Gridgway Posted October 7, 2001 Share Posted October 7, 2001 there must be something more fundamental wrtong. Either the ball bearng thingy that Lenny suggested or a head gasket. *I* would give to to Caterham and ask them to fix it before your engine is toast. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E Posted October 7, 2001 Share Posted October 7, 2001 Simon, I think that all of this needs some investigation by a teche guru. Had experience during the week with an engine that was building up excess pressure and using stacks of water. no goo in the header tank or in the oil but hot temperature and the sympoms mentioned above. cause, a duff head gasket and a cracked block. I thought that you had a fan overide fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph7355 Posted October 7, 2001 Share Posted October 7, 2001 First thing I'd do is run without the stat again. Didn't you say this fixes it? Run with it like this (make sure the engine's warmed through properly before gunning it) in your usual circumstances and if it's OK, it's likely you have the root cause. Then have a word with Caterham about why so many 'stats are failing on you... There's definitely something not right though. Did all this start after you had your upgrades done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red SLR Posted October 8, 2001 Author Share Posted October 8, 2001 Peter, thanks for the advice but I already have a fan over ride fitted. The problem was the fan fuse blew so even with the switch on the fan had no power. I will be taking the car to John Noble sometime soon for him to have a look at. I am starting to get serously peved off with the car now. With the stat out the car runs fine, infact it runs too cool, about 65 - 70 c at most. The only thing I can think now is. 1) stat is in the wrong way round?? 2) Air locks. (although the system has been bleed about 15 times.) My problems did not start until a couple of months ago. I had a fan swich go at Elvington and it has been down hill from there onwards. I did my TB conversion in April and the car was running fine until about July. X777CAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red SLR Posted October 8, 2001 Author Share Posted October 8, 2001 I have just spoken to a guy in the office who said his mate had a car that did the exact same thing, it turned out be the the head gasket had cracked between the piston and water way and was not showing normal head gasket problems until the engine went bang. X777CAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony isherwood Posted October 8, 2001 Share Posted October 8, 2001 Seems a common problem with K type engines. I would suggest a pressure test on the water system, just see if there is a start of a head gasket leak. That is the way my 1400ss went. Started local boiling @ the leak + slight pressure build up when running. Sooner rather than later, I would suggest, because the K heads also have a habit of warping when cooked. TonyIsh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red SLR Posted October 8, 2001 Author Share Posted October 8, 2001 Pressure test booked for tomorrow. fingers x'd.... X777CAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony isherwood Posted October 10, 2001 Share Posted October 10, 2001 Wot was the result ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Posted October 14, 2001 Share Posted October 14, 2001 Simon, This may be of help. Had a service this weekend. I've never had the scale of problem you seem to have had, but I did suffer from rapid heating up in traffic jams. I initially bled the system, changed the fan switch, changed the sender and finally concluded that (as I hadn't lost any coolant) that the gauge was crap and have since ignored it. After the service, I was told that the water / antifreeze mix (bad) had been completely drained and instead replaced with a neat pre-prepared proprietary coolant (can't remember the name but will check). I then had to endure a traffic jam lasting a million years while driving across London in pretty hot weather. The temp gauge reached 80deg and remained steady throughout. No fan, no overheating - the only difference being the coolant. I know it sounds basic, but this was something I had overlooked in the past. Hope it's of some help, James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashaughnessy Posted October 15, 2001 Share Posted October 15, 2001 JP, From the purely scientific point of view, you can't say only the coolant had changed. You can also say that the engine was drained and refilled, which means it is possible (don't know how likely) that the place that serviced and refilled your engine removed an airlock that you hadn't previously been able to. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hopkins Posted October 15, 2001 Share Posted October 15, 2001 I have exactly the same problem , give me a call on 07785 287712 and I will let you know how I have tackled this . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red SLR Posted October 15, 2001 Author Share Posted October 15, 2001 Test result was head gasket ok. The car is still running fine at the moment so I am just going to leave it for now as I am having some engine work over the winter months that will involve new head gasket any way. My problem was,air lock, wrong stat, air lock, fan switch, air lock, fan fuse, correct stat, air locks removed. In that order I think!!! Dont know what started it all but I am glad to be rid of it!!!! X777CAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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