Project Plum - The Plan of Attack

[boost monkey 0]

So, I did my ignition parts today. The spark plugs looked like a mediterranean beach so i left them in (triple electrodes though, not used them before [replacements from BERU were triples also]) I changed the rotor arm and dizzy cap, plus put the new ignition coil on.

 

the coil earth strap was in good condition so I left it, and all seems well. I tried to swap out the dizzy itself but the one on the spare engine has a rotor arm stuck to it, so I had to leave that off. Another day maybe...

[boost monkey 0]

p.s. sorry for all the lack of pics this last week, I've moved house and not bothered setting my desktop up as i'm moving again in October.

[boost monkey 0]

So, i changed my coil, dizzy cap and arm today. Now my car pulls cleanly to the redline where it would splutter and jerk above 5000 before. That's a 2000rpm increase, not to mention the fact that a valver makes, what, 120hp at 5000, if that!

 

So I am slightly happy now. Fast gearchanges are still crap cos my mounts are made by Pilsbury, but when the new front end is on, it is gonna be so good.

 

Stella, you fruity minx :norty:

[JMC 0]

Good to hear you've got her pulling to the redline now Jon :D

[Dec 1]

Woop!! :clap:

[vwdeviant 0]

Good to hear you've got the revving sorted...

 

Pipes are just down to age TBH mate, 15+yr old rubber pipes.. went through this pain with my 'Rocket too ended up with all new ones and thermo and waterpump! Also you using jubliee clips or proper "one use" spring clips?

 

Mine's still using but a lot less now I have the new rad so next stop for me is to go see Mister Samco, and a new Pump!

[dirtytorque 0]

p.s. sorry for all the lack of pics this last week, I've moved house and not bothered setting my desktop up as i'm moving again in October.

 

 

thats ok...

 

 

 

Geez.. wot a let down.

Lazy git.

:cry:

[boost monkey 0]

@Dec & JMC, Thanks guys :salute:

 

@VWDeviant, yeah I hear you buddy! The pipe that keeps going has 3 spring clips on, I'm starting to get used to them now! They're not so bad if you know your way around some mole grips.

 

@DirtyTorque, :lol: I can MMS them to you if you like! I will dig out the cable and software and put it on the laptop just for you :camp: ;)

 

I think since changing the battery and allowing ProdigalSon to clean up the voltage reg and alternator a little, it's been a lot happier. A couple of my speakers used to buzz which I put down to blown cones, but now they work again! This car is weird :cuckoo: :lol:

 

I guess I won't bother putting the newer dizzy on now cos I know that it's not the dizzy stopping it from revving, so that's cool. Still got the fuel filter to put on at some point. Still need to get my head round how all that gubbins works :scratch:

[Toad 0]

Still got the fuel filter to put on at some point. Still need to get my head round how all that gubbins works :scratch:

 

Fuel & contaminants go in one end, contaminents stay in filter, fuel comes out other end? ;)

 

Good to see you're getting somewhere though.

[boost monkey 0]

thanks :nuts: I meant the whole assembly with the pump, the 75 metres of piping going everywhere and the other bits (collector? etc)

 

Maybe I will put the filter on this avo, god knows I don't need to jack it up for the clearance :lol:

[coolrado 0]

Good to hear it's running a bit better, but do yourself a favour and get rid of the multi electrode plugs, they are a waste of time, instead of getting one big consistant fat spark you sometimes get 2 or 3 weaker sparks, they also seem to build up deposits quicker, they made my car run like poo and reduced my fuel efficiency by about 5mpg, I was surprised they made so much difference and i though i had knocked a connector loose when i had changed the plugs but after checking everything i swapped the plugs back to the old ones and it was fine, get yourself some decent platinum or iridium tipped plugs, you can get them pretty cheap from the likes of sparkplugs.co.uk or other places online.

