Cooling system

Talk about the E-Type Series 3

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Lambo911
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#1 Cooling system

Post by Lambo911 » Sun Apr 24, 2016 10:27 am

Hi,

Refurbishing the steering meant draining the cooling system and leaving it empty for three weeks. I refilled it with antifreeze and it took about three watering cans.

I've now got an overheating issue and I'm sat at the side of the road waiting for a recovery truck. The temp gauge is way up but the rad is warm. I suspected a parially stuck thermostat but it was fully open and removing it made no difference.

Could I have an air blockage in the engine or could the water pump have failed somehow? The heater blows warm but not as hot as it has been.

The car was perfect before this so at a bit of a loss as to what's gone wrong. Its as if the water isn't circulating properly. Would the system being empty for a while do anything?

Any ideas?
Richard
____________
1972 S3 2+2 - Black with Red leather, 4 Speed and Wires
1966 S Type 3.8 MOD - ex South Africa
1994 XJS V12 coupe - 59,000 miles

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MarekH
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#2

Post by MarekH » Sun Apr 24, 2016 4:24 pm

Dear Richard,

It was nice to meet you today.

In draining and refilling the coolant, you may have upset the crud and sediment which sits in the block around the liners and perhaps inadvertantly moved it around to partially block the radiator.

I'd undo the rradiator bottom hose and run a garden hose into the bottom of the radiator to try and flush out the debris through the filler cap.

To expel air when refiilling, either make sure you are pointing uphill or undo a heater hose just enough to expel air bubbles as you refill. You can always compress the two S shaped hoses from the thermostats to the radiator to move air on to the top of the radiator, where it will reach the header tank via the small hose at the top and middle of the rad. That should aid water circulation.

Use a big plastic milk bottle to measure how much water you put in and take out so you know whether you are getting what you expect - I think 19 litres is what the manual has for the correct volume.

If the header tank is even only partially full and substantially less than 19 litres comes out, it suggests a blockage or airlock was present.

If you don't want to lose your new coolant, decant it to 6-7 six pint plastic milk bottles and use a paper coffee filter when you pour it back in (a couplke of spare 6pint bottles are always handy). It will be orange with rust when it comes out, but pristine blue when it goes back in.

If you ever pull the heads, you'll be amazed at how much rusty crud is sitting in there between the liners - it takes hours to scoop it all out.

EDIT - Do check the alternator belt tension - it is fcommon to the water pump and it may be that is was slipping and you weren't pumping much if any water.

kind regards
Marek

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#3

Post by PeterCrespin » Mon Apr 25, 2016 2:17 am

Lambo911 wrote: I've now got an overheating issue and I'm sat at the side of the road waiting for a recovery truck. The temp gauge is way up but the rad is warm. I suspected a parially stuck thermostat but it was fully open and removing it made no difference.
1) Do fans work? Did you disturb the fan wiring or low Otter switch?
2) You refer to the thermostat in the singular. The car has two. Did you check two?

Pete
1E75339 UberLynx D-Type; 1R27190 70 FHC; 1E78478; 2001 Vanden Plas

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#4

Post by Lambo911 » Mon Apr 25, 2016 8:33 am

Hi,

Thanks for the advice Merek, good to meet you yesterday.

Peter, on the block I only have one thermostat, on the offside front, it has the temperature sender next to it, is there another somewhere?

The otter switch in the bottom is working ok but the water wasn't hot enough to trigger the fans. As Merek says perhaps the rad has become blocked as the water didn't seem to be flowing through it at any rate. I'll try flushing the system through to see how much crud come out.
Richard
____________
1972 S3 2+2 - Black with Red leather, 4 Speed and Wires
1966 S Type 3.8 MOD - ex South Africa
1994 XJS V12 coupe - 59,000 miles

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#5

Post by AussieEtype » Tue Apr 26, 2016 12:36 am

PeterCrespin wrote: 2) You refer to the thermostat in the singular. The car has two. Did you check two?
Where is the second one - you learn something new everyday. I have had my V12 for 34 years and did not know about the second one and it has never been replaced.

Cheers

Garry
1971 Series 3 E-type OTS
1976 Series 2 XJ 12 Coupe

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#6

Post by PeterCrespin » Tue Apr 26, 2016 1:30 am

garrycol wrote:Where is the second one - you learn something new everyday. I have had my V12 for 34 years and did not know about the second one and it has never been replaced.
Richard, Garry, I don't believe I'm reading this. I checked and it's April 25, not 1st. You made me doubt my sanity!

Do one if the following, preferably all three:

Buy an S3 parts book and look in it.
Buy an S3 workshop manual and read it,
Open your eyes next time you look at the hoses and engine

Sorry to be so blunt gents, but to have a car for 34 years and not reach this basic level of awareness leaves me literally shocked.

