Mikes 2.0 Gls

[Cavalier342]

Hopefully your hours will change for the better, so you're down here more. Like I said, glad to help out when I can.

[planetc]

You don't have to split the hub to replace the boot, I've said this before. With the car on the jack so the suspension is extended and the steering wheel on the lock there is enough room to release the shaft from the joint, at worst you'll have to lever the engine over 5-10mm on it's mount. 1.8 + 2.0 piece of piss, 1.4/1.6 smaller joints the shaft gets a bit sticky coming out of and going back into the joint and often needs some 'persuading'. I put two new cv joints on mine last year, totally out of practice at it, and if it took ten minutes per side I'd be surprised.

[Cavalier342]

Never did the shafts before so didn't fancy screwing anything up. Not saying it's impossible, obviously, but I'd rather not do something that I'm not confident with.

[Mikebmth]

Never did the shafts before so didn't fancy screwing anything up. Not saying it's impossible, obviously, but I'd rather not do something that I'm not confident with.

+1

All that matters is she is back on the road and finally running nicely although a little lumpy at low speeds but probably due to all the crud in the inlet and the ICV that is clean but a bit hit and miss..

[Cavalier342]

Replace the ICV next. I cleaned out your throttle body inlet pretty nicely although I didn't take it apart so there'll still be gunk inside. Either way that'll be the next job.

[Mikebmth]

Replace the ICV next. I cleaned out your throttle body inlet pretty nicely although I didn't take it apart so there'll still be gunk inside. Either way that'll be the next job.

Definetly a need to do job but have to wait til it stops feckin raining which at this rate could be next year..

[Cavalier342]

Replace the ICV next. I cleaned out your throttle body inlet pretty nicely although I didn't take it apart so there'll still be gunk inside. Either way that'll be the next job.

Definetly a need to do job but have to wait til it stops feckin raining which at this rate could be next year..

Little rain never hurt nobody Piece of cake anyway replacing that.

[Mikebmth]

Yet again the car only decides to play up when on longer journeys...

Thinking definitely got a bad Air Lock somewhere in the system, turning on heater in car when running at around 94 degrees it comes out nice and hot. As soon as temperature gets higher like near 100 degrees the heater blows cold only...

Know my Radiator is on its way out but Andrei and me tried to bleed the air out the other day but its obvious there must be something stopping it escaping??

Any ideas would be great as rapidly losing patience with ongoing water temperature problems with this motor..

***

On the better side of things I am a fast driver and I wont deny it but on the way up I had to laugh in the B roads as a near new Mini Cooper struggled to keep up..

Something about these old Vauxhalls keep me coming back for more...Just makes me think how quick some of your cars are with tuning as mine seems quick enough and it is standard as far as im aware..

[jimmy]

When you do get round to replacing the radiator get a hose fill the system with a hose disconnected and flush the system out just incase some one has used some of that radweld shit that just clogs the system up and doesn't do any good

[planetc]

Get it block tested, 8Vs don't generally suffer persistent or repeated air locks. If you are losing circulation at high temperatures, and having issues with erratic temps too it's a good chance you have head gasket leakage going on.

[jimmy]

I was thinking head gasket but wasn't certain I've not much experience with blown head gasket's

[Mikebmth]

Get it block tested, 8Vs don't generally suffer persistent or repeated air locks. If you are losing circulation at high temperatures, and having issues with erratic temps too it's a good chance you have head gasket leakage going on.

Definitely not the news I need right now, no signs of HG failure at the moment so hoping all is ok there..

Only thing I will say is when engine was refilled with water it was done with several bottles as dont have a hose at my place so easy for air to get into it..

Any idea how much to do head test? Or can it be done at home?

[planetc]

It's a chemical test, requires a kit, can sell u RAC cover, cheapest level for £28 and you can call us, we carry the kit. Or you can find someone local/buy a kit. The first option would mean that you have cover if you do break down with it of course.

[Mikebmth]

It's a chemical test, requires a kit, can sell u RAC cover, cheapest level for £28 and you can call us, we carry the kit. Or you can find someone local/buy a kit. The first option would mean that you have cover if you do break down with it of course.

