5W40 might be a bit thin for a 140 000 mile motor. What was the litre of additive that you put in? A litre of additive is quite a lot, no matter what it is! <br>
Knocks from bottom end on cold will be crank bearings. The legendary slipped liners get rattlier as the engine gets hotter and clearances expand. <br>
From your description- overheating/ pressurising, oil light at idle and knocking from cold, unfortunately I think you may be looking at a full rebuild, but I am famously mechanically pessimistic

Used one of these on my lpg lambda. Dirt cheap, turned up next day and works fine.

Maybe pull the lpg lambda sensor wiring from the petrol sensor and lpg fuses and try it reversing on petrol? That'd eliminate any weirdness that might be associated with the lpg system

Yeah- I was thinking same thing. I suppose theoretically, if enough cable slack to wrap round shaft, drive shaft rotating one way would tighten and short. Other way would loosen and not short. It'd be a one in a million scenario though.

Does it do it when reverse selected but not moving Richard?
Does it do it when rolling backwards down a suitable slope in neutral rather than reverse?

If the plugs are sooty, it's unlikely to be burning coolant- not impossible, but unlikely. <br>
Stick with the bleeding and burping for now <br>
Just for clarity, is it overheating or just pressurising the coolant, blowing it out, then overheating?

It's up to you of course, but I don't think its time to strip the engine yet. Are any of plugs 1,2,7,8 shiny and steam cleaned looking? Compression test and Leakdown test? <br>
I still think its air. I know you've bled and re-bled many times, but... <br>
Let's try something slightly different with bleeding: <br>
Unbolt/ clip the expansion tank from its mounts and lift it as high as the hoses will allow. Jury rig something to hold it up there. You need it to be the highest point in the system. Doesn't need to be elegant, you won't be driving. <br>
Take off little hose from rad to expansion tank at rad end and blow until nothing comes out the tank end but air <br>
Pour coolant into expansion tank until a steady stream comes out of top of rad, squeezing the large top hose until you can't hear any gurgling anywhere and your hose squeezing is directly reflected in the flow out of the top of the rad pulsing with your squeezes. <br>
Put small hose back onto rad <br>
Keep expansion tank as full as you can (to just below where the small hose squirts into the tank) at all times during this. You'll get coolant coming out over the top when you hose squeeze as well. <br>
Start engine- keep squeezing large hose as it warms up. You'll still get coolant coming up and down in the expansion tank, maybe even overflowing. It's important that you don't let the level fall in the tank so it doesn't suck air <br>
Keep squeezing that bloody hose until the stat opens <br>
Stop engine, keep squeezing the hose but now be more gentle and avoid forcing coolant out of the tank. There should be no air bubbles at all coming back into tank as you squeeze<br>
Let it cool <br>
Suck coolant out of tank (not by mouth!)- soak it up with clean rag or something until coolant level is on the line <br>
Put cap back on <br>
Put tank back in its mounts <br>
Job done...

Oh it's coolant. Though it was a gallon of emergency vodka and orange for those crisis moments :-)

Hi Chris
Sounds like you know what you're doing on this, but a few questions.<br>
Did you V block and DTI the crank (s) to check that they were straight before fitting? Did you Plastigauge the crank/ mains in the block without rods etc? Did you Plastigauge the rods on the crank on the bench and check rod to rod clearances when assembled?<br>
What were the old shells like when you took them out? Was it one in particular that had failed or were they all worn the same amount?<br>
I'm assuming that everything's getting lubed correctly, although if it went tight on assembly it's not a lube problem.

That's a pretty install job Sloth. I think the fire extinguisher in pic 2 is overly pessimistic :)

Early coil sprung Classics were 10 spline. I know 'cos I broke one on my Hybrid :-)

IIRC when they went to 4 wheel traction control with the Bosch/ Thor they went to a 4 pin diff. However when Marty swapped his front diff, he found a 2 pin! Moral of story is- looking at what you've got is the only guarantee<br>
Needs to be the right 4 pin though as the fronts and backs are cut in opposite directions, just to be difficult. In theory if you put a rear into the front it'll whine more, although many people have!

There you go:<br>
http://www.towbarandtrailercentre.com/thule-xpress-970-2-bike-towbar-cycle-carrier-cycle-rack-37975-p.asp <br>
They've got a Rotherham branch so you can try it and see if it fits...

It starts opening at 93 and fully open at 104 but assuming the secondary port is the top it doesnt look like its fully closing but its very difficult to see as you say <br>

Assuming you're quoting degrees c there's a problem then. My known good one started to open at 82 degrees and was fully open at 93 degrees, which pretty much agrees with the RAVE numbers. <br>
In addition if the top port is not fully closed off when the stat is fully open, coolant will partially bypass the radiator completely. <br>
IIRC to test that bypass port I lifted the stat, when up to temp, up enough so I could pour hot water into it. If the water vanishes, the port's not sealed and the stat is defective. <br>
If you're really anal (like me) test the new one when you get it. They've been known to be defective out of the box.

As you've got your digital temp gauge you could while away your time while waiting, checking exactly how effectively your old thermostat works. See what temp it starts to open and at what temp it's fully open when heating. Make sure that when fully open the secondary port is fully closed off as well- sometimes they don't open enough to close that port.<br>
It's not easy to see- a glass saucepan helps (but don't tell the other half)<br>
Monitor movements as the water cools as well, to see when it starts closing and is fully closed.

Aren't you from Holland? Nothing but flatness there!

Best way to calibrate is to use calibration blocks. Far more accurate than any measuring you can do! These can be knocked up at home from sturdy dowel, or nylon if you want to be flash!
Have a look at the following page, about 1/4 way down for the procedure and dimensions for the blocks.
http://www.mez.co.uk/p38-eas.html

The black red crimp connection looks a bit manky! The busbar replacement will sort that as well!

Did your infra-red thermometer ever turn up? It would be majorly useful and more informative than just feeling the hoses as you can tell exactly when things open and close.

That being said, I do remember my first '95 P38 with the single woofer sub unit... and it was still powerful enough with only the one driver in it to make things shake a bit when turned all the way up :) <br>
Mine just makes a noise somewhere between a fart and a death rattle. It's on the list to investigate and fix- eventually