Funkster

'lo all. I know there's a lot of threads about this and I've posted myself before, but I'm having a bit of an I-hate-my-corrado stress right now and I need help! Driving home tonight, it was -1°C outside. No-one should have trouble cooling in that. However, my gauge was creeping up past the stat temp and by the time I was nearly home was about to go over 90° even though I was just pootling along at 50. After arriving home and shutting it down, I found water piddling from the header tank, the top rad hose quite easy to hold, and the bottom hose cooler than that. The heater had been fine the whole way back. When I got the car the stat was duff and it would creep up like this, but the garage put a new stat & housing on, and it seemed to be sorted. Is it likely to be another duff stat so soon? This was december last year, and I've not done 2000 miles in it yet. I half suspect the water pump, although changing to a lower gear (to throw more water around) didn't really seem to help. Maybe ever so slightly. Every so often the temperature would suddenly drop 5°... I noticed this a couple of times when going round roundabouts but that may be a coincidence. Oh, last thing to mention... it gets to 100 very quickly in traffic, despite having fitted a new thermo switch in the radiator. I know people say this is normal, but the switch is supposed to kick in at 92, right? Also having arrived in a parking space with the gauge reading 100, there was no run-on fan. I have tested the operation by shorting across the connector and found it to work just fine. I know I just need to strip and inspect the whole cooling system as I have no faith in any of it now, but any other support would be greatly appreciated! Back in my manky, cold, slow, left hand drive MGB tomorrow! -- Olly

If you remove the blanking plate to the right (also just a gentle screwdriver job) then you can get your fingerb behind the switch and push it out. There's two metal spring clips that hold it into the dash, but they're not hard to overcome. hth, -- Olly

It said quantum on it, was silver, and was on a shelf with other oily type stuff in my local dealer. I'll have a closer look at it later, I've been in a hurry for a while and only checked the viscosity, not owt else. Ta, -- Olly

I'll just sit here and cry, I think. -- Olly

Cheap? 40 quid a gallon? I'd hate to know what your idea of expensive oil is ) Oddly, the engine is definitely more rattly having topped up with the Quantum oil. Must've had something thicker in it before. :o/ Also, 1.75 litres in ~1500 miles ( How much are oversize pistons? -- Olly

Ah. Anyone got a LH headlamp to suit '95 VR6 that they'd like to sell? -- Olly

:oD Yep, it's on the list. Gotta wait until payday though! I also need to disassemble my LH headlamp and clean the dirt out of it, 'cos it's not very shiny and it's somewhat dimmer than the RH one ) Cheers, -- Olly

I got some on Tuesday (ordered the previous Friday) with the part numbers as mentioned above (...425 for Lupo pass. blade), but it wouldn't surprise me if they've been superceded already. I love the way I can now see in the rain! I'm going to bend the arm on my driver's side a bit to line it up with the pillar, but even as it is it's a dramatic improvement over what went before. Shame it cost a ton. Thanks, -- Olly

Thank you! Will purchase said oil from the stealer later. I like this place. -- Olly

Hi all, Sorry if this has been asked before - I found some almost-similar stuff in the archives but nothing that fully answered my question. I have a long journey to go on over the weekend and need to top the oil up in my VR6. Unfortunately, I have no idea what oil is in there right now - the supplying garage changed it before I got it and I haven't done enough miles to warrant a change yet. If I put semi synthetic in, will it mix okay with whatever's in there? I'm not sure I can get a filter and the other bits required for a full oil change in time. Thanks for any advice! I don't want to hurt my precious motor ) -- Olly

Test drive one and the question answers itself! Just keep some cash in the bank for repairs. -- Olly

Saw a red 'rado whilst on the A416 on my way into Chesham on Saturday. I flashed, we both waved. Didn't see engine badges. Anyone? Also saw a very nice green Storm out and about in the same town, but I was walking. -- Olly

Fantastic guide! -- Olly

I am the proud owner of two MGBs... one roadster, one GT. Only one VW so far! -- Olly

What are people's favourite oils for high milers? Is decent mineral oil okay? Cheers, -- Olly

Fair point, although in the engine I used it on it doesn't just break big chunks free - it breaks the bits down to a size where they probably wouldn't get stuck anywhere. This seems like a better idea than just trying to move stuff around with water? I'm just a bit paranoid about the chemicals attacking the head. -- Olly

I have used Wynn's cooling system flush on all-iron engines with good results. However, I haven't tried it on lumps with alloy heads... anyone know if it's a really bad idea? Cheers, -- Olly

'lo all, Occasionally when I'm in slow moving traffic, my brake system makes an ABS-style creaking sound, I feel a little vibration from the pedal, and the brakes apply themselves a bit. If I take my foot completely off the pedal, the brakes free off, but keeping even the slightest pedal pressure on will halt the car pretty quickly. Anything easy I can look at? Many thanks for any advice. -- Olly

You won't get 12V oscillating on the coil pack wires unless you provide a pull-up to 12V (e.g. coil connected) - coil outputs are open drain outputs so can only pull down to earth. You'll need a 'scope to see the pulses, I shouldn't think they'll be longer than 10ms. Check your crank sensor with the scope while you're there - I have no idea where it is or what type it is though :) hth, -- Olly

Yeah, that's shot - and it's more likely to have happened while it was in the previous engine. It looks like pitting more than a chip, and this would be consistant with the surrounding wear pattern. I don't think you should use that again. -- Olly

Is there a quick-fix for air locks? That is, without draining and re-filling. I can't do it on my drive, so it'll have to wait until I can get it into my dad's garage. Thanks, -- Olly

I'm hoping it's not the water pump :-/ Where is the bypass for the heater matrix? I'll have to check the temps around it next time I spot a problem. Air lock is a possibility - the system was filled by ordinary grease monkeys when they replaced the 'stat. I guess I'll drain and refill with new coolant in the prescribed manner. How much G13+ do I need to purchase for a normal fill? Many thanks, -- Olly

'lo all, I was stuck in traffic a bit the other day, and my engine temp was getting a bit high (I suspect the thermoswitch on the rad) so I had my heater on full blast to try to reject a bit more heat. At one point, sitting at lights, my heater went cold despite the engine temp reading nearly 100. I revved it a bit, and the heat came back. I thought I would find a low coolant level, but I've just checked it and it's fine. Maybe even a bit too full. Any thoughts? Cheers, -- Olly

Have just found that out while trying to order kits from my local dealer. Can anyone give an up to date list of part numbers that one would need to buy to get the right stuff? I don't really trust the dealer ) Cheers, -- Olly

115.50 plus vat from gsf from the coil pack, and I chose to buy Blue Igniter HT leads and they seem to be very well made - £86 including delivery and tax.