I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad hoses
etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock, gets very
hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet). What gives
these days?
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.

On 06/07/2010 00:25, brass monkey wrote:
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad hoses
etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock, gets very
hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet). What gives
these days?
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.


Reliant van
Hillman Imp
Mini
Spitfire
Austin 1100
Spitfire
Escort
Astra
Astra
Cavalier
Micra
Focus
Mazda 3
Mazda 2
in 42 years

On Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:25:55 +0100, brass monkey wrote:

I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad
hoses etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock,
gets very hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet).
What gives these days?
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had? I'll
start with 6 in 45 years.

15 in 40 years:

Morris Minor convertible
Morris Minor hardtop
Land Rover (Series I)
Humber Hawk
Morris 1100
Morris Marina
Astra (Mark I)
Astra (Mark II)
Astra (Mark II)
Astra (Mark II)
Galaxy
Galaxy
Galaxy
S-Max
S-Max

--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

brass monkey wrote:
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad
hoses etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the
clock, gets very hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't
blown (yet). What gives these days?
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.

Difficult to precisely repond to as I've had cars handed to me and I've
handed on to my kids, (over a similar period). Between my wife and I, I
think about 18.

Ford Prefect, A 35 (still have), Mini Estate, Maxi (x4), Cortina Mk2 Estate,
Fiesta (x3), Rover 400, Allegro, Marina, Focus (x2), 306, 206cc.

Most of my working life, I have done anything between 30 and 50k per annum.

Current motor still doing over 50mpg is an 02 diesel Focus on 160k. Wife's
diesel 206cc, just had its first MOT has only 10k on the clock!

brass monkey wrote:
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad hoses
etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock, gets very
hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet). What gives
these days?

water poump?

blocked rad?

****ed thermostat?

Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.



I think about 17 in ..er.42 years..I've lost count really. lots of
bangers in there shared with other people.

"brass monkey" wrote in message
...
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad hoses
etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock, gets very
hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet). What gives
these days?
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.

A35 van, brilliant, 6 years old, 25k, original tyres, £100 in 1965.
Mini
A40
Marina, loved the size of it.
XR2, 16 yrs, loved it, new, £5789 in 1985.
Corsa, 9 yrs, crap/reliable, gets from A to B, £5500 in 2001.

Invisible Man wrote:
On 06/07/2010 00:25, brass monkey wrote:
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad
hoses
etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock, gets
very
hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet). What gives
these days?
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.


Reliant van
Hillman Imp
Mini
Spitfire
Austin 1100
Spitfire
Escort
Astra
Astra
Cavalier
Micra
Focus
Mazda 3
Mazda 2
in 42 years

Oh..
Bedford CA2
Triumph Herald 1100 saloon
Austin Healey sprite MKII
Triumph Herald 13/60 convertible.
Auston Healey Sprite (1275).
Triumph Spitfire 1300
VW golf.
Hillman Hunter (I think)
Commer Highwayman.
Triumph Spitfire (mongrel).
Opel Manta 2000
Astra SRi
Jaguar XJS
Nissan 200 SX
Land Rover series III
Jaguar XK8
Land Rover series III
Land Rover Defender TD5
Jaguar XKR
Land Rover Freelander
Elddis Peugeot boxer camper.


Hmm. I make that 21.. there are e few more that belonged to girlfriends..

Still got a Freelander, a Series III and the Elddis camper. And the
mongrel spitfire..that hasn't turned a wheel in 22 years

I ought to sell the series III. Its going to seed. Brilliant drive train
tatty body, brakes and clutch need attention..


...42 years also

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
brass monkey wrote:
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad
hoses etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock,
gets very hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet).
What gives these days?

water poump?

Dunno

blocked rad?

New rad

****ed thermostat?

New thermo

It's odd, 'fan switch' (rad bottom) and 'gauge sender' (head) died together.
New rad (cos 'engineer' stripped the fan switch thread), fan switch and
gauge sender, still gets hot fast.
Just wondering when the hoses are gonna give up.

