The Beast is back but...

hello all

after way too many weeks being off the road to have the destroyed rear diff box pan repaired on my 1972 beasty, i was most pleased to take it back around the village and it drove very well indeed after i put more fuel in it (glad i had a jerry can full of petrol....), I noticed it is over heating (i am a mechanical idiot). the top pipe from the radiator was boiling the bottom one was cold, we had this problem last year and the landy garage said it wasn't the thermostat it was something else that had seized and needed oiling, sorry for being vague but its that thing that moves near the thermostat where the heater cable connects. I oiled said 'thing' and after 2 miles of straight driving the temperature gauge went below the red. Do you wise people think the problem may have been sorted?

thanks

If I understand you rightly that thing shuts off or opens up the flow of coolant through the heater matrix and shouldn't effect engine cooling much either way apart from a little extra cooling in an emergency.

A blocked radiator is a possibility.

thanks for your advice, i shall have to dig out the Haynes manual, been out and about this afternoon in it and although its getting very hot, the bottom pipe is now hot where as it wasn't yesterday, i wonder whether weeks of being propped up at an angle has not helped the situation.

thanks

we've no idea how old your cooling system is and when or if any components have been replaced or if there has ever been any anti freeze used in it (antifreeze is also a rust inhibitor) so the cooling could have a sticky thermostat, blocked tubes in the radiator, a very tired waterpump with most of the impeller rotted off, fins in the radiator could have rotted off or the radiator could be half full of mud blocking airflow

rad' cap could be not sealing properly allowing the water to boil faster

being mechanically inept means you either need to make the effort to start learning or get someone else that isn't to help, be it a volunteer or someone you need to pay

we can sit at home guessing all day, i have a pretty good idea of the problem possibility being as you've managed to get the heater valve to operate, the heater matrix is a small radiator which gives an additional area for heat to dissipate so i'll guess your cooling system could do with flushing properly and maybe the exterior of the rad' cleaning if you've (or someone else) been offroading in very muddy areas

the above doesn't mean i'm correct (about anything) and i could have guessed at the wrong solutions

p.s.
a new thermostat and gasket generally costs very little for a Series and are usually easy to swap, just be very careful of the three bolts securing the housing as they often seize and you really don't want to snap them

Totally agree with NiteMare, a thermo isn't expensive, nor difficult to re-place. Its also relatively easy to empty the cooling system, flush it out and re-fill with 50:50 anti-freeze. A Haynes manual does not give sufficient detail on tasks and the need to replace gaskets etc when doing the work. If you've got a S2 you should get hold of the workshop manual and parts list. Do justice to the vehicle and give it a try yerself; its satisfying to be able to DIY.

Thanks for the above advice, I don't know how thoroughly it was flushed out but the cooling system was filled up with a mixture that would guarantee it to -20 last Autumn.
I know the chap who had it last hardly used it in the 6 years he had it and before he sold it he took it to a pro to get it road legal - will see if there is any paperwork for that to see what was done. will certainly look into replacing the thermostat i know someone mechanically minded near by who would keep an eye on me whilst doing it, also handily has a car lift on the farm which has allowed me adjust the exhaust straps etc without shuffling about on the floor.

thanks

you should be able to find a free download of the workshop manual and parts catalogue on the net, there is a thread on here somewhere with links to popular places to get hold of them.

I got them for my s1 and s3