The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

The Number One Club for owners of Triumph's range of small saloons from the 1960s and 1970s.
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 10:17 am 
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Location: Middlesex
I do like Tahiti.

Look out for Ricky...he's got one too in your area IIRC.

Jonners

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Note from Admin: sadly Jon passed away in February 2018 but his humour and wealth of knowledge will be fondly remembered by all. RIP Jonners.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 5:40 pm 
Passed the MOT but the drive home smelt very hot and there was some steam coming from the radiator but I think that was outside condensation. There was a bubble or two in the top hose that went blub in to the expansion tank when i squeezed it so... prehaps it would be an idea for me to just get the gasket done regardless?

Also need to clean the fuse box contacts... i'm certain that thats why the wipers decided to fail while it was pis...istantly raining


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 6:06 pm 
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Location: Halifax, West Yorkshire
I suggest that you make absolutely 100% certain that the head gasket has gone before you go to the trouble of changing it. It is potentially an absolute nightmare of a job (I dread the day I'll have to do this job on my 1850) due to the angled studs and the fact that they can be almost impossible to get out. A compression test is the best place to start. Give the car a good shakedown before you condemn the head gasket. Flush the entire cooling system, replace the thermostat, replace the temperature sender, replace the expansion cap, replace the hoses and refill with fresh coolant with the correct strength of Bluecol (or equivalent) antifreeze (30-40%).

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Toledo Man

West Yorkshire Area Organiser & forum moderator
Meetings take place on the first Wednesday of the month at 8.00pm at The Old Brickworks, Wakefield Road, Drighlington, Bradford, BD11 1EA

1972 Dolomite 1850 auto (NYE 751L - Now for sale)
2003 Volvo XC90 D5 SE (PX53 OVZ - The daily driver)
2009 Mercedes-Benz W204 C200 CDI Sport (BJ58 NCV - The 2nd car)
1991 Toyota Celica GT (J481 ONB - another project car)
Former stable of SAY 414M (1974 Toledo), GRH 244D (1966 1300fwd), CDB 324L (1973 1500fwd), GGN 573J (1971 1500fwd), DCP 625S (1977 Dolomite 1300) & LCG 367N (1975 Dolomite Sprint) plus 5 Acclaims and that's just the Triumphs!

Check my blog at http://triumphtoledo.blogspot.com
My YouTube Channel with a bit of Dolomite content.

"There is only one way to avoid criticsm: Do nothing, say nothing and BE nothing." Aristotle


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 7:41 pm 
I will give it a good run tomorrow and I will do a compression test... cold?

it's the small layer of mayo that's making me think it might be the head gasket.. granted it doesnt seem to be getting any thicker but then again it's only been run 10 minutes here to the MOT and back, should I run it for half hour tomorrow or something on a run and check for bubbles? I'd sort of resigned myself to that being a real possibility. I've already done the head on it before so theory goes the studs will be easy to free anyway, I may have missed a step somewhere or it could be a cheap ebay gasket

It's also very tappety... whether its tappets or something more serious I dont know yet but it does tend to be somewhat intermittent. I will have to have a look inside the sump at the crank to see if there's anything untoward there when I drop the oil next week.

I'll report on my run tomorrow

Al


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 8:28 pm 
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If the head gasket has gone to the point of creating mayo, then the oil on the dipstick will be well contaminated. If the oil on the dipstick is free from contamination then the mayo is most likely condensation.


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 12:19 am 
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Location: Halifax, West Yorkshire
It does need to get up to temperature so do take it for a long drive and it will drive any condensation out. Try retorqueing the head. Just slacken the nuts slightly and torque them up again. The engine needs to be stone cold when you do this.

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Toledo Man

West Yorkshire Area Organiser & forum moderator
Meetings take place on the first Wednesday of the month at 8.00pm at The Old Brickworks, Wakefield Road, Drighlington, Bradford, BD11 1EA

1972 Dolomite 1850 auto (NYE 751L - Now for sale)
2003 Volvo XC90 D5 SE (PX53 OVZ - The daily driver)
2009 Mercedes-Benz W204 C200 CDI Sport (BJ58 NCV - The 2nd car)
1991 Toyota Celica GT (J481 ONB - another project car)
Former stable of SAY 414M (1974 Toledo), GRH 244D (1966 1300fwd), CDB 324L (1973 1500fwd), GGN 573J (1971 1500fwd), DCP 625S (1977 Dolomite 1300) & LCG 367N (1975 Dolomite Sprint) plus 5 Acclaims and that's just the Triumphs!

