Cooling system

[AndyP]

Hi JJ and all, spent today working on the cooling system of the other half's van. Flushed the rad and engine! there was loads of pink crud throughout the system lumps n all  but its clean now. Took the thermostat out and discovered it was stuck half open and wasn't shifting, so bought and fitted a new one. All hoses and fittings cleaned of corrosion and a couple of new jubilees fitted as well, fresh coolant installed and bled. Just need a decent run to establish if its helped the over heating. If that hasn't cured it then new rad will have to be acquired,  on closer inspection of the rad it appears there is only a small section where the fins have disappeared so will suck it and see for the minute!

[J J 007]

wish you luck with the rad mate

[AndyP]

Hiya JJ  Have driven the van about all day today (admittedly not much duel carridgeway work) But it didn't pass a third on the temperature gauge, better than the two thirds it did get too. Will be taking it easy and will defo look into a replacement rad when funds allow.
Today has been about acquiring steel and cutting to make brkts for the new seats, tomorrow will be about welding and fitting seats 

[zaphod]

Just a general heads up. When getting a replacement thermostat, it should have a hole in it, otherwise you have been supplied the incorrect one!

HTH

[J J 007]

nice one,good to know

[AndyP]

The missus's van started misfiring and playing up over the weekend, so I thought Id give it a tune up. The tappets needed adjustment , plugs were cleaned and gapped the points gap was miniscule and the alternator belt was hanging like a saggy pair of draws lol. After doing all this tweeking I set up to check the ignition with the strobe! Well initially the van wouldn't start? I slackened of the distributor and adjusted it untill the engine fired up. Then using the strobe tried to reset the distributor and line up the timing marks! It wasn't playing games at all! The engine will only run with the distributor turned fully anticlockwise and the timing marks still won't quite line up! Everything was double checked and was correct, the engine does run and very smoothly!
I think that someone has incorrectly fitted the distributor at somepoint. Ive ordered a new Cam belt and am going to set the whole thing up from scratch at the weekend, untill then the missus is catching the bus 

[zaphod]

Is it the distributor, or the HT leads need reinstalling? 
While you are there, and the job done, put a rubber glove over the distributor cap - this will prevent damp getting in.

HTH

[AndyP]

Hiya, nah the HT leads are fine. I thought initally that the timing belt had slipped, because of the problems sorting the distributor position out. But it can't have slipped because the piston valve timing would be out and it wouldn't run at all. Im sure its something up with the distributor and there is also a high pitched whistling coming from it.
Im going to change the cam belt at the wkend so will set the whole thing up then 

[Dell Boy]

Hello Andy, Your one tooth out on the distibutor.
Cheers, Derek.

[AndyP]

Hi Derek  cheers chap yeah I figured it was something like that, but what threw me was the fact that the distributor wasn't like it before I started work or Id have noticed the extreme adjustment on it! Ive never heard of a distributor jumping teeth before and it wasn't slackened so loose to allow it to do so. Hopefully the cam belt will be here by the wkend and I will sort it all out then 

[>>CHOP<<]

im confused now...how can the dizzy be out by one tooth...do you mean the timing belt is out ...?

[Dell Boy]

No, the distributor is driven by the skew gear on the camshaft. It is easy to engage it one tooth out on the skew gear resulting in minimal adjustment being available to set the timing.
Derek.

[>>CHOP<<]

lost me ...i thought the distributer sould only be 180 degrees out ...but if you check the nunmber 1 plug is at tdc and the rotor is facing number one plug lead then that should be all you have to do...then tweek it with the strobe..

[Dell Boy]

The distributor can be as many degrees out as the number of teeth on the distributor drive cog less two when it will be on no.1 or no.4. When fitting the distributor turn the rotor back about an inch from no.1 h.t. lead pickup & enter the distributor. As it goes in the rotor will turn & should line up with no.1 pickup & will be correct.
Derek.

[AndyP]

Very useful tip  Cheers Derek