Pete
1E75339 UberLynx D-Type; 1R27190 70 FHC; 1E78478; 2001 Vanden Plas

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#7

Post by vee12eman » Tue Apr 26, 2016 3:05 am

Hi Richard, Garry and all

OK, so for those unfamiliar with the S3 V12 cooling system, a few comments and clarifications.

Firstly, all that Marek says is absolutely correct. Just to add to that, the V12 has a habit of silting up. To overcome this, ensure you use a good quality coolant with anti corrosion qualities and suited to Alloy engines. There was a general lack of understanding of Alloy engines at launch and dissimilar metal corrosion, amongst other things, tended to set in and this is what gives rise to the ?Crud and Sediment? Marek refers too. Over a long period of time, this can actually reduce the quantity of coolant and also prevent much of the surface area inside the engine from coming into contact with a flow of coolant, both bad for the engine generally.

A flush, normally in the opposite direction to flow can help this and is good for any engine, but years of neglect will mean that a flush is only partially effective. The sheer size of the system is also against you since the flush will take the easiest route and it is difficult to get any kind of pressure to many parts of the system. This is what I discovered when stripping my engine and eventually led to my sourcing another block (to be accurate, my very experienced Engine builder did all that). I have photos of the old engine showing the amazing crud build up and one head simply refused to move. Nevertheless, a flush can help ? use a hose and run until the water runs clean, you could be a long time doing it?. (beware if you have water restrictions in your state ? Garry, are there restrictions in Canberra on garden hoses right now? :lol: ).

Check the Header tank, this is steel and whilst alloy ones can be found they are harder to source than for the six cylinder cars and quite expensive. There is an overflow and if you do overfill the system, this will leak for a couple of outings, giving the impression of a failure ? you then refill, it leaks, you think there?s a problem and refill again?.. There is no overflow bottle in the system unless modified, so the coolant just dumps to the floor.

There are two cylinder heads, hence two thermostats (one each mounted at the forward end of the pipes which supply coolant around the inlet manifolds, directly forward of the carburettors), one temperature sender (to the instruments, located adjacent to the Right Hand Thermostat), one temperature switch (Otter Switch, located in the ?Tee? at the base of the pipe from the Header tank to the Radiator outlet, central to the radiator and between the horns). There are two fans, (electrically driven and controlled by the Otter switch), one Fan relay, the radiator (of course) and the heater matrix and fan in the Heater unit on the LH engine bulkhead. There is also an oil cooler, which is cooled by the flow of cooled water straight from the lower radiator outlet (not air cooled) and, not related to the engine, an air cooled oil cooler integral to the radiator but fitted only to Auto cars and used to cool the Auto gearbox. This takes some of the space used in the manual car radiator, possibly reducing cooling effect slightly. There is one water pump, of differing design between early and late cars. Early pumps are hard to source replacements for, but can be rebuilt.

The system has an amazing amount of hoses (and associated clamps), which should be inspected and maintained. These should be good quality cotton reinforced, not Kevlar, which were sold some time back as being wonderful ? they weren?t. There are also many places for air to hide on filling. Suggest you run the engine immediately after a refill, briefly to reduce heat build-up, but to allow the fluid to reach various areas of the engine, you can consider doing this without the rad cap fitted, but don?t let heat build up ? probably no longer than half a minute or so. Then check and top up. Don?t remove a cap from a hot, pressurised system unless you like being scalded badly, it is possible but must be done with great care. Mareks? idea of raising the nose and squeezing accessible hoses during filling are good ones. With all the hoses and gaskets in the system, there are many places that leaks can occur, check under the car for drips.

My car has coped well so far with Melbourne temperatures and traffic even up to 40 degree plus temperatures. However, I have an Alloy radiator, an engine which was chemically cleaned and flushed, a modern replacement for the Otter switch which opens at 75 degrees Centigrade, modern fans in a custom housing, each powered by an individual, modern relay. Wiring was replaced and modified for the new fans and relays. My early water pump was rebuilt by SNG Barratt. Also I ensured the fairing behind the grille, designed to direct all air through the radiator, is present and that there is a foam seal between it and the bonnet, to maximise the flow of air in the correct places. Don?t mount the rego plate in front of or on the grille. If like us in Victoria, you are forced to have a rego plate, use the smallest you can and mount it slightly forward of the grille, as low as possible without totally obscuring the chin mounted intake of the Series 3.

Other overhearing issues come from mixture and timing issues, which I won?t cover, plus of course the drive belts at the front of the engine, two are required to drive the Alternator and water pump, another for the Power Steering , one each for Air-Conditioning and the emissions Air Pump, if fitted. Of these, the two driving the water pump must of course be tight for good coolant flow. Due to the options, some cars have pulleys with unused belt grooves.

