persistent coolant drip

[Rambo]

I'd go with the SAMCO option and replace the lot. Good then for another 30 years

[chrism]

Huge cost tho'...
As I was removing the old hose from the heater control valve the stub twisted and fell apart in my hands - there were rust holes in the stub!
Needless to say this must have been the leak source; it must have been running down from the top of the hose and dripping off at the join, making the join appear to leak.
I've got a pic but every time I try to attach (or any other pic) LEC says 'The uploaded file is empty'.
You've gotta see what the stub looks like. Needless to say I've ordered a Volvo 760 plastic heater control part to replace it - and I suppose I'm now at the mercy of Royal Mail as well...

[chrism]

ps I know the pic file isn't empty because I can actually see it on the computer screen. I've tried resizing, reloading etc to no avail...

Is anyone else having trouble downloading pics - or is it a fault with my system, I wonder? Anyone in the know?

[Saltire]

I have just tried uploading a file which I’ve previously uploaded without problems, and I too get the message “The uploaded file is empty”.

Paging the moderators!

[dapinky]

When I try to do anything, I get thrown out of the forum and told to log in.....

Geoff/Martin

[dapinky]

Ah, it worked that time (after a laptop restart).... lets try a picture.....

..... nope, "uploaded file is empty,"

Smiffy........

[chrism]

Phew...thanks LEC pals. Good to know that I'm not suffering alone. This has only just happened - 'cos I was posting pics successfully only a couple of days ago.

Anyway, heater control valve + pipe to recirc pump suffering has been reduced today. Both arrived this afternoon and now they're nestling safely together under an m100 bonnet .

I've just done a trip around the block to get her warm and I'll be checking the coolant level when she's cold tomorrow morning. (You gotta see a pic of the old valve's stub tho'; hopefully that pic upload glitch can be sorted?)

[chrism]

Next morning. Not a drop of coolant to be seen on the newspaper underneath - so special thanks to all those (esprit888/Rambo/Simon_P/dapinky etc) whose superb advice has narrowed the search down to get a 'result' and the motivation to replace the pink stuff.

As I've said before, this forum keeps giving and in the future I hope I can add to it in a similar way...

[chrism]

re 'uploaded file is empty', I've noticed the same interventions in previous posts and a comment that PHP bulletin board (phpBB) 'needs updating'.

I've found out 'phpBB is an Internet forum package written in the PHP scripting language. The name "phpBB" is an abbreviation of PHP Bulletin Board. Available under the GNU General Public License, phpBB is free and open-source. Wikipedia' but I wish I knew more about this so's I could help to fix it.

Sorry to sound 'stressy' - but I'm a newbie concerned that w/out the comfort or reliance of help from LEC attachments I won't be able to enjoy(?) fettling my beloved m100... I wish I knew how to provide a solution...

[chrism]

Yay...we're able to upload pics again. Many, many thanks to the magician who 'sorted this

Here's the cause of my persistent drip - the hose joint I suspected (which was, indeed, quite 'crabby' when I pulled it apart) and the Volvo 760 plastic heater control replacement.

_DSF0580a.jpg

_DSF0586b.jpg

I think I could have saved ~£70 on the hose, but whilst improving the heater control (£22 from eBay) it seemed rude not to go the whole hog and improve upon that awful 32year-old poorly-designed hose set-up which does away with that silly joint.

(I hope that by sharing this experience it'll save someone a floor-full of dropped coolant, or worse still, a trip home via a tow-truck)

[chrism]

Hmm...back to square 1 today for me...

[Tuga2112]

Hmm...back to square 1 today for me...

have you done the black light glowing water check yet ?

[Rambo]

Is this the UV light/fluoroscein test Jõao?

[Tuga2112]

Is this the UV light/fluoroscein test Jõao?

yes, black light is just another common name for uv light. (even tho the flashlights are usually purple/blue-ish)

[chrism]

Sorry, meant back to square 1 re uploading pics.
Coolant drip is history now, thanks The plastic heater control is doing ok...

[chrism]

(I think I might have cracked the image posting process so's I can now include the pics of the problem:)

The suspected heater control/hose connection seemed to be weeping coolant onto the hose which ran down to the clips and then dropped off onto clean newspaper under the engine - confusing me as to the whereabouts of source of the leak.
As I twisted the off hose to investigate all sorts of rust-related nightmares unfolded .
I replaced the original metal heater control with a plastic Volvo unit and the crazily-designed Lotus hose with a new (ouchly...expensive) one-piece part.
It fitted perfectly and I replaced the coolant with new. All-good now and one breakdown risk neutralised, I hope.

(Perhaps I could've got away without replacing the hose so expensively but do we do that? )

[Tuga2112]

the heater valve from volvo was my very first "fix" in the elan. with also a replamcenet of the ' Y ' connected tube.

I'd say if your buying an elan today that hasn't got that replacement done. it make sense to just buy those 2 parts and keep them in the boot. its a issue long due to happen with every elan.

I am glad that you fixed it for good this time tho.
its nice to put a forum thread to sleep for good considering how many months this had been an ongoing until you figured out exactly what went wrong.

[chrism]

Yes I hope this inspires others to be aware of this original 'iffy' design and it's always useful for newbies like me when everyone finally 'sleeps' their problem.
It's frustrating to see something on the forum which 'resonates' but the final solution isn't offered or doesn't seem to appear...

[Tuga2112]

Yes I hope this inspires others to be aware of this original 'iffy' design and it's always useful for newbies like me when everyone finally 'sleeps' their problem.
It's frustrating to see something on the forum which 'resonates' but the final solution isn't offered or doesn't seem to appear...

its just the nature of a forum.
You have a person spending 2 minutes trying to find a issue that matches. if nothing similar appears, they post the issue.
then you have the regular forum users trying t help (and regularly point to other threads of related problems) and finally a solution.

because everyone's language is different, you will easily find the same question or issue being mentioned and depending on the starting point it can take a while to come across the solution, (even if its something as common as the heater valve rusted issue)

when i had it. it was very easy to diagnose. because it blew up in a cloud of smoke from the obvious place. but its not surprising at all that a less spectacular failure like what you witnessed would be harder to diagnose.

if you keep an eye on the forum you will also notice over the years its not unusuall to comes across 2 or 3 different people having similar issues at the same time of the year, but the information being scattered around.

right now. my alternator is busted, but i barely make a mention of it on the forum because the first thing i done was contact a couple of other members directly for advice to simply confirm my suspisions, while at the same time, a different member is asking for help related to their alternator. but they have different symptoms, meaning that my experience is of zero value to their problem.

[chrism]

Yep words of wisdom...
As a newbie if you don't know the shortcuts the only option seems to be to shout and squeal