Interesting breakdown this morning.

Eric_m · 15th March 2023, 11:04

Interesting breakdown this morning
Going into the office this morning (only do it one day a week), and I noticed the temperature rising on the digital gauge. I was in traffic heading towards Fosse Park in Leicester and the gauge went up to 105, 110, 115 and on upwards. Fan was on and I heard it go into second speed at 110 ish. Still in traffic the gauge hit 120 degrees and steam started coming from under the bonnet. Luckily there is a Park & Ride car park appearing on the left, so I pulled in there, and parked in a space with good access for extraction if required later. (Amazed at my own thinking there).

Bit of history with of the car.
2003 1.8T Club SE with 157 thousand on the clock. Given (yes free!!) to me nearly 10 years ago with 96 thousand on it with headgasket troubles. Fitted second hand head (original had a cracks around an exhaust valve). Used a Multi -layer gasket, and this lasted 30,000 miles until that failed and took out the turbo. So new type elastomer type gasket fitted and turbo and in the meantime I’ve fitted new set of pipes and a new radiator. All work done on the car myself.

This car used to run at around 88 degrees last year. It ran fine, but I had a painful experience whilst towing home in August where the temp decided to go up to 105 degrees and really didn’t want to come down. Also a few times the temp had suddenly risen after stopping for petrol on duel carriageways. It would go straight up to 110 – 115 degrees as I left on the slip road and would need the revs keeping high for a bit to bring it down.

I decided to change the PRT, The one I fitted worked fine, and the car ran a bit hotter (around 95 degrees) but reasonably stable. Over the last few months it has been a bit unstable on temps, with them rising quickly to 102-105, but dropping quickly if the engine is revved. It has been using a little bit of water, but I have a level sender and top it up when required, I think this has been the water pump as there are stains on the drive in that area.
Anyway I have had a couple of reasonably long drives recently and it has behaved fine, in fact I checked the water level this morning and it was slightly higher than I expected. I had driven to Leicester to Banbury last night in fact.

Anyway back to the Park and Ride. I opened the bonnet and you could see water all around the header tank, and with any loosening of the cap, water escaped. I decided to call the RAC (I’ve paid for them) and a guy arrived in his nice orange van in about an hour. He tried various things bleeding it through the bleed valve, running the engine, trying again – no change, also no heat from the heater. He then tried pressurising the header tank, and bleeding, but again, the level in the tank stayed high, there must be a huge air lock somewhere.

He then mentioned he used to work for Land Rover, and tried something new. He disconnected the small pipe from the top of the radiator and blew down it with an air-line. Suddenly the water level dropped and he was able to put in nearly 3 litres of water (a very uncalibrated guess). Bleed the system and ran it up to temperature where it stabilised at 95 degrees, with the engine running at 2-3000 revs. Let it tick over and it gradually went up to 105 and the fan came on, wheras it dropped back to 95 quite quickly. Problem solved – I think.

As I was about 5 miles from home, he said he would follow me home, which he duly did. Car ran faultlessly , with the temp being very stable, 95-96 all the time with a brief foray to 99 when stuck at the traffic lights. All good.

The conclusion was the Jiggle valve in the inlet manifold being stuck, which the air blast in reverse un stuck. Maybe this has being playing up for some time, allowing air locks to form in the head, making the temperature variable. Any way, I’m off work using holidays up next week, so I think I’ll remove the inlet manifold and clean (or remove) the jiggle valve, and fit a new water pump and Cambelt (whilst I’m in there).

Sorry for the novel, but I thought people would be interested in the findings

Eric

bl52krz · 15th March 2023, 18:51

The jiggle pin is a new one on me and I am sure many more. You learn something new every day.

Terry00H · 15th March 2023, 19:35

Hi,

My 1.8t had exactly the same symptoms raised coolant in tank ,air lock and had to add coolant. The garage carried out a block test which proved that exhaust was getting into the coolant . I don’t know how head gasket or maybe cracked cylinder and did not find out . I had the engine swapped for a low mileage 2011 MG 6 turbo engine bought from a scrap yard . Funnily enough I posted this as an answer to someone considering an engine swap . The pre 2014 MG6 turbo has a K series engine but with the Rover problems sorted out . The oil rail had to be modified and a blanking plate made up to go over where a sensor went on the MG6 block ,a simple job for a good mechanic .