In article ,
"brass monkey" writes:
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad hoses
etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock, gets very
hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet). What gives
these days?
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.

Mini PKX 886M
Fiesta ROY 367W (plate was in use on another car recently)
Fiesta F742 GVS
Fiesta P54 NBH (DVLA warned me someone else illegally using this plate).
Fiesta xx08 xxx
in 30 years.

On the Mini, a short 2" length of bellows hose from the water pump
to the engine block was the most frequent failure. It was a bellows
so you could squeeze it into place, but I got fed up with them
failing, and fitted a proper piece of hose by temporarily loosening
the water pump, and then it didn't fail again. I had the internal
heater hose leak slowly, creating a stain on my accelerator shoe.
The mini used to get worryingly hot in traffic jams, and I recall
turning on the car heater and flinging the windows open to get the
guage needle back out of the red on a few occasions when it was above
25C outside.

On second or third fiesta, the radiator was leaking from brand new
and replaced under guarantee. Don't think I've had any other leaks
on any of the fiestas.

I tried to buy a length of radiator hose to repair my brother's
dishwasher a couple of years ago, but no car places sell it anymore,
only manufacturer-supplied preformed pieces.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"brass monkey" writes:
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad
hoses
etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock, gets
very
hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet). What gives
these days?
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.

Mini PKX 886M
Fiesta ROY 367W (plate was in use on another car recently)
Fiesta F742 GVS
Fiesta P54 NBH (DVLA warned me someone else illegally using this plate).
Fiesta xx08 xxx
in 30 years.

On the Mini, a short 2" length of bellows hose from the water pump
to the engine block was the most frequent failure. It was a bellows
so you could squeeze it into place

I remember it well and always found it difficult (a *******) to replace.

, but I got fed up with them
failing, and fitted a proper piece of hose by temporarily loosening
the water pump, and then it didn't fail again. I had the internal
heater hose leak slowly, creating a stain on my accelerator shoe.

The mini used to get worryingly hot in traffic jams, and I recall
turning on the car heater and flinging the windows open to get the
guage needle back out of the red on a few occasions when it was above
25C outside.

Must have been a common prob

On second or third fiesta, the radiator was leaking from brand new
and replaced under guarantee. Don't think I've had any other leaks
on any of the fiestas.

I tried to buy a length of radiator hose to repair my brother's
dishwasher a couple of years ago, but no car places sell it anymore,
only manufacturer-supplied preformed pieces.

Progress.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "brass monkey" saying
something like:

Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.

Austin A40
Hillman Super Minx
Bedford CA
Mini van
Various Morris 1000 vans
Armstrong-Siddley Star Sapphire Limo
Bedford CF
Commer minibus
Capri
Vauxhall Chevette
Bedford HA van
Victor FC 101 estate
Renault 16
Victor VX 4/90
Hillman Avenger
Morris Marina 1.8 estate
Land Rover SIII LWB Safari
Sunbeam porridge 13/1600
Sunbeam Ti 1600
Reliant Scimitar SE5a x2
Transit mk2
Land Rover SIII SWB
Granada mk1
Golf mk2
Transit mk2 minibus
Granada mk2
Transit mk6
Toyota Carina
Reliant Scimitar SE6a

27 -ish over 40 years

In message , brass monkey
writes

Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.

Since 1967, and ignoring various Lambrettas,

A40 Farina
Anglia
Anglia
Anglia
Mk III Zodiac
Singer Vogue
Humber Sceptre
Mk III Zephyr (Z Victor One)
Mk II Cortina GT
Morris Marina
Fiesta
Escort
Orion
Orion
MG Maestro
Rover 216
Minor Traveller
Merc C200

Still have the final two.
--
Graeme

On 6 July, 00:25, "brass monkey" wrote:
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad hoses
etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock, gets very
hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet). What gives
these days?
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.

