As "the ongoing saga" was getting a bit "leggy" and straying off topic (albeit interestingly), I though I'd start this new thread to tidy up the loose ends and finish off.
We take up the story with the belt fitted, engine run briefly (no water in engine so just for a few moments) to check all is OK. Belt guards, engine mount, fan belt, etc, etc all reassembled. Now for the cooling system.
To say I am pleased with the water pipe I bought from Mick at Shop4parts would be an understatement. It looks and feels to be of high quality. It required considerable physical effort to get it entered into the back of the water pump which I had expected as it seals on the fit of the seal alone. Even the bolt hole in the bracket lined up perfectly! So, with hoses all reconnected and new hose clips to hold them in place it's time to fill the system. I drained it by pulling the bottom hose to get as much coolant out as easily possible and collecting it in a clean bucket. This allowed me to examined the old coolant for contamination. It looked pleasingly clean. I forgot to order Paraflu from Mick when I got the pipe but my local factor had a product which was recommended and as the whole system was drained so there would be minimal mixing of old and new, I decided to go with it. I also decided to "treat" her to deionised water (cheap as chips from Halfords with a trade card, so why wouldn't you?)
I'd been thinking about the possibility of airlocks when refilling and had read on the forum of others who have experienced this. In my earlier life as a mechanic, I must have filled hundreds of cooling systems and whilst most gave no bother there was the odd one which proved a real headache! Looking at this one the most obvious thing is that the filler is lower than the bleed on the heater pipe! OK maybe the water pump can push it round but perhaps it would appreciate a little help by raising a bit of head? Anyway I came up with this, not very imaginative, contraption. The larger diameter pipe is cut from an old radiator hose (classic mini I think) the longer, smaller diameter, hose is a bit of old heater hose and the two are sealed together with some self amalgamating tape. The yellow funnel is, well, a yellow funnel! chosen just because I had it and it fitted the heater hose!
The large diameter, short length of hose was chosen because it makes a good tight fit into the filler for the radiator. The bleed screws on the radiator and heater hose were opened and coolant (50/50 mix) poured in 'till it started coming out of the rad bleed screw which was then tightened (gently - it's plastic). filling continued till bubbly, then liquid, coolant came out of the heater hose. Next I started up the engine and a small amount of bubbly coolant came out the heater bleed screw but this quickly turned to liquid (no bubbles) so I closed the screw. Ran the engine up, watching the temp gauge which should rise slowly, (if it doesn't lift off the stop after a few minutes you've probably got a BIG air lock and need to stop the engine and clear this before going any further or risk problems like head gasket damage etc) If all is OK keep the engine running, speeding it up a bit from time to time to encourage the water to circulate and chase out air until the top rad hose gets hot (this indicates the thermostat has opened and will need the engine to be run for a while). When the thermostat opens it's not unusual for it to release more trapped air so keep an eye on the header tank coolant level as you do this. Be aware the water is getting quite hot now so be careful not to burn yourself. During the warm up I briefly opened the heater hose bleed a few times in case there was still trapped air but actually only on the first opening did it very briefly spit out a little air. (coolant circulates round the heater system all the time so the heater pipes will start heating up quickly whereas the top rad hose will only get hot once the thermostat opens) When I thought all the air was out and circulation was satisfactory I whipped my cobbled up filler tube off the header tank filler and screwed in the pressure cap. Turning off the engine, it took me about half an hour to do a bit of a clean up (self included) and by the time I got back to her the engine had cooled off quite a bit and the water level had dropped to the bottom of the filler neck of the header tank (still above the full mark though).
So - took a pop bottle full of coolant and the funnel with me and set off on a test drive. Stopped after about 2 miles and checked the coolant level. It was now half way between the max and min marks, obviously some air had been pushed round the system. As it was still within acceptable limits I didn't add coolant at that time. Continued another couple of miles and checked again, no change. Turned round and drove home, checked level again, still half way between max and min. Let her cool for some time whilst clearing up the garage, cleaning and putting away tools and scrubbing the worst of the ground in dirt from myself. Engine now just hand warm. Coolant level just a little above min so added coolant to just below max mark.
I didn't need to take the cap off the header tank when out on my test drive but if the coolant level dropped a lot it would be necessary to top up of course. I have many years experience of doing this and have seen people very badly scalded because they took the cap off a hot engine's cooling system. If you don't have experience of working with hot engines you would be best to let it cool a bit - could take some time, aim for hand hot or cooler - before risking it. You really do need to be careful with this, serious injury can result, the manufacturers don't put warning notices on these filler caps for nothing!
The engine, by the way, is running beautifully. I haven't done a phonic wheel relearn yet as I'm interested to see if the ECU picks up on the belt change. remember I didn't slacken the cam pulley bolt, although, as the cam sensor picks up on the pulley itself and not the cam, not slackening the bolt is probably not a relevant factor. Although I drove quite gently on my test drive I did accelerate quite briskly a couple of times with revs peaking at around 4000 rpm - so far no EML illuminated!
So. This seems to have all gone well. Our old Felicity (92 Panda Parade) was definitely easier to work on - Becky's engine mounting is a bit of a pain! My older Boy's Punto 1.4 looks as if it has more room and should be easier (which is good as it's the next job).
There's a bit more "stuff" to tell you about to bring things right up to date, especially the brakes which held a surprise. But that's for another day, maybe tomorrow?