There probably is something up with your engine and the block test would rule out some causes. If there is then changing the engine is probably quicker and easier than all that’s involved with a head gasket.

Please report back on what you find and all the best.

suzublu · 15th March 2023, 19:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by bl52krz

The jiggle pin is a new one on me and I am sure many more. You learn something new every day.

I'm sure I've read that removing the ball bearing (jiggle valve) has no ill effects on cooling and so eliminates the sticky problem 😎

Sent from my SM-A326B using Tapatalk

bl52krz · 16th March 2023, 18:11

I don’t know why anyone would remove the jiggle pin. For what reason? It does not really slow down the engine heating up.

drewbie · 17th March 2023, 12:35

Sounds like the RAC guy was spot on. This is how I always bleed the coolant system, so no coolant from the small detached hose when pressurizing the header tank would indicate a blockage.

https://the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/a...8&d=1452982525

Terry00H · 17th March 2023, 19:19

The above sounds a good way of shifting an air lock and a very useful tip ,Thank you .

My concern would be where have the 3 litres of coolant gone ? The main post is exactly the same scenario with my car . I also have a temperature monitor called an engine watchdog and had raised temperatures which eased with the engine being reved .I also had 3 litres of missing coolant. In my case I believe the coolant was being burnt off . I’m not a mechanic but this really is just like what happened in my car also a 1.8t and really recommend doing the block test .

15th March 2023, 11:04	#1
Eric_m Regular poster Rover 75 Club 1.8T Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Countesthorpe Leicester Posts: 80 Thanks: 10 Thanked 42 Times in 20 Posts	Interesting breakdown this morning. Interesting breakdown this morning Going into the office this morning (only do it one day a week), and I noticed the temperature rising on the digital gauge. I was in traffic heading towards Fosse Park in Leicester and the gauge went up to 105, 110, 115 and on upwards. Fan was on and I heard it go into second speed at 110 ish. Still in traffic the gauge hit 120 degrees and steam started coming from under the bonnet. Luckily there is a Park & Ride car park appearing on the left, so I pulled in there, and parked in a space with good access for extraction if required later. (Amazed at my own thinking there). Bit of history with of the car. 2003 1.8T Club SE with 157 thousand on the clock. Given (yes free!!) to me nearly 10 years ago with 96 thousand on it with headgasket troubles. Fitted second hand head (original had a cracks around an exhaust valve). Used a Multi -layer gasket, and this lasted 30,000 miles until that failed and took out the turbo. So new type elastomer type gasket fitted and turbo and in the meantime I’ve fitted new set of pipes and a new radiator. All work done on the car myself. This car used to run at around 88 degrees last year. It ran fine, but I had a painful experience whilst towing home in August where the temp decided to go up to 105 degrees and really didn’t want to come down. Also a few times the temp had suddenly risen after stopping for petrol on duel carriageways. It would go straight up to 110 – 115 degrees as I left on the slip road and would need the revs keeping high for a bit to bring it down. I decided to change the PRT, The one I fitted worked fine, and the car ran a bit hotter (around 95 degrees) but reasonably stable. Over the last few months it has been a bit unstable on temps, with them rising quickly to 102-105, but dropping quickly if the engine is revved. It has been using a little bit of water, but I have a level sender and top it up when required, I think this has been the water pump as there are stains on the drive in that area. Anyway I have had a couple of reasonably long drives recently and it has behaved fine, in fact I checked the water level this morning and it was slightly higher than I expected. I had driven to Leicester to Banbury last night in fact. Anyway back to the Park and Ride. I opened the bonnet and you could see water all around the header tank, and with any loosening of the cap, water escaped. I decided to call the RAC (I’ve paid for them) and a guy arrived in his nice orange van in about an hour. He tried various things bleeding it through the bleed valve, running the engine, trying again – no change, also no heat from the heater. He then tried pressurising the header tank, and bleeding, but again, the level in the tank stayed high, there must be a huge air lock somewhere. He then mentioned he used to work for Land Rover, and tried something new. He disconnected the small pipe from the top of the radiator and blew down it with an air-line. Suddenly the water level dropped and he was able to put in nearly 3 litres of water (a very uncalibrated guess). Bleed the system and ran it up to temperature where it stabilised at 95 degrees, with the engine running at 2-3000 revs. Let it tick over and it gradually went up to 105 and the fan came on, wheras it dropped back to 95 quite quickly. Problem solved – I think. As I was about 5 miles from home, he said he would follow me home, which he duly did. Car ran faultlessly , with the temp being very stable, 95-96 all the time with a brief foray to 99 when stuck at the traffic lights. All good. The conclusion was the Jiggle valve in the inlet manifold being stuck, which the air blast in reverse un stuck. Maybe this has being playing up for some time, allowing air locks to form in the head, making the temperature variable. Any way, I’m off work using holidays up next week, so I think I’ll remove the inlet manifold and clean (or remove) the jiggle valve, and fit a new water pump and Cambelt (whilst I’m in there). Sorry for the novel, but I thought people would be interested in the findings Eric