Since 1986:

VW Scirroco (13th owner, and largely constructed from filler)
Audi 100 (liked to blow head gaskets)
Saab 99 (beautiful solid car, for 10 days - until somebody ice-skating
in their car ploughed into it - excellent crash resistance)
Saab 900 (superbly reliable and solid)
Isuzu Trooper (most reliable of all - nothing ever went wrong in 120K
miles)
VW Transporter (dropped an exhaust valve after 2 weeks - suspect there
was some funny business about this one)
VW Caravelle (so far, pretty good)

On Tue, 6 Jul 2010 00:25:55 +0100, brass monkey wrote:

I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock, gets very
hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet). What gives
these days?

Blocked rad, even if it is new... failed electric fan or thermo fan,
one driven via a fan belt but with a hub that "slips" until it gets
hot.

Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.

Austin 1100
Fiesta
Escort
Mondeo
Land Rover Discovery II
Land Rover Discovery II

Since 1978 (I think), 32 years.

--
Cheers
Dave.

In article ,
brass monkey wrote:
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad
hoses etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock,
gets very hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet).
What gives these days?

I'd guess modern hoses are a sort of silicone rubber as they seem to last
forever. I have an '85 Rover where the main top and bottom hoses only last
a few years.

As a matter of interest, has your car got air-con? If the condenser on
that gets blocked with leaves or dirt etc it will make the car run hot.
For some reason they tend to get blocked more easily than a normal rad.

Not known a waterpump become inefficient. Break, yes. I'm on the third in
80,000 miles on my BMW.

--
*The colder the X-ray table, the more of your body is required on it *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
On the Mini, a short 2" length of bellows hose from the water pump
to the engine block was the most frequent failure. It was a bellows
so you could squeeze it into place, but I got fed up with them
failing, and fitted a proper piece of hose by temporarily loosening
the water pump, and then it didn't fail again. I had the internal
heater hose leak slowly, creating a stain on my accelerator shoe.
The mini used to get worryingly hot in traffic jams, and I recall
turning on the car heater and flinging the windows open to get the
guage needle back out of the red on a few occasions when it was above
25C outside.

The squeeze in place bellows type was an aftermarket device with a short
life. Remove the head or pump and fit an ordinary one (reinforced) gave a
much longer life.

--
*Real women don't have hot flashes, they have power surges.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
brass monkey wrote:
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.

Since 1962:-

Austin 7
MG Magnette ZA
Triumph Mayflower
Mini Van - several
Riley Pathfinder
Austin 1800
MG Midget 1275
Bentley S1
Bedford HA van
Rover P6 3500
Rover P6 2000TC
Rover P6 3500S
Rover SD1 VDP EFI
BMW E28 520
Ford Capri MkII 2 litre
BMW E34 525
BMW E39 528

Not necessarily in that exact order - some were owned at the same time.

--
*Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

brass monkey wrote:

Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.

Since 1966, including bikes:

NSU Quickly
Honda 50
Honda 175
Honda 70
VW Beetle
Austin 1800
Renault 20
Volvo 244
Volvo 240
Mondeo

The two Volvos covered 20 years and about 350,000 miles between
them.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

"brass monkey" wrote in message
...
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad hoses
etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock, gets very
hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet). What gives
these days?
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.


Since 1982

Car (year of car)

Morris Minor Traveller 1100 (1966)
Ford Escort 1.1 l(1972)
Mini 1300 engine 998 gearbox (1968)
Ford Cortina 1600e (1969)
Ford Capri JPS 1.6 (1977)
Ford Escort XR3 (1981)
Ford Cortina Mk4 1.6GL (1978)
Ford Capri MkIII 2.0 S (1980)
Ford Capri Mk III 2.8 Injection (1986)
Vauxhall Cavalier Mk2 1.6 LX (1987)
Vauxhal Cavalier Mk3 2.0i GL (1990)
Ford Escort MkIII 1.6GL (1982)
Ford Escort MkII 1600 Sport (1978)
Ford Fiesta XR2 (1989)
Vauxhall Astra 1.8 SX (1990)
VW Golf GTI 16v (1997)
VW Passat TDI Sport (2000)
Toyota Avensis T3x D4D (2003)
Vauxhall Zafira 1.9 CDTI 150 Design (2006)
Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCI Titanium X (2009)

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
"brass monkey" writes:
Snipped

On the Mini, a short 2" length of bellows hose from the water pump
to the engine block was the most frequent failure. It was a bellows
so you could squeeze it into place, but I got fed up with them
failing, and fitted a proper piece of hose by temporarily loosening
the water pump, and then it didn't fail again. I had the internal
heater hose leak slowly, creating a stain on my accelerator shoe.
The mini used to get worryingly hot in traffic jams, and I recall
turning on the car heater and flinging the windows open to get the
guage needle back out of the red on a few occasions when it was above
25C outside.

