The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

The Number One Club for owners of Triumph's range of small saloons from the 1960s and 1970s.
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 9:53 am

All times are UTC




Post new topic  Reply to topic  [ 12 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Expansion bottle Sprint
PostPosted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 11:49 am 
Offline
Future Club member hopefully!
Future Club member hopefully!

Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2012 6:04 pm
Posts: 1549
I have been fighting a slow loss of coolant, leave it for a couple of weeks on the level drops above the thermostat and there was liquid on the block. I suspected the inlet manifold head joint and have been trying to seal this. Resorting to leak stop, which seems to have slowed it down.

Being a pessimist, I assumed the worse and thought head gasket. However no smoke from exhaust, no water in oil and no bubble in expansion tank when running. So can I rule that out?

To be honest I don't understand how the expansion tank works. It sits lower than the engine, so why doesn't the coolant just drain out under force of gravity? How does it keep the system under pressure when it has a drain at the top? Oh and can I use the brass tank off an MG Midget as I am at the moment or will that not work?


Top
   
PostPosted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 12:44 pm 
Offline
Future Club member hopefully!
Future Club member hopefully!
User avatar

Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:52 pm
Posts: 7566
Location: Halifax, West Yorkshire
You need one of those "sniffers" which detect exhaust gasses in the coolant and change colour. The only other things I can think of are the expansion bottle cap (should be 13psi IIRC) and the core plugs so they might be worth checking even if you just eliminate them from your diagnosis.

_________________
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


Top
   
PostPosted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 1:15 pm 
Offline
TDC Member

Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 7:26 am
Posts: 2473
My car (TR7 engine, so close enough) had a weep along the inlet side of the head/block join. Slow, but there.
Like you, no other symptoms. So it could be gasket. Assuming you have had the inlet manifold off and checked/new gasket etc etc. and obviously you are certain not the water pump.

As to the header, height won't matter. The takeoff at the top, just under the car, is after the sealing washer so unless the system over-pressurises and forces teh cap seal up/open, no problem. And when cold, the water does not flow out because that would create a vacuum in the engine, so the 14psi of air pressure we have at sea level keeps that from happening. Don't worry about it! The tank should work fine as long as the cap seals ok.

_________________
Clive Senior
Brighton


Top
   
PostPosted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 1:38 pm 
Offline
Future Club member hopefully!
Future Club member hopefully!

Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2012 6:04 pm
Posts: 1549
Quote:
My car (TR7 engine, so close enough) had a weep along the inlet side of the head/block join. Slow, but there.
Like you, no other symptoms. So it could be gasket. Assuming you have had the inlet manifold off and checked/new gasket etc etc. and obviously you are certain not the water pump.

As to the header, height won't matter. The takeoff at the top, just under the car, is after the sealing washer so unless the system over-pressurises and forces teh cap seal up/open, no problem. And when cold, the water does not flow out because that would create a vacuum in the engine, so the 14psi of air pressure we have at sea level keeps that from happening. Don't worry about it! The tank should work fine as long as the cap seals ok.
It could be the pump but the water on the block appears to be coming from above it. So it is either the head gasket or the inlet gasket.

The rate of loss does seem to be reducing, so I am hoping the leak stop may have cured it.

Irritating because apart from that there isn't a leak on the car, very un-Triumph like.


Top
   
PostPosted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 8:13 pm 
Offline
TDC Shropshire Area Organiser

Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:12 pm
Posts: 7013
Location: Highley, Shropshire
The first job is to remove the inlet manifold and REPLACE the gasket. USE SILICON sealer around the water gallery at the front. I've given up on trying to fit them dry on Sprint engines. The second thing is, while it's off, check and replace if needed, the rubber O rings on the bypass pipe that goes between the manifold and the water pump housing.

Stop leak, Radweld, Barrs leaks etc are short term bodges that will inevitably do more harm than good, bunging up the radiator core and leading to overheating. Do it properly and do it once!

Steve

_________________
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.


Top
   
PostPosted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 8:39 pm 
Offline
Future Club member hopefully!
Future Club member hopefully!
User avatar

Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:13 am
Posts: 3173
Location: The continent
The plastic bottles do stretch so the caps pressure isn't a given value. You can test by pressurize the system with a pressure gauge inline to check. Some caps open at a very low pressure leaving coolant out the overflow under normal driving conditions.

Jeroen

_________________
Classic Kabelboom Company. For all your wiring needs. http://www.classickabelboomcompany.com


Top
   
PostPosted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 10:09 pm 
Offline
Future Club member hopefully!
Future Club member hopefully!

Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2012 6:04 pm
Posts: 1549
Quote:
The first job is to remove the inlet manifold and REPLACE the gasket. USE SILICON sealer around the water gallery at the front. I've given up on trying to fit them dry on Sprint engines. The second thing is, while it's off, check and replace if needed, the rubber O rings on the bypass pipe that goes between the manifold and the water pump housing.

Stop leak, Radweld, Barrs leaks etc are short term bodges that will inevitably do more harm than good, bunging up the radiator core and leading to overheating. Do it properly and do it once!

Steve
Don't think there is much danger of that, it has a brand new Saab radiator and the whole cooling system has been cleaned out. Not sure what it could block, if used as directed.

Already tried silicon, didn't work, did end up with a mess around the inlet water gallery. To be frank I am more worried about bits of silicon making there way into the system than stop leak.


Top
   
PostPosted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 7:35 am 
Offline
Future Club member hopefully!
Future Club member hopefully!
User avatar

Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:10 pm
Posts: 1926
Location: Holland on sea
Quote:
Quote:
The first job is to remove the inlet manifold and REPLACE the gasket. USE SILICON sealer around the water gallery at the front. I've given up on trying to fit them dry on Sprint engines. The second thing is, while it's off, check and replace if needed, the rubber O rings on the bypass pipe that goes between the manifold and the water pump housing.

Stop leak, Radweld, Barrs leaks etc are short term bodges that will inevitably do more harm than good, bunging up the radiator core and leading to overheating. Do it properly and do it once!

Steve
Don't think there is much danger of that, it has a brand new Saab radiator and the whole cooling system has been cleaned out. Not sure what it could block, if used as directed.

Already tried silicon, didn't work, did end up with a mess around the inlet water gallery. To be frank I am more worried about bits of silicon making there way into the system than stop leak.
Stop leak is a temporary fix and masks the real fault and is no substitute for a proper repair,stop leak is often used by back street car dealers who give you a 3 month warranty ( about as long as stop leak lasts !! ) and then shrug their shoulders when you bring your leaky car back, take a look at this and make your mind up :) :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0AdK_gEX88


Last edited by mahony on Thu Mar 28, 2019 4:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top
   
PostPosted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 9:47 am 
Offline
Future Club member hopefully!
Future Club member hopefully!
User avatar

Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:13 am
Posts: 3173
Location: The continent
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
The first job is to remove the inlet manifold and REPLACE the gasket. USE SILICON sealer around the water gallery at the front. I've given up on trying to fit them dry on Sprint engines. The second thing is, while it's off, check and replace if needed, the rubber O rings on the bypass pipe that goes between the manifold and the water pump housing.

Stop leak, Radweld, Barrs leaks etc are short term bodges that will inevitably do more harm than good, bunging up the radiator core and leading to overheating. Do it properly and do it once!

Steve
Don't think there is much danger of that, it has a brand new Saab radiator and the whole cooling system has been cleaned out. Not sure what it could block, if used as directed.

Already tried silicon, didn't work, did end up with a mess around the inlet water gallery. To be frank I am more worried about bits of silicon making there way into the system than stop leak.
Stop leak is a temporary fix and mask the real fault and is no substitute for a proper repair,stop leak is often used by back street car dealers who give you a 3 month warranty ( about as long as stop leak lasts !! ) and then shrug their shoulders when you bring your leaky car back, take a look at this and make your mind up :) :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0AdK_gEX88
And it cloggs waterway's, heater matrix etc. etc. etc.

Jeroen

_________________
Classic Kabelboom Company. For all your wiring needs. http://www.classickabelboomcompany.com


Top
   
PostPosted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 11:21 am 
Offline
Future Club member hopefully!
Future Club member hopefully!

Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2012 6:04 pm
Posts: 1549
OK, new plan. I have a spare inlet manifold, I am going to find a machine shop to get the mating surface skimmed flat and then fit that. Hopefully that will solve the problem.


Top
   
PostPosted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 6:49 pm 
Offline
Future Club member hopefully!
Future Club member hopefully!

Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2012 6:04 pm
Posts: 1549
Oh and it is definitely the inlet manifold gasket, I stuck my fingers down there and the gasket is damp.


Top
   
PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 7:30 am 
Offline
TDC Member
User avatar

Joined: Sat Oct 07, 2006 8:23 pm
Posts: 1173
Location: East Staffordshire
Use some silicon on the bypass tube as well or you may end up with another leak.

_________________
Mike

1980 Vermillion Sprint - 174bhp


Top
   
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic  Reply to topic  [ 12 posts ] 

All times are UTC


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 26 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Limited