On Wed, May 26, 2004 at 06:31:47AM -0700, Chris King wrote:
> I missed your post on the spridgets list, so I'll reply here.
>
> I've had my 1500 Midget out for its first real run yesterday, and the
> temp gauge sat steady at about 1/3 of the way up. Now this gauge is the
> electric temp gauge that came on the '78-79 Midgets, and is identical in
> appreance to the late MGB gauge. First question is do you have the dual
> oil pressure/temp gauge that came on the early 1500 Midgets? Gauge
> calibration may make a difference in what we all may report vs. what you
> see.
It's the electric gauge, the car's a '79. Although I am starting to
wonder if I should replace the sender.
> Next, do you have the metal shroud around the radiator?
Yep.
> How's your
> pressure cap on the expansion tank? If it's old, it may not be holding
> pressure to allow the cooling system to work properly.
It's new. :)
> also, check the cooland level at the fitting at the thermostat housing.
> If some air was not purged when you filled it, your furst run may have
> agitated the system enough to get it all to the top now.
Aha. This got me thinking. On my original fill, I had the thermo
housing filled to the top and the expansion tank half full. Looking
tonight, the thermo was full still, but the expansion tank nearly empty.
My hypothesis was that the system wasn't fully purged, and when it
cooled down, it sucked up all the coolant from the expansion tank to
replace the air. Is this possible? Anyway, I topped it up, and now I'm
running steady at 3/4, so this was definitely part of the problem.
There is a very interesting but though. It seems to run cooler now
_when idling_ compared to when on the move! When I stopped at lights
etc, the gauge went down to between 1/2 and 3/4! I'm a bit confused,
but I am guessing that the timing may need tweaking.
When I got the car, it would overheat wildly, and the timing was off the
scale(!). I adjusted it close to 10BTDC as I could guess, bearing in
mind that my timing marks are impossible to read. I just had another
look and one tooth appears to jut out more. Assuming that that's zero,
I think that I'm probably at around 6BTDC rather than 10. I might
tweak it at the weekend and see if that helps. I know to set the timing
before tuning the carbs - does this mean that whenever timing is
adjusted the carbs should be retuned?
Oh, and my crankshaft seal is leaking a little oil. Is that a mare to
fix and what else should I look to overhaul at the same time?
Thanks to those on this list who took pity and replied to my original
mail!
A
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