Crumbs, this takes me back. I recall these problems only too well.

On second or third fiesta, the radiator was leaking from brand new
and replaced under guarantee. Don't think I've had any other leaks
on any of the fiestas.

I had 2 Mk 2 Fiesta diesels in which I did about 400k. The radiators were
consumable items doing about 75k before replacement.

In message , brass monkey
writes
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad hoses
etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock, gets very
hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet). What gives
these days?
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.

You do realise this information gives an opportunity for an assessment
of our ages?

Morris E tourer (1935)

Morgan 4/4 series 2 (1956)

Marriage and various Minis, 4 in all.

LH drive MG 1100

Vauxhall Cavalier

Ford Orion (diesel)

Ford Focus (diesel)

Ford Fiesta (CR diesel) current

Various farm vehicles, Leyland Sherpa and Toyota Hilux (current)

14 in 50 years.

regards






--
Tim Lamb

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
brass monkey wrote:
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad
hoses etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock,
gets very hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet).
What gives these days?

I'd guess modern hoses are a sort of silicone rubber as they seem to last
forever. I have an '85 Rover where the main top and bottom hoses only last
a few years.

As a matter of interest, has your car got air-con? If the condenser on
that gets blocked with leaves or dirt etc it will make the car run hot.
For some reason they tend to get blocked more easily than a normal rad.

Not known a waterpump become inefficient. Break, yes. I'm on the third in
80,000 miles on my BMW.

No air-con, but I do wonder when the hoses will quit.

"brass monkey" wrote in message
...
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad hoses
etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock, gets very
hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet). What gives
these days?

When my 1996 Cavalier started to overheat and it was the headgasket.

Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.

I'm not listing them, but my favourite was the MkII Escort.

Cheers

Adam

On Tue, 6 Jul 2010 00:25:55 +0100 Brass monkey wrote :
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.

12 from 1971-2008

Mini
Mini van with windows
DAF 66 estate
Chrysler Sunbeam
Austin Maxi
Austin Maestro
Skoda Favorit
Skoda Felicia
Suzuki Wagon x 2
Honda Jazz x 2

Now I live in Melbourne city centre I don't own a car - am in a car
share scheme (Honda Jazz/Hyundai I30). Currently visiting the UK with
a Prius on hire for a week.

If you want to argue that what you drive says something about you,
in my case it's probably true!

--
Tony Bryer, Greentram: 'Software to build on' Melbourne, Australia
www.superbeam.co.uk www.eurobeam.co.uk www.greentram.com

brass monkey wrote:
"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
brass monkey wrote:
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad
hoses etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock,
gets very hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet).
What gives these days?
water poump?

Dunno

blocked rad?

New rad

****ed thermostat?

New thermo

It's odd, 'fan switch' (rad bottom) and 'gauge sender' (head) died together.
New rad (cos 'engineer' stripped the fan switch thread), fan switch and
gauge sender, still gets hot fast.
Just wondering when the hoses are gonna give up.


water pump then.

Unless head gasket has gone, but that usually blows the water out first.

On Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:25:55 +0100, brass monkey wrote:

I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad
hoses etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock,
gets very hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet).
What gives these days?

I'm not sure if modern hoses suffer from it, but older ones could sufer
delamination, with the inner layer collapsing and blocking or restricting
flow. Personally I've only seen it once, but once is enough to know that
it can happen :-)

If your heater's blowing very hot air then it suggests that the water
pump's stirring the coolant (otherwise I'd expect normal-ish heater
output and a cooked engine). As someone else said, I've never known a
pump "sort of work" - leak, yes, and outright jam solid.