Got Rac cover already mate at about 11 quid a month!! Dont usually come out though unless broken down or concerned at severe mechanical failure on drive home etc..

No Home start just recovery / repair policy...

[Mikebmth]

Well....

Car doesnt use any water, No change in Oil levels, No Loss in performance..

Recent Cam belt, water pump, tensioner job..But knackered radiator, although fan kicks in about 98 degrees and will run temperature back down making me think it is just an air lock somewhere in the system..

Will be calling Rac maybe tommorow morning before driving back to Bournemouth and see if they will come and diagnose the issue..Wouldnt last time but hey its worth a try with what I pay them a year for cover!!

[Hayward691]

i use a bottle to fill my water... leave the cap of and the engine on untill the fan kicks in...
top up as required... that gets rid of my air in my system...
put the cap on before turning the engine off...
switch ignition on so fan can cool the engine...

If you say your rad is nackered... could it be sucking air into the system?
asnything is possible....

[Mikebmth]

Cheers Chris

Must take ages to warm up with filler cap off!! Andei had a look the other day and we thought it is a airlock but looking likely I need a new radiator anyway so will be draining system again soon!

Have to catch up soon mate!

[planetc]

Just typed a long reply and the browser crashed on my Tab!

Don't tell them you are looking for a diagnosis, tell them you are having a problem with it overheating and are worried about driving it home, they'll send a patrol who will have a look at laugh at you and tell you that you are silly for driving it with a knackered radiator! Seriously as I said before, air locks are not a problem on these, fill, run it until the stat opens, then put the cap on, job done. If you have repeating problems with air in the system I would say you are highly likely to have a head gasket problem. If it were mine, based on what you described I would probably have just pulled the head off and had a look.

What is actually wrong with the rad?

[planetc]

i use a bottle to fill my water... leave the cap of and the engine on untill the fan kicks in...

Better to put the cap on before the fan kicks in, fans on most don't run until over 100 degrees, and the system will boil first.

[Hayward691]

i use a bottle to fill my water... leave the cap of and the engine on untill the fan kicks in...

Better to put the cap on before the fan kicks in, fans on most don't run until over 100 degrees, and the system will boil first.

Yeah, sorry my bad... i got the order wrong
im switching between my laptop and mobile... lol

[Mikebmth]

What is actually wrong with the rad?

The radiator has what looks like some collapsed areas of it, it doesn't however appear to be leaking. The inside engine bay side near the top outlet has a white crust over the radiator fins.

Just wondering as the stat that was put on turned out to be 2nd hand as the replacement housing I bought came with it attached and the mechanic I used claimed he couldnt remove the bolts and therefore put on new stat in case of bolts shearing again.

Engine does heat up quite quickly and will sit around 94-95 on motorway at 80 ish, in town it runs ok until you have to stop then the temperature increases and the fan kicks in.

[Mikebmth]

Have called Rac, will wait on their opinion before I go any further..Hopefully it is not the HG as cannot afford to repair it..

Fingers crossed huh

[Cavalier342]

Quick update on behalf of Mike. He couldn't get online earlier, so he text me to update the topic. He said the RAC guy looked at his car and there was an air lock in the heater matrix. Which would back up the fact that the heating was playing up. The head gasket is fine apparently.
Andrei.

[planetc]

Quick update on behalf of Mike. He couldn't get online earlier, so he text me to update the topic. He said the RAC guy looked at his car and there was an air lock in the heater matrix. Which would back up the fact that the heating was playing up. The head gasket is fine apparently.
Andrei.

Surprised, but glad it's been checked properly and is good news. My concern would be if the air lock returns, as you two have already tried clearing it. If it is air free now the only place it will return from is the head gasket so bear that in mind.

[Cavalier342]

The problem wasn't there until I flushed the system for him. That was a while ago. So I doubt it is the headgasket really. Airlocks, once treated shouldn't become a problem, as you said. As long as there's no leaks in the system, then air shouldn't get back in.