorted things out. However I now have the following problem - the car drives well but starts to overheat, sometimes after 5 minutes sometimes after an hour. If I then slowly open the T piece a small amount of air bubbles out after which all is OK, again for various periods of time. The fan is working correctly and I fitted a new thermostat at the time the hoses were changed. There is no obvious signs of problems with the head gasket and a new water pump was fitted a year ago. Would appreciate any ideas or advice. ☹️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheds Moderator Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 If you think your bleeding is up to scratch the next logical step is a check for hydrocarbons in the coolant and or a pressure test of the head gasket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CageyH Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Also make sure that the hose clamps are done up tight enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Locust Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Try the simple things. Is the radiator fan cutting in? If it doesn't, then sooner or later it will overheat. Are you confident it is overheating or is it just reading hot? The gauge sender is a known weakness on cars with 'Caterham' branded gauges. Typical signs of the sender breaking down are that the reading jumps quickly between high and low readings. If you are confident it is overheating, is the thermostat starting to stick? Most motor factors will have an 88°C thermostat for a Rover 25 behind the counter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Tin Man Posted July 31, 2011 Area Representative Share Posted July 31, 2011 Hi Seasider Is the bottom of the radiator & J hose getting hot? if not, airlock. Is the thermostat fitted the correct way around? Regards John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Englishmaninwales Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 This is almost certainly due to an airlock. In my experience the early 1400 engines are exceptionally difficult to fill, due to the different closed deck block/liner construction, compared to the later 1400/1600/1800. With my 1400 supersport I gave up and fitted a remote thermostat, and thereafter refilling was never a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Paul Richards Posted August 1, 2011 Area Representative Share Posted August 1, 2011 I agree with Malcolm - Early 1400s are a nightmare to bleed. I have recently had a problem bleeding my 1.8 and eventually decided to drill a small (3mm) hole in the thermostat. this has certainly helped the bleeding process. At some time I will probably revert to an ordinary thermostat. Perhaps to rule out an airlock it might be worth either drilling a small hole in the thermostat, or removing it all together. This should eliminate the airlock problem and if symptoms still persist, start looking at other things (Head Gasket?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Often in France Posted August 16, 2011 Author Share Posted August 16, 2011 Thanks everyone for the advice, carried out the checks suggested including having the coolant checked yesterday for hydrocarbons and got the all clear. Taking the next step cheapest option I replaced the expansion bottle cap and hey presto so far everything looking good. For info the garage who did the sniff test quoted £400 - £450 if the head gasket needed replacing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Paul Richards Posted August 16, 2011 Area Representative Share Posted August 16, 2011 Glad it's looking good. The expansion bottle caps are known to fail. Usual tell tale is the expansion bottle filling up as the water expands. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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