Check my blog at http://triumphtoledo.blogspot.com
My YouTube Channel with a bit of Dolomite content.

"There is only one way to avoid criticsm: Do nothing, say nothing and BE nothing." Aristotle


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PostPosted: Thu Nov 27, 2014 8:04 pm 
So... I took the head off to investigate the interesting blackness on cylinder 4. Here's what happened:

Firstly I did a compression test. 1+2 were equal as were 3+4 - I dont have numbers on my tester unfortunately but I marked off where they were
Image

These are the plugs from 3+4
Image

Pipes off
Image

Manifold off
Image

Head off
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

Any thoughts on what's up with number 4?

Al


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 28, 2014 3:07 pm 
3 and 4 do look very wet, looks like some oil fouling from either the valve guides or piston rings are letting oil through. More interesting (to me ) is the thing that looks like a heat shield on top of the starter solenoid - never seen one of them before -has anyone else?


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 28, 2014 5:54 pm 
After a detailed chat with Jeroen we've come to the conclusion that the piston rings are at fault on this occasion. I'm massively skeptical at my own ability when it comes to 'real deep' engine dismantling. I kinda wanted to keep the engine in the car because you might be able to see from the pictures... i dont really have a lot of room to do anything 'big' in my garage and the driveway is on a 30% angle so outside isnt much good either as i wouldnt be able to get the car back in!

I haven't touched the dolly today as i'm doing my research and also looking for answers!

Anybody tried replacing piston rings with the engine in situ? how did it go?
Any idea how long it might take to do? bear in mind the head was off in about 3 hours...
Anyone tried DIY honing? results?

Al


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 12:41 am 
Any thoughts?


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 Post subject: Yes.....
PostPosted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 8:51 am 
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Location: Caithness, Scotland
Quote:
More interesting (to me ) is the thing that looks like a heat shield on top of the starter solenoid - never seen one of them before -has anyone else?
The solenoid heat shield was fitted to both the 1850HL and later Sprints and
the good news is that said heat shield will fit earlier cars.








Ian.

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 10:47 am 
I replaced the rings on my sprint by dropping the sump etc. Its a pig of a job I would take the engine out, better in the long run you can check the crank ,seals,and clutch all together


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 6:04 pm 
Quote:
I replaced the rings on my sprint by dropping the sump etc. Its a pig of a job I would take the engine out, better in the long run you can check the crank ,seals,and clutch all together
Thing is, I have about 15 inches of room at the front of the car and my garage is up a very steep driveway so engine out isn't something that I can do where it is. It used to reside at a relatives house with hard standing and a garage I could use but unfortunately not anymore unless i tow it back there.. dont reeeeeally fancy it to be honest =/


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 11:14 pm 
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Joined: Fri Feb 14, 2014 7:27 pm
Posts: 383
Location: Bristol
[/quote]
Thing is, I have about 15 inches of room at the front of the car and my garage is up a very steep driveway so engine out isn't something that I can do where it is. [/quote]

If what you're saying is that you don't have enough room in front to use an engine hoist, do you have enough headroom to lift the body up and wheel the engine and subframe out from below?


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 7:41 am 
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Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:52 pm
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Location: Halifax, West Yorkshire
You could just lift out the block. It can be removed leaving the gearbox in situ. It is possible to remove the pistons with the block in situ but you might as well get the engine out if you can.

_________________
Toledo Man

West Yorkshire Area Organiser & forum moderator
Meetings take place on the first Wednesday of the month at 8.00pm at The Old Brickworks, Wakefield Road, Drighlington, Bradford, BD11 1EA

1972 Dolomite 1850 auto (NYE 751L - Now for sale)
2003 Volvo XC90 D5 SE (PX53 OVZ - The daily driver)
2009 Mercedes-Benz W204 C200 CDI Sport (BJ58 NCV - The 2nd car)
1991 Toyota Celica GT (J481 ONB - another project car)
Former stable of SAY 414M (1974 Toledo), GRH 244D (1966 1300fwd), CDB 324L (1973 1500fwd), GGN 573J (1971 1500fwd), DCP 625S (1977 Dolomite 1300) & LCG 367N (1975 Dolomite Sprint) plus 5 Acclaims and that's just the Triumphs!

Check my blog at http://triumphtoledo.blogspot.com
My YouTube Channel with a bit of Dolomite content.

"There is only one way to avoid criticsm: Do nothing, say nothing and BE nothing." Aristotle


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