As Pete says, get the parts manuals, the OTS version has been reprinted by Brooklands Books and is the same as the FHC except some body/trim details. There are several sources for Electronic versions, officially produced and sold by Jaguar Heritage. I think this Forum also has the manuals in the Knowledge base. Obviously, get the workshop manual too; even if you don?t work on the car yourself, it may help your mechanic, especially if you break down away from a Jaguar specialist!

Hope all this helps. It?s a big system, simple and traditional in theory, but complicated by size and access, not to mention the very real possibility of poor maintenance at some time during the life of the car.

Regards,

Simon
Regards,

Simon
Series III FHC

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#8

Post by AussieEtype » Tue Apr 26, 2016 3:16 am

PeterCrespin wrote: Richard, Garry, I don't believe I'm reading this. I checked and it's April 25, not 1st. You made me doubt my sanity!
You really need to look at the tone of your responses - I appreciate you are the all knowing Jag bible and us mere mortals may not know as much much as you but your consistently condescending responses in most of your responses is starting to wear a bit thin.

There is no such thing as a stupid question - the stupid question is the one not asked.

So please loose the attitude.

Garry
1971 Series 3 E-type OTS
1976 Series 2 XJ 12 Coupe

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#9

Post by AussieEtype » Tue Apr 26, 2016 3:29 am

Simon - thanks for your response - I just pulled the passenger side "thermostat" cover off and there was no thermostat inside. So it has been like that before 1982 so no wonder I never had any overheating issues in our Aussie summers.

So on the basis of the information provided I will need to put one in.

Thanks

Garry
1971 Series 3 E-type OTS
1976 Series 2 XJ 12 Coupe

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#10

Post by MarekH » Tue Apr 26, 2016 6:58 am

There is a bit of a balance to be had here. On one hand, people do want to be helpful and contribute, but on the other, if the original poster doesn't load the dice in their favour by doing a bit of research of their own and simply asks roughly the same question as has been asked (and answered) many times before, then the enthusiasm of the respondents will surely be limited. The forum isn't a substitute for owning the relevant manuals - it complements them.

There is no downside to reverse flushing the radiator. The water can only get out at the filler cap as there is no incentive for it to go into the block or cylinder heads.

The source of all of the crud and rust is from the cast iron cylinder liners, the two steel top pipes to the radiator and the steel crossover pipe at the front of the engine. If you to try and dislodge what is sitting in the block, then its only route back out will be through the cylinder heads and that may be more problematic than letting it remain in what is now "still water" around the bottom of the liners.

Given that the car was cooling adequately before the alternator/water pump belt was removed and the coolant drained, I'd look to make sure that that reassembly hasn't introduced any new problems. Since the two top hoses were hot, then it suggests that an airlock won't have been the primary cause of the problem.

Reporting that the bottom radiator hose is cool is either good news or bad news. Either the radiator cools very well or it is blocked!

Now that we know that there was no second thermostat, any water coming out of that cylinder head will mostly have gone straight back into the engine rather than to the radiator. I'd look further and now check whether the crossover pipe is blocked on that side.

kind regards
Marek

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#11

Post by PeterCrespin » Tue Apr 26, 2016 12:07 pm

garrycol wrote:You really need to look at the tone of your responses.....your consistently condescending responses in most of your responses is starting to wear a bit thin. There is no such thing as a stupid question - the stupid question is the one not asked.
So please loose the attitude.
Garry

Hi Garry

'Consistently condescending' I like that! :)

I could paraphrase you and say there is no such thing as a bad answer except a wrong answer. I wasn't aware there was a 'dress code' for attitude here - every pub has it's Mr Grumpy. It?s difficult to judge (or reliably convey) tone or attitude in the absence of voice or visual clues, hence doing so is fraught with risk. Still, I?m sensing you have a bit of an edge to your own tone presently, and a not wholly warm attitude either just now? :-) . Here are my "Buy two, get one free? answers:

Option 1) You have a point. So did I. My first answer to Richard was sweetness and light. By the time I was facing poster number two who either did not own basic literature or did not look at it, I got a bit exasperated. This is rarely A Good Thing, especially late in the evening between a warm sunny day and a warm funny bed, after a warm runny Amaretto. Or three. So, I plead guilty as charged and I apologise. In my defence, that was the second draft ?mild' answer?.

Option 2) We're grown men. Stop reading my answers if you don?t like them. If I ask someone for tea with sugar, should I pull a face because they give me a big mug of Tetleys instead of Early Grey in bone china? If they tell me to help myself from the bowl, do I go all Violet Elizabeth Bott pouty, just because they didn?t ask me how many spoons of sugar I wanted and stir it for me? I think not.

