Joining the HGF club.

[jgbff7]

Last week I had to drive into Southampton. There are extensive roadworks at Redbridge (again; thank goodness I no longer have to commute that way) and the traffic was slow. But the car was running beautifully (s2 70000 miles). I noticed the temperature rising but was not too worried as I waited for the fans to cut in.

Then there was a bang and a lot of steam out of the nearside. I pulled over to find the yellow pressure cap had been blown off the header tank.

I managed to get home (long story; many stops for cooling down and kind help from a car wash place to get some water in a container for me. Yes, I was very cautious to avoid a thermal shock). I thought the timing could be better as the car was booked in for its MOT yesterday, but I cleaned it up and the car passed. (PMN rear calipers really helped.)

Today I did a pressure test on the cooling system and found a drip from a hose just under the thermostat. Strangely the jubilee would not tighten any further.

Then a compression test (I do not have the facilities for a leakdown test). And, yes, the figures confirmed my fears, 165 135 135 165. I immediately SORNd the car.

I have just finished reading Saltaire's long thread which is brimming with good advice. I do not have the facilities to remove the engine; I have to work in the garden.

So I am off on a voyage of discovery. It must be 40 years since I did the heads on my Daimler Dart, but here we go......If you are near Pennington, Lymington, do drop by. I shall need some moral support.

John

[Rusty Wishbone]

Sorry to hear that you have got HGF. Sending you my moral support from afar. Please do share your experiences, and if (when) things don't go to plan, we are always here to root for you and give well-meaning but wrong advice as to what you should do next.

[Rambo]

Ahhhhh, the yellow cap rears its ugly head again

viewtopic.php?f=134&t=29687

[Tuga2112]

i have done my HG many years ago. althought what today would probably be a 2-3 day job back then was more than a whole week.
i removed the intake plenum as part of my job. and looking back. i would do it again even tho i have been told you dont need to remove it. but certainly makes the head coming out a much easier job.
access to all the bits was the most challenging part. and obviously the allen key cut bit is really an essential part of the job

[jgbff7]

DSC01812_2_900x675.jpg

I have started work to replace the head gasket. The exhaust manifold is now free and I must turn to the bits behind the plenum. I must say how grateful I am to Chris Day who has visited me three times to point me in the right direction. Without him I could not have started such a daunting job.

It is clear that my car has a history of overheating of which I was unaware. The thermostat has been doctored and there is a bit of mastic/gasket trapped in it. There is evidence of red hermatite in bodged work. There is even red mastic round the exhaust manifold.

My concern is to know the reason for the original overheating. I may know more when the head is off but at the moment I am considering replacing the radiator with an aluminium one. After all, I am saving a fortune doing the job myself. Just as well I do not go to work any more.

I shall keep you posted.

John

[jgbff7]

This is the exhaust manifold.

[Saltire]

DSC01812_2_900x675.jpg

I have started work to replace the head gasket. The exhaust manifold is now free and I must turn to the bits behind the plenum. I must say how grateful I am to Chris Day who has visited me three times to point me in the right direction. Without him I could not have started such a daunting job.

It is clear that my car has a history of overheating of which I was unaware. The thermostat has been doctored and there is a bit of mastic/gasket trapped in it. There is evidence of red hermatite in bodged work. There is even red mastic round the exhaust manifold.

My concern is to know the reason for the original overheating. I may know more when the head is off but at the moment I am considering replacing the radiator with an aluminium one. After all, I am saving a fortune doing the job myself. Just as well I do not go to work any more.

I shall keep you posted.

John

My rebuild thread has a picture showing the state of my original radiator. I went down the Cool Experts route and haven’t had a problem since. I know some others have also used a thermostat with a slightly different operating temperature, but I’ve not found the need for that as yet

[Tuga2112]

be wary of coolex radiators.

i have received one from them which the top spigots did not line up with the car. after checking with a spare that came out of my blue car. is confirmed there was 2 radiators with the correct spigot distance. HOWEVER after contacting coolex explaining the issue and sendimg mutiple pictures with the radiators and the metric tape they still were adamant that BOTH MY CARS where not "standard" and their radiator was made to fit all elans.

unfortunately. there is no option. and they know that. (dont you love when a single supplier monopolises the market ?) meaning i had no choice but to file the holes in my chassis 2.5mm outwards in each side in order to install the coolex unit.

as far as HG replacement. what i found most challenging from the whole task was to remove the intake plenum. and in fact. i had to do that again just a few months ago. and even tho it was done in the past. its still the hardest job i ever done in the elan.. even when i did it the second time. all i can say is good luck.