Thermostats can seize; maybe that's the problem. Pull it out, dump it in
a pan of water on the stove, and check that it opens...

On Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:34:00 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
Fiesta P54 NBH (DVLA warned me someone else illegally using this
plate). Fiesta xx08 xxx

I had that with the Ford Onion* I had after hauling it to the scrapyard.

* a vehicle with no redeeming features whatsoever. It was so ****-poor
even the ignition key broke in half once.

The mini used to get
worryingly hot in traffic jams, and I recall turning on the car heater
and flinging the windows open to get the guage needle back out of the
red on a few occasions when it was above 25C outside.

Heh, I remember that in one of my Stags after one of the head gaskets let
go... I nursed it a couple of hundred miles home with the top down and
the heater on full-tilt, stopping every so often to top up the lost
coolant.

cheers

Jules

Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?

Terry In Newfoundland Canada


1956 Ford Consul*^ New
1958 Ford Zephyr*^ New
Also assigned a 1957 Land Rover for a period. New
1962 VW Bug* Used
1967 VW Bug* Used
1973 Plymouth Fury, used to over-heat towing caravan!
1976 Chev Impala (Caravan/trailer towing) Company vehicle. New
1976 Chev Bel Air ( " " " ) Ex Hertz rental
1978 VW Rabbit/Golf Diesel+ Slightly used.
1981 Toyota Diesel+ Used
1986 Toyota pickup+ Used
1991 Nissan pickup+ Well used (fourth owners, best vehicle we ever
owned). See note..
1995 Nissan pickup+ Used but only 30,000 when bought.
2002 Nissan pickup+ Self now retired and only 80,000 kms since new in
2002.

Legend:
* On dirt and paved roads.
^ For professional business/occupation.
+ For small private family business

Note; 1991 well used Nissan pickup finally rusted out in 1996 at some
nearly 300,000 kms.
We estimated that the capital 'cost of that vehicle, including a
repaint job and new tyres etc. when we first acquired and then used
for over some 4.5 years was $80 (Can.) about 50 to 60 quid, per month.
Apart from the VWs it was one of the simplest vehicles and was utterly
reliable until it's cab floor in these salty and corrosive conditions
rusted out at nearly 300,000 kms. Similarly one of the VWs was
replaced when wife complained she could see the road in several places
as she drove along! Sold that one afterwards to the young feller who
is now our provincial government member, who turned it into a 'dune
buggy'! Found it years later still somewhat intact dumped in an old
quarry. Knew it was ours because had replaced the wiper switch stalk
with a toggle in the dash!

On 06/07/2010 00:25, brass monkey wrote:
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad hoses
etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock, gets very
hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet). What gives
these days?
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.



Mini Cooper (1980 to 1983)
Commer camper (1983)
3 Austin Minis (1984 to 1989)
Saab 99 (1990)
Citroen Visa (1991)
3 VW Scirrocos (1991 to 2004)
Citroen AX (1993 to 1995)
VW Golf mk3 (2004 to 2006)
Seat Leon (2006 to 2008)
VW Golf mk2 (2008)
Mazda 3 (2009 to current)

On Tue, 06 Jul 2010 10:46:52 +0100, ARWadsworth wrote:
I'm not listing them, but my favourite was the MkII Escort.

I had a MKI and I think I'd put that in my top three at least - that car
was brilliant fun to drive, especially on dirt or gravel roads, and
really easy to work on. I really wish there was a US market so I could
pick one up here :-(

cheers

Jules

brass monkey wrote:
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad hoses
etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock, gets very
hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet). What gives
these days?
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.

3 in 32 yrs
'78-83 Renault 5 (new)
'94-97 Mazda MX5 ('92)
'98-* Renault Twingo ('94)
[* got me to Italy and back in May (75% of its annual mileage so I will
keep it until at least until the next MOT in January]


--
djc

"Jules Richardson" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 06 Jul 2010 10:46:52 +0100, ARWadsworth wrote:
I'm not listing them, but my favourite was the MkII Escort.