15th March 2023, 18:51	#2
bl52krz This is my second home Rover 75 cdt club + Rover 2.5 KV6 Conni SE Join Date: May 2008 Location: Birmingham Posts: 11,407 Thanks: 6,587 Thanked 2,262 Times in 1,729 Posts	The jiggle pin is a new one on me and I am sure many more. You learn something new every day. __________________ Great Barr, Birmingham.

15th March 2023, 19:35	#3
Terry00H Newbie Rover 75 Tourer Join Date: Jun 2020 Location: London Posts: 29 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 1 Post	Your engine Hi, My 1.8t had exactly the same symptoms raised coolant in tank ,air lock and had to add coolant. The garage carried out a block test which proved that exhaust was getting into the coolant . I don’t know how head gasket or maybe cracked cylinder and did not find out . I had the engine swapped for a low mileage 2011 MG 6 turbo engine bought from a scrap yard . Funnily enough I posted this as an answer to someone considering an engine swap . The pre 2014 MG6 turbo has a K series engine but with the Rover problems sorted out . The oil rail had to be modified and a blanking plate made up to go over where a sensor went on the MG6 block ,a simple job for a good mechanic . There probably is something up with your engine and the block test would rule out some causes. If there is then changing the engine is probably quicker and easier than all that’s involved with a head gasket. Please report back on what you find and all the best. Last edited by Terry00H; 15th March 2023 at 19:38..

16th March 2023, 18:11	#5
bl52krz This is my second home Rover 75 cdt club + Rover 2.5 KV6 Conni SE Join Date: May 2008 Location: Birmingham Posts: 11,407 Thanks: 6,587 Thanked 2,262 Times in 1,729 Posts	I don’t know why anyone would remove the jiggle pin. For what reason? It does not really slow down the engine heating up. __________________ Great Barr, Birmingham.

17th March 2023, 19:19	#7
Terry00H Newbie Rover 75 Tourer Join Date: Jun 2020 Location: London Posts: 29 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 1 Post	Why coolant loss? The above sounds a good way of shifting an air lock and a very useful tip ,Thank you . My concern would be where have the 3 litres of coolant gone ? The main post is exactly the same scenario with my car . I also have a temperature monitor called an engine watchdog and had raised temperatures which eased with the engine being reved .I also had 3 litres of missing coolant. In my case I believe the coolant was being burnt off . I’m not a mechanic but this really is just like what happened in my car also a 1.8t and really recommend doing the block test .

17th March 2023, 12:35	#6
drewbie Loves to post Rover 75 Club SE 1.8T 03 plate. Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Tenterden Posts: 277 Thanks: 28 Thanked 41 Times in 37 Posts	Sounds like the RAC guy was spot on. This is how I always bleed the coolant system, so no coolant from the small detached hose when pressurizing the header tank would indicate a blockage. https://the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/a...8&d=1452982525