[jgbff7]

This is a photo of the thermostat housing.

Coming out of the top of it is a small pipe (next to the sensor).

I took the rubber pipe off and the metal pipe is blocked. Inside the housing there is what looks like a tiny hole leading to the pipe but that too is blocked.

On the SJS website the housing is shown as obsolete.

Two questions. Am I right that there should be a passageway through the pipe to the housing? And secondly is there an alternative source for a new housing?

Many thanks.

John

[Simon_P]

That's looking pretty rough inside before you go too much further consider using a cooling system cleaner so that you can clean the waterways - you don't want to be doing that with a new radiator. The next aluminium housing comes off with a couple of bolts.

No the thermostat housing isn't available.

[Tuga2112]

not sure if its of help, but maybe you can freeze frame to check what mine looks like at some point.

sadly for the location it is. its very dificult to film and light up properly but its something that *may* be of help

[jgbff7]

DSC01827.jpg

Not straightforward.

No sign of HGF

J

[muley]

Hmmm. It might be worth looking for cracks in the combustion chambers. I've seen two Elan cylinder heads with cracks


Just a thought

[jgbff7]

It has taken quite a while but I am pleased to report the car is up and running again with its new head gasket.

First I must thank Chris Day for all his help and encouragement. He contacted me after my first post. He lives nearby and has done the job himself, but he has gone above and beyond in supporting and helping me. I could not have done it without him.

There is a lot on here about doing the job so I can only add some thoughts about what I found.

First, I did not remove the head and intlet manifold including the plenum as a single unit. I found the best way was to remove each item on its own. The plenum has a well known reputation for being a pig to remove. The reputation is well deserved but it can be done. The bolts cannot be seen so the job is done by feel. I found the trick on reassembly was to put the bolts in their holes and hold them there with masking tape. The plenum is held by studs on both ends and these help to line the whole thing up. With the bolts held in the right place by the masking tape they are easier to locate.

Secondly, I took the head with its cams to a machine shop. I assumed the cams were correctly refitted but found that the two cams had been transposed. I did not realise until I tried tio fit the cam angle sensor, which of course would not locate in what was really the inlet cam, as it did not have the cut-outs for the CAS. Moral: check everything and trust no one. But the good news is that with the cams off you can refill the tappet buckets in accordance with the steps set out in the WM.

Thirdly be prepared for project creep. First I replaced the radiator. There is a warning on here that the Coolex replacement may not line up exactly. This was proved correct in my case. It was no big deal to make the top slots longer, but the warning on here was a comfort. Secondly I replace the gearbox oil. This is another pig of a job especially if the stud which holds the retaining clip in place has been broken off. With immense patience Chris drilled out the remains of the stud, made a proper retaining piece and fitted it with a socket headed bolt. A huge improvement. I had to replace the speedo cable as the ali fitting on to the speedo drive ad disintegrated. The speedo drive is M22 and a nut secured there helps to lift the drive out.

Fourthly, I did some minor improvements with the thermostat housing. It has some short bits of tube sticking out and they were badly corroded so I drilled them out, tapped the holes, and replaced them with proper hosetails.

Fifthly access is always an issue (apart from refitting the head, obviously). My prize for the most inaccessible bolt is the alternator belt adjustment one. It is immediately behind one of the power steering pipes and drove me nuts. The socket headed bolts seruring the engine mount are a close second, but I improvised a tool comprising a shortened 8mm allen key which went into an 8mm long socket which went into a long extension.

Sixthly I found removing the power steering reservoir was vital.

And lastly pay particular attention to the earth wires. There are two which are bolted to the head near the power steering metal pipes. There is a third in the same sort of area which is a braid. There is one which is very hard to see which earths the cooling fans and which is behind one of the upper radiator support bolts. Chris and I spent a good deal of time looking for an earth behind the plenum. We did not find one, but we think there may be one on some cars. You will know when the plenum is free.

Chris made it clear to me that the job has to be done with ruthless organisation. Bolts went into plastic bags with a note on a piece of paper with them.

This morning I turned the engine over with the HT leads (new leads of course) disconnected until I had oil pressure. The I connected them up and the car fired immediately.

Would I do it again? Well allowing for project growth I must have saved a couple of grand in labour (but bear in mind the cost of parts is not cheap). My working conditions were truly dreadful, outside on a gravelled drive. Yes, I would do it again but only with the benefit of what I have learned. For a retirement project (with age, conditions and weather against me) it really was at the limit of my abilities. But it was good to hear the engine start.

I hope this helps

TTFN

John

[tigerdog]

Well done, I say. Well done!