nickthepedal Posted April 29, 2011 Report Share Posted April 29, 2011 Sorry but yet another request for advice. Having fixed my cold start cable I took the 5 for a short run perhaps 5 miles just to check I had not messed anything up. That side of things was fine. I had a quick check under the bonnet when I got home and noticed what looks like steam coming from the side of the rocker cover in a couple of places removed oil cap and vapour came from their also is this normal ? I suppose it could be The expansion bottle was also rather full but the water did not feel warm. I use a little oil, but suspect this is mainly due to worn valve stems as we get a puff of blue smoke when starting from warm then it clears. No sign of water in oil or mayo build up in rocker etc. Temp gauge stays in normal range. As the title says am I being paranoid just do not want to do any damage. As always your comments would be much appreciated. Cheers. Nick. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Hi Nick, DON'T PANIC . Ok panic a litle bit. Keep an eye on the water level in the rad. If it's not moving then leave it alone. If you are losing water with no obvious leaks then you may have a problem. There are ways of testing the rad water for fuel/exhaust traces but not sure what it/they is/are. You shouldn't do too much damage unless you let the water go too low. Steam/vapours happen. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
roy53 Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 [quote name='nickthepedal' timestamp='1304078709' post='21290 The expansion bottle was also rather full but the water did not feel warm As always your comments would be much appreciated. Cheers. Nick. Hello Nick if no cream in the rocker cover then seems ok but the overflow bottle should be empty/dry so i would check your rad cap is a:the correct length and b:that it is seating properly, ROY Quote Link to post Share on other sites
angelfj Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Sorry but yet another request for advice. Having fixed my cold start cable I took the 5 for a short run perhaps 5 miles just to check I had not messed anything up. That side of things was fine. I had a quick check under the bonnet when I got home and noticed what looks like steam coming from the side of the rocker cover in a couple of places removed oil cap and vapour came from their also is this normal ? I suppose it could be The expansion bottle was also rather full but the water did not feel warm. I use a little oil, but suspect this is mainly due to worn valve stems as we get a puff of blue smoke when starting from warm then it clears. No sign of water in oil or mayo build up in rocker etc. Temp gauge stays in normal range. As the title says am I being paranoid just do not want to do any damage. As always your comments would be much appreciated. Cheers. Nick. Nick: Here's a suggestion. Park your TR with the nose in the air near a water hose or have coolant ready. With the car in this attitude, prop open the bonnet and remove the radiator cap and turn the engine on without the radiator cap. Run the engine until it reaches normal temp. If you have a heater, be sure your heater control valve is OPEN. When you reach operating temp, the thermostat will open and your coolant level will drop dramatically. At this point, top off your coolant until no more air bubbles come out. This process is called "Burping". Although your not over-heating, this process will get rid of air bubbles which boil your coolant to steam causing your engine to suck in more coolant from the reservoir, causing you to LOSE COOLANT. make sense?? If you continue to lose coolant, I'm afraid your problem may be more serious, like a blown head gasket. You can take your car to a garage and ask them to test your coolant for dissolved hydrocarbons, which can verify the head gasket is shot. good luck Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Hi Roy/Nick, the overflow bottle should have some coolant in it. Otherwise it will not properly syphon back if the rad cap opens (or is this peculiar to the 4A) Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
roy53 Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Roger sory to disagree but this is an overflow bottle and not a header tank so say a 15 lb cap then it lets water out beyond 15 and closses below 15lbs in the rad so no water/coolant can be retrived from the overflow. A header tank alows water to pass between the rad and tank as required,as per modern cars systems. ROY Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Collins Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 But when the system cools, the pressure reduces as the coolant contracts untill it's low enough to draw back from the expansion bottle. If the correct radiator cap is fitted. Mike. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted May 1, 2011 Report Share Posted May 1, 2011 Hi Roy, didn't know there was a difference. The 4A dual action rad cap allows water both ways, which is handy. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nickthepedal Posted May 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2011 Evening All Thanks as always for your thoughts and suggestions, much appreciated and all noted. The car is running so well, I shall just monitor the situation as well as trying to find a local garage that can check for hydrocarbons in my water. Cheers. Nick. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
marko Posted May 1, 2011 Report Share Posted May 1, 2011 Nick As always, a little bit of information can be dangerous - everyone has an opinion and they are not always right! The easiest way to check for Head Gasket problems is to check for CO2 in the coolant system....if you have a local garage that can do it then its as easy as removing the rad cap and replacing with a specialist cap with Liquid Reaction Fluid, this monitors the presence of CO2 in the coolant system and changes the colour of the fluid to indicate a problem. If you get stuck or fancy a run out - we've got one - it might stop any more sleepless nights! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nickthepedal Posted May 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2011 Mark Sleepless nights ??, you know I drink far too much to have any of those. May well pop over to see you, as you say easy to diagnose with the appropriate kit, even with my vague symptoms. Weather set fine nice run to Norfolkshire sounds good to me, will give you a call first. Our 5 was I think the fastest round Donington all weekend ( I say this as I believe it was also the only 5 on the track all weekend ). Cheers. Nick ( Stig Slow Version ). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
67_gt6 Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 (edited) Roger sory to disagree but this is an overflow bottle and not a header tank so say a 15 lb cap then it lets water out beyond 15 and closses below 15lbs in the rad so no water/coolant can be retrived from the overflow. A header tank alows water to pass between the rad and tank as required,as per modern cars systems. ROY not sure that I follow the logic of this? if it can't siphon coolant back under vacuum when the engine cools then what is the point of collecting it? as Roger says, on the 4A the rad cap allows siphoning back as it has a rubber/neoprene washer - a "recovery cap". pretty sure that is how my GT6 worked too although I stand to be corrected on the sixes. the key is to have the correct rad cap and also for the bottle to have enough coolant in it to cover the end of the hose by an inch or so. Andy Edited May 3, 2011 by 67_gt6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peter Cobbold Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 Vapour in rocker cover/slight oil burn when cold. Could be blow-by pressurising the crankcase. Check the flame arrestor in the rocker cover bleed hose ( goes to plenum ) is not blocked. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andy Moltu Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 Could be just condensation in the crankcase along with the usual small amount of blow by the piston rings. (Both of which are normal) If the engine isn't overheating or using water it's unlikly there is a blow between the cylinders and the water jacket. Are the compressions normal? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nickthepedal Posted May 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2011 Hi Andy Just noticed your reply. No idea about compressions, will have them checked at some point. The car is still running well and not using water so may be all is well. Cheers. Nick. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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