I had a MKI and I think I'd put that in my top three at least - that car
was brilliant fun to drive, especially on dirt or gravel roads, and
really easy to work on. I really wish there was a US market so I could
pick one up here :-(

cheers

Jules

I think mine was only a 1.3 engine. I used it to build up my no claims bonus
as a teenager.

The best bit was that if you dropped the gears fast enough (say 4th to 2nd)
you could lock the rear diff up and make the back end skid around on a bend.

I do not think I could afford to buy one now!

Cheers

Adam

Jules Richardson wrote:
On Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:25:55 +0100, brass monkey wrote:

I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad
hoses etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock,
gets very hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet).
What gives these days?

I'm not sure if modern hoses suffer from it, but older ones could sufer
delamination, with the inner layer collapsing and blocking or restricting
flow. Personally I've only seen it once, but once is enough to know that
it can happen :-)

If your heater's blowing very hot air then it suggests that the water
pump's stirring the coolant (otherwise I'd expect normal-ish heater
output and a cooked engine). As someone else said, I've never known a
pump "sort of work" - leak, yes, and outright jam solid.


Oh, the classic failure is the impeller comes a bit loose on the shaft
so it still sort of works a bit, but it gets worse and worse.


Thermostats can seize; maybe that's the problem. Pull it out, dump it in
a pan of water on the stove, and check that it opens...

barely worth it, slap a new one in and if the old one sort of works keep
it as a spare.

You can generally gauge if a water pump is working by revving the engine
with the cap off the radiator. Water level should drop a bit as the
pressure opens up the hoses a bit.

Any sign of oil in the water (usually a white scum on top) or water in
the oil (ditto on the dipstick) means oil and water are crossing over.
head gasket and possibly skimmed head.

If it only happens when idling. may be the fan.

On Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:20:26 +0100, ARWadsworth wrote:

"Jules Richardson" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 06 Jul 2010 10:46:52 +0100, ARWadsworth wrote:
I'm not listing them, but my favourite was the MkII Escort.

I had a MKI and I think I'd put that in my top three at least - that
car was brilliant fun to drive, especially on dirt or gravel roads, and
really easy to work on. I really wish there was a US market so I could
pick one up here :-(

I think mine was only a 1.3 engine.

Mine was, too - but previous owner had fitted a better head, cam, carb
and tubular exhaust to it. With just the driver it was pretty nippy, but
it didn't half get sluggish when carrying passengers! It was bloody
deafening, too.

The best bit was that if you dropped the gears fast enough (say 4th to
2nd) you could lock the rear diff up and make the back end skid around
on a bend.

I remember plenty of sideways moments on winding mountain-top roads.
Always intentional of course - that car was so predictable you could have
all sorts of fun with it and it never stepped out of line.

I do not think I could afford to buy one now!

I got mine when I was in NZ and I think I paid about 300 quid for it.
Mechanicals and electrics were good, but the less said about structural
integrity the better ;-) When the time came to go back to the UK, I
tracked down the guy I'd bought it from and sold it back to him for what
I'd paid for it. I'd like to think that it's still running, but I bet
it's suffered some catastrophic failure by now :-(

cheers

Jules

On 06/07/2010 00:25, brass monkey wrote:
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad hoses
etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock, gets very
hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet). What gives
these days?
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.


6 in 23 years.

VW Derby (1987, 10yr old)
- ex driving school car, dual foot controls, booted version of Polo,
'stand on to stop' hydraulic brakes, stank of perfume from previous owner.

Vauxhall Cavalier MK2 1.6 GL saloon (1990, 3yr old)
- 'tap to stop' servo brakes, bought overclocked, engine eventually
rebuilt with larger piston rings after unceremoniously coughing out all
fluids. Various attempts at theft.

Fiat Punto (1996, new)
- Engine bay looked like inside of a washing machine. Excessive roll
at corners.

VW Golf MkII Driver (1998, 13yr old)
- Sister's old car she got in 1987. White abd looked like a GTI but
standard engine. Nice road holder but everywhere I went was followed by
an illegal cloud of white smoke. Sold to the nice next door neighbour's
brother, who rebuilt it. It's still running and looking back I should
have kept it.

