So finally got round to fitting the factory hose from water pump to thermostat on Thursday. Significantly tighter on both thermostat and pump connection stubs than the one from the (allegedly) good quality, but not factory, set I fitted shortly after getting the car. The cable operated spring clip compressor thing worked fine when fitting the new pipe to the thermostat end but couldn't do the deed at the water pump when working from underneath. Probably be OK if working from the top. So the pump end got a Mikalor stainless steel band and bolt type clip. Needed a bit of careful alignment to keep the bolt head clear but went on well in the end and stayed in place whilst ratcheting up the bolt head. Jubilee worm drive types don't stay put and are the very devil to do from underneath!

Test run and top up, no leaks despite encountering the airlock issue for the first time ever. Sixth time unlucky I guess. Still dry all through standing round Friday. Last check at about 9 pm.

Yay! Fixed. I thought. Celebrated too soon.

Wandered out on the paper collection walk this morning and ... territorial marks under the car. Perhaps 1/4 or 1/2 a teaspoons worth. Quick look confirms the joint at the (new) thermostat is slightly wet.

So it seems that it does it overnight. Presumably due to temperature changes but how that would generate enough pressure to produce a leak is beyond me. In retrospect its always had odd days and periods without marking its territory overnight and, so far as I recall, its always been overnight. Never when parked up during the day.

Getting to the point where I'm about ready to abandon my stance against bodges and chuck a tin of sealer jollop in. But which one! I'm sure it had jollop in the cooling system when I bought it but I assumed that was to seal up the sadly bodged water pump gasket. Must have been good stuff as its the only time I've ever been able to see where it settled when sealing gasket. That one was so bad it probably leaked under simple pressure head when the coolant was poured in.

Clive

Pure water glass. Yours is doing exactly what mine was.

I must have a crack behind the liner of #6. Only really admitted something was wrong when it started missing at start up in the mornings, and the plug was rusting. That took a long time to manifest itself though, but I had the odd cool down leak for ages beforehand.

Does sound like the cool down leak issue that yours had. So I guess its jollop time. Or maybe just live with it and keep topping up once a month.

Thought that if its a metal side issue K seal is the thing to use but thats not so good on rubber or plastic.

Still can't see why it waited a day before leaking tho'.

Clive

Clive603 wrote:

Still can't see why it waited a day before leaking tho'.

Clive

It's because these cars are sentient and vindictive :P

I out a new top hose on mine and I only managed a couple of days before the next leak popped up. It was the water pump that time.

I fixed a water leak a the visit to Marty's earlier in the year. Rerouted some LPG pipes so they weren't bending so much.

I managed a whole 4 weeks from then before the next leak!

I think it's just a game of whack-a-mole. When you fix one leak the system is under slightly higher pressure until the next weakest link goes pop. Fix it, runs ok for a while, up pops another leaky mole and then it too gets a whack on the nose.

RutlandRover wrote:

Clive603 wrote:

Still can't see why it waited a day before leaking tho'.

Clive

It's because these cars are sentient and vindictive :P

You might have a point. Did the headlining on Monday, two wrinkles and one ex-wasp. Working on the front lawn in "approved by Richard" fashion and slotted the car back into its parking place yesterday. Probably moved six car lengths to do the pull forward, reverse back turning through 90° shuffle. Not running long enough to even take the exhaust manifolds up past warm to touch.

Come out this morning and, yup, its marked its territory. Usual half a teaspoon or so. OK its a bit more nose down than when working on the headlining in front of the garage but not much.

During the headlining job a wasp came to investigate whilst I was cutting excess around the edges. Perfect 6 point landing in the middle. Managed 5 or 6 head nods as it inspected and sniffed things. Then curled up and died. Glad I made sure not to breathe any fumes.

I'm impressed by the Pattex superglue gel and plastic conditioning "pen" from LiDL. Did a good job of repairing three of the four tabs I broke pulling the trim off. One was obviously past resurrection but the others glued up plenty well enough to assemble things. Wipe the broken edges with the pen, coat with gel and voila! Gel is so much easier to control than the usual liquid and you don't have that choice between sticking things together or putting the cap back on! Takes about a minute to go off tho so need steady hands. Tabs will probably break again if I ever take them out tho'.

Clive