Blokko

Mate of mine has his speedo illuminated when the lights are on, but not the rev counter (on his 7). Is it a case of sending the unit back to the manufacturer, or is this something he will be able to fix?

Now sold to Jerry in Halesowen. So Russ G - be on the lookout for my car somewhere near you! Really sad to see the car driven away by someone else. We have had some great holidays, daytrips, L7Club events and Se7ens List tours in the car and it feels a bit like losing a member of the family. I'm sure that this will be a temporary hiatus and we will be back in the 7 owning fold again sooner or later. New owner Jerry will be joining the club and you might yet see him on the sprinting scene in the next year or two.

Why, thank you kind sir

Hope to be @ Curborough for at least part of the day today (Sunday 19 May) if anyone wants to take a look at the car.....

PistonHeads linky here Advertised at £11,450 - open to reasonable offers. Although this is an Academy car it never made it to the start line. The original owner put on 5k miles in 5 years and I have used it for extensive UK touring since I took ownership. Would be easy to convert to a Roadsport type spec by losing the white squares (for competition numbers) and swapping out the full cage and Tilletts for a standard rollbar and leather seats. Contact details in the advert - or send me a Blatmail! Edited by - Blokko on 30 May 2013 21:13:06

I jumped through this hoop a while back. I was convinced that I had an airlock, but after so many attempts at filling by different methods (and after getting through seemingly gallons of coolant), I did what I should have done in the first place, which was to change the thermostat. As soon as I did that I was back to 80c steady temp. I have a theory (based purely upon the number of times this crops up). When you break into the cooling system I think 1 of 2 things happen - 1) a thermostat on it's way out suddenly gets tipped over the edge or 2) the thermostat was already over the edge but you didn't notice because you gauge was turned to oil temp instead. Don't have the part number to hand, but I took the old one into Halfrauds and got a replacement for six squid. Filled the coolant very slowly - didn't bother with jacking or bleed tees or anything like that (caveat here is that I don't have a heater) - all worked hunky-dory after that....

Went out for a run of about 80 mins in mixed traffic conditions and the temp remained rock solid at just over 80 degrees. Word from Phil is that the old thermostat does not move until near boiling and even then it only opened 2-3mm. So I think it is conclusive that the thermostat was the issue! I went for an 82c thermostat – which is the the same as the one I took out. I'd say the fan kicks in just shy of 90. Lessons learnt - - Coincidences do sometimes occur – I was convinced that the problem was solely to do with an airlock and so assumed that everything else was ok (including the thermostat) - Just because the thermostat is opening, it doesn't follow that it is opening fully or at the right temperature. Again, as the bottom hoses / bottom of the rad were getting hot I concentrated on an airlock that didn't exist rather than the stat. - I assumed that a new stat would be expensive and possibly a special order. Knowing now that it is a Rover bit that is available from any motor factors for less than 7 quid and that it is relatively easy to change, I'd be much quicker to to swap a stat out (or at least test it as per Charlies' instructions) if I came across a similar issue in the future. I can now pack the car away for winter knowing that I'll be ready to get straight back on the road when the car comes out of hibernation in April

Didn't think of that method Charlie My mate Phil has the old unit and will be testing it out - today I guess. What I'm expecting / hoping is that the test will show that the unit does not move until 90c+ and then springs partially open. That would fit in with what we were seeing as we warmed the car. Anyhow, the rain has stopped (albeit temporarily, I'm sure) so I need to get out on the road to make sure everything is working correctly......

*arrowup*Yep, but SWMBO being a bit precious about her pots an pans + lack of thermometer put me off that one 😬 Besides, in the time it took for the water to cool down I was able to get to Halfrauds and back with a new 'stat in hand - and given that a replacement was only £6.50 I was prepared to change it without having proof that the old one was kaput.