Option 3) It takes all sorts. To me, anyone who owns a complex piece of machinery - being it car, camera or catamaran - should either hand over all technical responsibility to a competent person (in which case they don't need to lift a finger, why should they?) or if they are interested they should start by reading the manufacturer?s literature - aka RTFM. I guess I don't understand the mindset that seeks technical information but starts out by asking before looking. The books don't even need to be purchased - they?re here for free. I have a big problem with that, as it happens, and doubt it?s legal or ethically defensible but I live with it. In your shoes, my reaction would have been "Bugger me! 34 years and I never knew that - is he right?? before turning to look in the Knowledge Base and wonder how I'd managed to miss the fact that with two six cylinder engines on a common crankcase with two hoses feeding the radiator, there were two thermostats as well. I certainly wouldn?t have copped an attitude or given the bloke a Penny Lecture for giving the right info in a manner i didn't like. Anyway, I?m done. It really does take all sorts, I guess.

Pete

(BTW, option one is my favorite. I like your posts - let's get along)

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Lambo911
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#12

Post by Lambo911 » Tue Apr 26, 2016 1:16 pm

Thanks all.

So are we saying there is no second thermostat.... funnily enough I did do some research prior to asking the question, both in the manual and on line and could only find reference to the one on the off side front of the motor.

So pray tell Peter if there is a hidden one lurking somewhere.

I'll take my time flushing the system through, might even take the rad out while I'm at it.
Richard
____________
1972 S3 2+2 - Black with Red leather, 4 Speed and Wires
1966 S Type 3.8 MOD - ex South Africa
1994 XJS V12 coupe - 59,000 miles

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#13

Post by mgcjag » Tue Apr 26, 2016 1:31 pm

Hi Richard....read back through the long explenation that Simon gave....it explains where the thermostats are
Steve
69 S2 2+2 (sold) ..Realm C type replica, 1960 xk150fhc

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#14

Post by Heuer » Tue Apr 26, 2016 2:01 pm

Lambo911 wrote:funnily enough I did do some research prior to asking the question, both in the manual and on line and could only find reference to the one on the off side front of the motor.
Section 30.18 of the S3 Spare Parts Catalogue:

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#15

Post by PeterCrespin » Tue Apr 26, 2016 3:39 pm

Lambo911 wrote:
So are we saying there is no second thermostat....
Nope :bigrin:

You refer to the thermostat in the singular. The car has two. Did you check two???.

"there are two cylinder heads, hence two thermostats "

"two hoses feeding the radiator, there were two thermostats as well.?"

Or as a four-hundred year old Shakespeare might have put it "Two, two and thrice two." That was a joke BTW, not a crappy attitude...

The Knowledge Base is your friend:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/849 ... System.pdf
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#16

Post by Lambo911 » Tue Apr 26, 2016 4:30 pm

OK, thanks all, could be me being dumb then. I will go and check the other side of the engine. In my defence the SNG parts diagrams don't say "2-off" just "(2)" after the part no so my bad for not clocking it.

I actually changed the off side one when I was recommissioning the car not suspecting there were two.
Richard
____________
1972 S3 2+2 - Black with Red leather, 4 Speed and Wires
1966 S Type 3.8 MOD - ex South Africa
1994 XJS V12 coupe - 59,000 miles

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#17

Post by MarekH » Tue Apr 26, 2016 5:45 pm

I am confused.

Richard's reports his car as overheating after his rack change, but Gary reports only having one thermostat. Are you two referring to different cars or are you working on the same car?

kind regards
Marek

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#18

Post by PeterCrespin » Tue Apr 26, 2016 6:44 pm

MarekH wrote:I am confused...are you working on the same car?
Canberra being somewhat unadjacent to Hertfordshire, one suspects it is either the fabled 'Bigfoot' S3 Intercontinental wheelbase model, or they are different cars. Eye fort u wuz konfused.
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#19

Post by AussieEtype » Wed Apr 27, 2016 6:25 am

Hi Peter - all is good.

This is a pic of the front of my engine.
Image

The left arrow points to the drivers (RHD) side thermostat which also has a temp sender. The right hand arrow points to the thermostat housing on the passenger side (no thermostat in there on my car) which I will now put in a thermostat in.

The pic should clarify where the thermostats should be.

Garry
1971 Series 3 E-type OTS
1976 Series 2 XJ 12 Coupe

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#20

Post by Rustyred » Thu Apr 28, 2016 1:00 pm

I checked the engine I am doing and it only has One thermostat. There is not one fitted and never looked like it had one fitted on the left hand side of the engine, as there are no witness marks in the housing.

John

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