I had to put my Mk II BT7 through its annual MOT (Ministry of Transport)
test the other day. It passed OK.
But..
I always ask the mechanic/tester to raise my cars back up on the lift so
that I can have a good look underneath...to see any problems, check for
leaks (as if!) etcetc.
Well, there was a bit of oil here and there and the chassis was, as a
consequence, pleasingly protected. We tightened up the sump nuts, none of
which were really tight enough. AND we noticed a slight drip of coolant from
the back of the engine. It dripped off where the gear box mates(?) to/with
the engine on the manifolds side. We looked at all the expansion plugs on
the side and the rear one; also the drain tap under the manifolds; also
along the head gasket (even though the water in the rad was clean etcetc)
Nothing to see, yet the water kept coming, albeit at a very slow rate.
I took the car home and put it away whilst I pondered. In the end I decided
that the water was just being awkward..that it actually came from the
ignition side of the engine and was appearing on the other side just to fool
me and to lure me into fruitless inlet and outlet manifolds removal.
Spite..a possible carry over from the atmosphere prevalent in BMC in the
'60s? It was coming from the heater tap..the jubilee clip on the hose. I
haven't tested it yet, but that's where the blue stain seemed to originate.
The moral or point of all this b*****ks?..nothing is what it seems and
things aren't always as bad as you think, nor as hard to fix. (They are
usually worse mind you, but not always).
Simon
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