So stay safe everyone
Jock
We take up the story with the belt fitted, engine run briefly (no water in engine so just for a few moments) to check all is OK. Belt guards, engine mount, fan belt, etc, etc all reassembled. Now for the cooling system.
To say I am pleased with the water pipe I bought from Mick at Shop4parts would be an understatement. It looks and feels to be of high quality. It required considerable physical effort to get it entered into the back of the water pump which I had expected as it seals on the fit of the seal alone. Even the bolt hole in the bracket lined up perfectly! So, with hoses all reconnected and new hose clips to hold them in place it's time to fill the system. I drained it by pulling the bottom hose to get as much coolant out as easily possible and collecting it in a clean bucket. This allowed me to examined the old coolant for contamination. It looked pleasingly clean. I forgot to order Paraflu from Mick when I got the pipe but my local factor had a product which was recommended and as the whole system was drained so there would be minimal mixing of old and new, I decided to go with it. I also decided to "treat" her to deionised water (cheap as chips from Halfords with a trade card, so why wouldn't you?)
I'd been thinking about the possibility of airlocks when refilling and had read on the forum of others who have experienced this. In my earlier life as a mechanic, I must have filled hundreds of cooling systems and whilst most gave no bother there was the odd one which proved a real headache! Looking at this one the most obvious thing is that the filler is lower than the bleed on the heater pipe! OK maybe the water pump can push it round but perhaps it would appreciate a little help by raising a bit of head? Anyway I came up with this, not very imaginative, contraption. The larger diameter pipe is cut from an old radiator hose (classic mini I think) the longer, smaller diameter, hose is a bit of old heater hose and the two are sealed together with some self amalgamating tape. The yellow funnel is, well, a yellow funnel! chosen just because I had it and it fitted the heater hose!
The large diameter, short length of hose was chosen because it makes a good tight fit into the filler for the radiator. The bleed screws on the radiator and heater hose were opened and coolant (50/50 mix) poured in 'till it started coming out of the rad bleed screw which was then tightened (gently - it's plastic). filling continued till bubbly, then liquid, coolant came out of the heater hose. Next I started up the engine and a small amount of bubbly coolant came out the heater bleed screw but this quickly turned to liquid (no bubbles) so I closed the screw. Ran the engine up, watching the temp gauge which should rise slowly, (if it doesn't lift off the stop after a few minutes you've probably got a BIG air lock and need to stop the engine and clear this before going any further or risk problems like head gasket damage etc) If all is OK keep the engine running, speeding it up a bit from time to time to encourage the water to circulate and chase out air until the top rad hose gets hot (this indicates the thermostat has opened and will need the engine to be run for a while). When the thermostat opens it's not unusual for it to release more trapped air so keep an eye on the header tank coolant level as you do this. Be aware the water is getting quite hot now so be careful not to burn yourself. During the warm up I briefly opened the heater hose bleed a few times in case there was still trapped air but actually only on the first opening did it very briefly spit out a little air. (coolant circulates round the heater system all the time so the heater pipes will start heating up quickly whereas the top rad hose will only get hot once the thermostat opens) When I thought all the air was out and circulation was satisfactory I whipped my cobbled up filler tube off the header tank filler and screwed in the pressure cap. Turning off the engine, it took me about half an hour to do a bit of a clean up (self included) and by the time I got back to her the engine had cooled off quite a bit and the water level had dropped to the bottom of the filler neck of the header tank (still above the full mark though).
So - took a pop bottle full of coolant and the funnel with me and set off on a test drive. Stopped after about 2 miles and checked the coolant level. It was now half way between the max and min marks, obviously some air had been pushed round the system. As it was still within acceptable limits I didn't add coolant at that time. Continued another couple of miles and checked again, no change. Turned round and drove home, checked level again, still half way between max and min. Let her cool for some time whilst clearing up the garage, cleaning and putting away tools and scrubbing the worst of the ground in dirt from myself. Engine now just hand warm. Coolant level just a little above min so added coolant to just below max mark.
I didn't need to take the cap off the header tank when out on my test drive but if the coolant level dropped a lot it would be necessary to top up of course. I have many years experience of doing this and have seen people very badly scalded because they took the cap off a hot engine's cooling system. If you don't have experience of working with hot engines you would be best to let it cool a bit - could take some time, aim for hand hot or cooler - before risking it. You really do need to be careful with this, serious injury can result, the manufacturers don't put warning notices on these filler caps for nothing!
The engine, by the way, is running beautifully. I haven't done a phonic wheel relearn yet as I'm interested to see if the ECU picks up on the belt change. remember I didn't slacken the cam pulley bolt, although, as the cam sensor picks up on the pulley itself and not the cam, not slackening the bolt is probably not a relevant factor. Although I drove quite gently on my test drive I did accelerate quite briskly a couple of times with revs peaking at around 4000 rpm - so far no EML illuminated!
So. This seems to have all gone well. Our old Felicity (92 Panda Parade) was definitely easier to work on - Becky's engine mounting is a bit of a pain! My older Boy's Punto 1.4 looks as if it has more room and should be easier (which is good as it's the next job).
There's a bit more "stuff" to tell you about to bring things right up to date, especially the brakes which held a surprise. But that's for another day, maybe tomorrow?
So stay safe everyone
Jock