After another unsuccessful attempt at filling the coolant, went off to Halfrauds for a new thermostat. Lo and behold, temperature now sits steady just over 80 until I pick up and hold the revs to the point where the fan kicks in for a short period, bringing the temp back down. Will need to take the car for a good run before I'm convinced that the problem is sorted (need to wait for the rain to stop), but signs look good so far..... So maybe the thermostat was the problem all along (cue I told you so comments 😬). Just odd that this didn't seem to be an issue until the point where I changed the hose / coolant Thanks to Phil for the assistance today 😶‍🌫️

Thanks for the input everyone. Flew back in from the US of A this morning and spent some more time looking at this. Managed to get some air bubbles out of the rad bleed, but I'm still of the opinion that the temp is running higher than it was prior to the coolant change I think that there are two issues - 1) my mechanical ineptitude 😳, and 2) I think that any air left in the system is in the bypass hose (as per Johnty suggestion) and the crappy jack I have isn't quite getting the car high enough. Gonna scarp the track day and then at my leisure look at one of the more 'permanent' solutions such as bleed valves, PRRT, drilling thermostat etc. Thanks again all

Run out of fettling time for now - on a train at the start of another trip to the US. Charlie - the fan does not kick in until the thermostat is open, so sequence of events is temp up to abt 95 with no fan, at which point the thermostat opens, dropping temp to abt 85. Temp then builds again and just over 90 the fan will then operate. Guess it is by design that you would not want the fan to work until the thermostat is open? Nick - might try that method when I get back home. Always assumed that the system had to be pressurised, but then I guess there would be now way for the air to escape.

To remove air locks run the car with the expansion cap off and the top bleed screw on the rad loose or removed so you can check the rad is full, with the front of the car raised very high.This is the one of the things that I was not sure of having read a number of earlier posts. I thought that the system needed to be under pressure to work correctly. Will running at temperature with the rad cap / bleed screw removed cause problems

Correct John - used the Carmichael method and, as you rightly spotted, I put the hose on before jacking the car (as I was working alone this was the only option). Not sure how much difference this would make Did think about going down the PRRT route (maybe with full set of silicone hoses) but looking to minimise cash outlay at this time. About to revisit the car now it is stone cold to see if the levels drop when I take off the expansion bottle top.... Bri - may try that method if I'm still having problems. Cheers for the input guys

Read all of the various posts on the archive regards coolant replacement, but I'm still struggling... 1.6 Rover K Series – ex academy. Had to change the hose from the top rail down to the thermostat (no heater) due to a leak. I had already filled the system once – this is attempt II Whereas prior to the change the water temp was rock solid on 80 Celsius, the system is now running 10-20 degrees higher than before. I'm assuming that the issue is not going to be the thermostat, the temp gauge or the fan - and that what I have here is an airlock somewhere (as everything was fine and dandy up until I changed the hose). I drained the system by dropping the drain plug off the bottom of the rad (as well as the bolt on the top of the rad) and then took off the (new) hose that feeds into the thermostat. Placed the hose back in position and put the rad drain plug back in place (leaving the bolt on the top of the rad removed). The filling method I went for was to take the hose off the top of the radiator, bend upwards and then gently trickle in fluid along the inside edge of the hose (rather than down the middle) until full. I then replaced the hose onto to the top of the rad and then jacked the car as high as I could get it. Next I filled from the expansion bottle – again at a painstakingly slow rate. Once the expansion bottle was full I tried to manipulate the hoses past the thermostat, but this is difficult with old Caterham rubber items (would be much easier with silicone hoses I guess). I used the end of a rubber mallet to manipulate the pipes as best as possible with the car in the jacked position. I left the car for a while to see if any air would naturally bubble up. After about 15 mis I dropped the car back level and topped the rad up from the screw hole at the top. Fitted a new expansion bottle top, checked everything over and then started the car up. The temperature did not rocket up, but rose steadily – but beyond the point where the fan would normally kick in. Just south of 100 the thermostat opened and warmed up the bottom of the rad and the associated hoses nicely. The temp is now running about the 90 mark and with the thermostat open the fan does kick in. Took the car for a drive and temperature is about the same (90 ish), but the moment I stopped to open the garage door when I got back home it crept back up near the 100 mark. So, what have I done wrong and what can I do to rectify the situation? I've assumed that any air will be between the bottom of the rad and the thermostat – but I've manipulated the hoses as much as I can without risking damage to something. Could there be an airlock between the top of the radiator and the head and, if so, how would I go about sorting that one out? Realise that there are plenty of posts around on this matter, but struggling to find exactly the same circumstances (i.e. no heater and with a thermostat / fan that is clearly working, albeit not at the same temperatures as before). Any pointers / advice most gratefully received..... Edited by - Blokko on 25 Nov 2012 18:26:17

