My Woodsport V6 conversion.

[Topdownman]

Just come back from a few days away in the car and still a lot of fun, even in the rain!

I did try a mate filming me drive by but it just looked rubbish and the sound didnt really come across either! I will have to try some filming from inside the car next. I dont think it is likely to do it justice mind but I do like it when I roll by and pedestrians turn round to see what is coming!

I do have a slight water loss which isnt going away (I was hoping it was an airlock) so have to try and find out whats going on there. Any ideas anyone?

[Joesson]

If you still have an OE radiator that would be the first place I would look.
My own experience and others I have read about on here  put the leak at bottom rear lefthand side.

[1979scotte]

With the V6 i think you get a new rad.

[Topdownman]

Yep, new larger rad fitted as part of the conversion.

[ayresyboy]

I do have a slight water loss which isnt going away (I was hoping it was an airlock) so have to try and find out whats going on there. Any ideas anyone?

I don't think the expansion tank cap needs to be pressure rated anymore. This is what I got told for mine.  So I loosen my cap so that it's just biting the top thread.

[mrzwei]

The pressure cap is there to increase the boiling point of the water, usually set at 15psi. Not really a good idea to stop it doing its job.
If you have to do it for whatever reason  then you are treating the symptom of a problem, not the cause. Out of interest, why don't you tighten it fully?

[Anonymous]

Rusty clip on a water hose where it goes into the solid pipe that runs under the car. They do fail and only leak under pressure / operation.

[headcase]

The pressure cap is there to increase the boiling point of the water, usually set at 15psi. Not really a good idea to stop it doing its job.
If you have to do it for whatever reason  then you are treating the symptom of a problem, not the cause. Out of interest, why don't you tighten it fully?

no as on andys 2gr hes . has 2 pressure caps so the one on bottle is lose and the one on engine is doing the work other wise it has to pressure two caps and then it cant get the water back in to the system .

[Anonymous]

The pressure cap is there to increase the boiling point of the water, usually set at 15psi. Not really a good idea to stop it doing its job.
If you have to do it for whatever reason  then you are treating the symptom of a problem, not the cause. Out of interest, why don't you tighten it fully?

no as on andys 2gr hes . has 2 pressure caps so the one on bottle is lose and the one on engine is doing the work other wise it has to pressure two caps and then it cant get the water back in to the system .

So the 2gr has an expansion reservoir like on a old school 4x4? Vacuum sucks water into the pressure system and over pressure it bleeds into the tank.

[headcase]

The pressure cap is there to increase the boiling point of the water, usually set at 15psi. Not really a good idea to stop it doing its job.
If you have to do it for whatever reason  then you are treating the symptom of a problem, not the cause. Out of interest, why don't you tighten it fully?

no as on andys 2gr hes . has 2 pressure caps so the one on bottle is lose and the one on engine is doing the work other wise it has to pressure two caps and then it cant get the water back in to the system .

So the 2gr has an expansion reservoir like on a old school 4x4? Vacuum sucks water into the pressure system and over pressure it bleeds into the tank.

yep the same as a standard mr2 mk2

[headcase]

it depends on how its been plumbed in as well .

[ChrisGB]

Hmmm...

Not sure I understand the logic here. One cap or two, the system pressure will be much the same all around. Flow from the water pump will force coolant around, but the pressure in the system comes from the heating. If any cap sees pressure above it's yield point, it will vent. Run it loose and it will potentially vent at lower pressure. My 2GR is plumbed so that there is one cap, on the header tank. Coolant goes out of the block to the radiator, with a take off for the header tank on the output manifold. Returns to the pump are via a bypass in the V, a return from the heater matrix and bottom of header tank and through the thermostat.

The issue I had with the 2GR (configured with one pressure cap on the stock coolant reservoir), was that the flow through the coolant bottle at high revs would purge the air space above the coolant and force the air down to the radiator, leaving the coolant bottle full to near the top. A single push above 7000rpm would do it instantly. Running at up to around 4000rpm would purge it in stages. The fix I did for this was to fit a 3mm restrictor in the coolant feed to the top end of the header tank. This slows flow enough to avoid purging the header tank.

Is it possible that the coolant is being forced out of the pressure cap? Until I fixed my tank purging issues, this would happen with mine if I topped it up too much.

[Topdownman]

Not had a chance to look underneath it or even park up somewhere that would show up if it is leaking when stationary or when parking up with a hot engine.

It seems to typically lose about 250 ml every time I check it. It also seems to be taking a long time to warm up, something like 10 minutes of driving, not sure if this is relevant or its just got colder!

[Topdownman]

Just thought I would pop down to the local garage on the off chance they could put it on a ramp.

Luckily they did so as soon as we got underneath it could see a drip coming from from the back of the car. He has tightened up a hose clamp from above the alternator which is where is was coming from. Fingers crossed that that was all it was. I will be checking the water level and hoping!

[Jrichards20]

FINGERS CROSSED!!

[tomaky]

Fingers crossed indeed bud!

[1979scotte]

Mine too

[Topdownman]

Cheers Guys,

When the temperature gets above freezing I may get to give it a run to find out!

[loadswine]

Funnily enough, I had a leaky hose clamp in about the same position on my old v6. I actually double clipped mine.

[Anonymous]

Glad to hear you found it, now wrap the poor girl up it's cold outside

[Topdownman]

Funnily enough, I had a leaky hose clamp in about the same position on my old v6. I actually double clipped mine.

Thats a bit worrying. Looks like I am going to have to keep an eye on it then! It is the clip just under the inspection hatch, just above the alternator.

[loadswine]

Mine was a different engine remember, plus, in the first months after conversion, my system was over pressurized due to a slight head gasket issue. I didn't have an access hatch at first. That came later. My connection was from a rubber hose that led from the filler housing, to the hard pipe that ran along parallel to the fire wall. Clips can let by sometimes and a bit of a tweak and can fettle it.  s;) s;)

[Topdownman]

I am pleased to say that tightening up the hose does appear to have stopped the leak.

Just been out for a trip with my new home made aluminium drip trays on and the good news is they havent fallen off. I dont know yet if they are going to keep the water out and how they will affect heat dissipation in the summer so may need to tweak the design as I go and I can probably play with the brackets a bit to make them look better but I certainly feel happier the engine isnt getting quite as wet every time it rains.





I was planning to paint the top side but think the plain ally looks OK (even if it is quite scratched).

[StuC]

Why not have them red to match the hood?

[Topdownman]

Why not have them red to match the hood?

I dont want to draw attention to my shoddy workmanship!