The 'E' Type Forum

1973 E-type v12 series 3. 87k miles.

My father and I bought the car 6-7 years. Around 4 years ago i removed the radiator to have a leak fixed. While i had the radiator out, i replaced all the hoses, thermostats and associated items since most of them were possibly original. The car then sat in the garage the past 18 months due to being busy with home renovations and work. I recently fired it up and after 10-15 mintes in the driveway the gauge started to move right past the middle mark. Since i replaced everything a few years ago, something didn't seem right. The radiator is original so i wondered if it was starting to clog.

I just removed the bonnet, and removed the radiator and found that coolant had crystalized and gummed up the thermo fan switch housing below the radiator along with sediment in the lower hose. I put a hose to the radiator and even after eveything seemed to drain, there is still water inside. I removed the front hose connection to the water pump and there is no gunk in there, so it seems to be isolated below the radiator. This week i'll continue removing the coolant sytem to inspect and flush the system.

I'm going to have the radiator rebuilt or get a new one and the other affected parts. But, what could cause the coolant to do this? Anything else i should do before putting it back together.

I've attached some pictures of affected areas.

Ryan.

SNAP!

Here's my TOTALLY SEIZED crystallized V12 waterpump after three years parked in the garage with a dud radiator.

Hi..both.....was there inhibitor/ antifreeze in your systems?......what type..?....Steve

I'm hoping my water pump doesn't look like that when i remove it!

The car had standard orange anti freeze in it. It may have originally had green antifreeze, but was drained when i replaced all the hoses. When i installed the hoses a few years ago, there were no signs of anything like there is now.

Not sure what could have caused this after a few years and a few hundred miles during that time.

Orange antifreeze...could well be the cause of the problem......refered to at OAT....try google search and check it out.....ideally old school Bluecol (methanol-free, Ethylene Glycol)......Steve

This part is part of my refresh in the next month and would be interested in further pictures of your findings.

I plan to put a thicker aluminium radiator with fans and header tank. Rather than have the old radiator restored.

Good luck with it.

mgcjag wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 12, 2019 4:39 pm

Hi..both.....was there inhibitor/ antifreeze in your systems?......what type..?....Steve

Hi Steve

Don't really know. It wasn't clear water but I thought it more or less drained out because the radiator was leaking. I put the car away as soon as I got it home. It had been standing for about 25 years but the independent who found it had started to recommission it, including a coolant top-up at least, until he noticed a new radiator would be needed, which is when he bailed out. When I parked the car I'm certain the pump was silent and working, but three years later even a big Stillson wrench with a two foot Tommy bar wouldn't shift it and the belt squealed and soon smoked.

Hi as i understand it if red antifreeze is put in a engine thats had blue/green antifreeze it wont mix and it crystallises think thats your problem you need to give it a real good flush out and put blue in red is for newer engines hope that its not same inside block round liners or you will be running hot good luck

Regards Rob

I removed more of the cooling system last night, and the water pump. There was a tiny bit of gunk on the pump, but nothing major and moved freely. The passages behind the pump into the block didn't show much either, which is good. The thermostat housing and those passages showed some gunk, along with the coolant passages on intake. I'll remove those tonight and flush them out.

Also, a few of the metal pipes are getting corroded and have rust on them, which will need to be replaced.

The orange coolant must be the culprit. After i remove everything, i'll take a hose and flush the engine completley and start over rebuilding it and use the standard coolant.