We popped in to see Phil & Moira a couple of weeks back. Stayed 3 days as I remember 😬

Thanks for getting back to me guys. Car is a K - ex Academy so no namby pamby heater 😬 We are just about to park the car on a steep drive to see if we can release any more air. Interesting that you are running at about 90 degrees. This is what I have now, but I was definitely running cooler prior to the new coolant....

My car doesn't have adjustable platforms. I asked a question on here about going down the adjustable route as a way of increasing sump clearance, but decided to go for deeper profile instead.

I would advise against 60 profile on a 13" rim. I ran this configuration for some time using Yoko A539's. Although I was happy with the tyre (still loads of tread after 20k miles) it had an adverse effect upon sump clearance - had a number of low speed scrapes. I've now reverted to 70 profile (Yoko A021's) and have felt much more comfortable about the sump remaining in one piece on my recent Scotland tour. Ride is also more comfortable on the 70 profile than the 60 profile as well 😬

Prior to a coolant change my oil and water temp gauge was showing on or just over 80 Celsius when the car was up to temp. The fan would kick in occasionally just above 80 degrees. Post coolant change the oil is showing in the 70's and the water goes up to high 80's / low 90's and the fan does not kick in until the water is in the 90's. My immediate thought is that I have an airlock somewhere – but the thermostat is opening ok and when on the road the water remains at about the 90 mark (only creeping up if I come to a stop and leave the engine running – at which time the fan kicks in). So, is this change in temperature characteristics symptomatic of an airlock? I thought an airlock would lead to a pronounced overheat???? Whilst researching on this topic (on BC) I read about removing airlocks by having the front of the car jacked with the engine running and expansion cap off. Is this a good idea? Does the water need to be running with the thermostat open to get at any airlocks? To date I've been trying to remove any air with the system cold (front jacked as high as I can get it) with both the top rad bolt and expansion cap off – but manipulating the rubber hoses is difficult.

Thank you Peter

My mate Phil has changed track rod ends on his 7 and now needs to get his tracking reset. He is planning to go to a garage to get this done - and needs to know what settings to ask for. He is looking for tyre wear friendly setup for road use only. We have the standard setup as per the manual, but Phil seems to think that other posts in Tech Talk have suggested a variation on this (but typically we can't find the posts now!). Tracking: 0 deg 20' +/- 0 deg 10' Toe in Camber: 1 deg 20' +/- 0 deg 15' (Negative) Castor: 4 deg 00' 1 deg 00' (0 deg 20' variation left or right) Secondly, tracking is being done independently of new tyre fitting. Does it make any difference as to which order these two tasks should be performed?

*wavey*Hi fellow Se7ens List tourer! That was Phil & Moira who you spotted - our friends who live @ Brig O' Turk to the North of Duke's Pass. They were setting out early to meet us on Skye, where we are spending the second part of our Scotland touring holiday. Hope you had a pleasant journey back South today.

Quoting Wrightpayne: Call George Polley. Do a search on here as to what to ask for to get the best price.Missed that bit. Thought it odd when he asked what car it was for. I got charged £240 for the tyres and 15 quid for delivery.

Set of 21's delivered. Will worry about getting the 539's onto a second set of alloys once I have a bit more time.... Hope that the extra clearance will save my sump on our 2.5k miles Scotland tour in September