Renault Laguna 2.0L Hatchback (1999, 1yr old)
- Everything powered except aircon broke, and was found expensive to
fix. Fast and stupid drinker of fuel when loaded. Also experienced
summer periods of having to drive with heating full blast to cool the
engine (Fan thermostat broke).

Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDi Estate (2009, 5yr old)
- No problems so far. First diesel and automatic. Takes weight and
cruises at speed without complaint. It's really my updated Golf :-)

Living in London with its public transport system, I don't do many miles
a year. 7000/year is rarely reached.

--
Adrian C

On Tue, 6 Jul 2010 00:25:55 +0100, brass monkey wrote:

I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad hoses
etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock, gets very
hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet). What gives
these days?
Out of interest, how many cars in how many years have you had?
I'll start with 6 in 45 years.

Oddly enough although I've not had a water hose go, one of the turbo hoses
on my Focus TDCI went a few weeks ago. It's just a simple albow, with
different sized ends and held with two clips similar to jubilees - will
Ford sell me the elbow ... only as a unit with a metal pipe attached and a
sensor in the metal pipe. There is no part number for the rubber hose
alone! So for now, it's had a rubber bandage attached and a couple of
jubilee clips over the top, 'til I get an aftermarket hose.

As to cars:

Parents' Lada
Parents' Fiat 131
Parents' Taunus MkV
Yugo 45 (emergency buy when starting work!)
Sierra 1.8GL
Rover 420
Company Astra 1.6
Company Alfa-Romeo 146
Rover 416SI
Primera SE 2.2 TDCI
Focus 1.8 Sport TDCI
Wife's Almera 1.4Si
Kit-car: Robin-Hood Series III

SteveW

On Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:31:03 +0100, Adrian C wrote:
Fiat Punto (1996, new)
- Engine bay looked like inside of a washing machine.

Was the performance a load of pants?

On 06/07/2010 20:28, Jules Richardson wrote:
On Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:31:03 +0100, Adrian C wrote:
Fiat Punto (1996, new)
- Engine bay looked like inside of a washing machine.

Was the performance a load of pants?

It was a 'company car' from a firm owned by Indians. To uphold some sort
of corporate image, they ordered five of these in a garish metalic
yellow/gold and gave them as bonus encoragement to staff. I didn't
really get to thrash it on the spin cycle of long runs. Knickers....

--
Adrian C

Adrian C wrote:
On 06/07/2010 20:28, Jules Richardson wrote:
On Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:31:03 +0100, Adrian C wrote:
Fiat Punto (1996, new)
- Engine bay looked like inside of a washing machine.

Was the performance a load of pants?

It was a 'company car' from a firm owned by Indians. To uphold some sort
of corporate image, they ordered five of these in a garish metalic
yellow/gold and gave them as bonus encoragement to staff. I didn't
really get to thrash it on the spin cycle of long runs. Knickers....

I found the Punto was the very best small car to be had, for me,
performance wise, even better than a polo.

Don't ever touch a Yaris. noisy, gutless, handled like a drunken
dutchman..worst car we tried.

Polos were nice but a little too expensive. Corsas were plain dull.

Tried something else as well, but the Punto was a care I really liked,
if you had to have a cheap economical car.

On Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:23:01 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

brass monkey wrote:
"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
brass monkey wrote:
I remember 45 years back when I 'often/sometimes' had to replace rad
hoses etc. I'm pedalling around a 1998 banger Corsa, 55k on the clock,
gets very hot (suspected water prob) yet the hoses haven't blown (yet).
What gives these days?
water poump?

Dunno

blocked rad?

New rad

****ed thermostat?

New thermo

It's odd, 'fan switch' (rad bottom) and 'gauge sender' (head) died together.
New rad (cos 'engineer' stripped the fan switch thread), fan switch and
gauge sender, still gets hot fast.
Just wondering when the hoses are gonna give up.


water pump then.

Unless head gasket has gone, but that usually blows the water out first.

It depends where it has gone. The water could be going into the oil
or even into the cylinders.
--
(\__/) M.
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