[boost monkey 0]

Sorry to hear that multis messed up your engine, coolrado. These ones seem to be working well for my 16v though. I know other people run Super 4s etc, so maybe some work with some engines? My car is currently doing 35ish mpg on the motorway which i don't think is too bad, considering the amount of dead sensors the engine has.

 

Strangely enough, the ones I ordered from AVS were BERU and were also triple-electrode!

 

Interested to hear other people's opinions though.

[ProdigalSon 1]

Coolrado has a very valid point as far as G60s are concerned - the only 'approved' plug is the original Bosch platinum single-electrode one. These last for over 50k miles in the PG engine, so are well worth the extra money, but with stock 16Vs being normally aspirated, I don't think those plugs are necessary :shrug:

 

What does ETKA or the owner's manual recommend?

[Guest]

Glad your cars almost running perfect :D

 

Dunno about the valver but you definately need the platinum plugs in a G60 part number is 101000006AF from a TPS outlet they are £6.44 each or £10 main dealer normal price

 

make a G60 run perfectly, someone had put 3 tip plugs in mine when i got it and they were awfull, car felt 10 times smoother and quicker response on the throttle after the platinums were in

[boost monkey 0]

What does ETKA or the owner's manual recommend?

 

I'll wait for someone with either of those items to post :nuts:

[boost monkey 0]

Get a cup of tea / coffee and get comfy...

 

Background

 

So, I had a wedding yesterday down in Southampton. Took about 90mins with some ox roadworks holding me up which was a little annoying, but it was ok. Got to within about 2 miles of the church and the coolant warning light came on. Odd, that's never happened before :scratch: so I flick through the MFA to see oil temp at 122 degrees and rising. :help:

 

Event #1 - Alresford Steam Clean

 

Couldn't really pull over where I was, so kept on until the nearest layby. Oil hit 128. Steam was coming out from under the bonnet too, so I opened her up and the expansion tank is doing a really REALLY good kettle impression! :nuts: From the following few minutes, I determined that all the coolant hoses were very hot except the lower rad hose. Oh right, the other end of that goes to the thermostat: my favouritest piece of car ever :cuckoo:

 

I guessed that for whatever reason the stat wasn't opening so I refilled the expansion tank after letting it settled back down to 80ish degrees and set off again (not really much else I could do 10 mins before a wedding). Oil temp returned to around 108, which is still high, but obviously a lot better. Got to the wedding seconds before the bride walked down the isle, and all was well for now. After the vows and drinks, I drove to the reception a mile away and parked up for the evening. :shrug:

 

Event #2 - Leaving Wedding

 

Left the wedding around 10pm ish after refilling my header tank with another 2-4litres of petrol (spare G12+ was all used up by now). So, obviously I'm running a much diluted coolant mix than is required and I had an inkling the temps would start spiking and physics dictated that the water might do something like boil off above 100 degrees. It did. :pale:

 

Event #3 - Meeting Toad at 11:00pm :norty:

 

As I was a reasonable distance from Winch I gave Mr. Toad a call and after whining like a Stage 4 'Lader, he agreed to come and meet me at the park and ride I had managed to crawl into. We got chatting and I let him work his magic (and on the car :lol: ). After getting a fair amount of air out and running it up to temp a few times, he decided just to let me run it a bit more, so I headed off again (cheers dude, you are a legend :grin: :notworthy: :luvlove: :clap: )

 

Event #4 - Tot Hill Services, A34 Northbound

 

I got another 10 miles up the road before the car gave up again. This time I got to services which meant free water from the petrol station. After letting it cool, running some more air out of it and putting another 4 litres of plain water in (yes I know, you're cringing but what else did I have? :shrug: ) I had diluted the coolant mix even further but headed off again.

 

Event #5 - The Layby / Concrete Coffin

 

I decided to stop crawling home at 50 and decided to sit around 90, just figuring that I might get a little further before the temp spiked again. I got about 12 miles. Luckily, I had refilled my 4 litre bottles before I left the services (not just a pretty face :wink: ) so I let the car cool and put them in. This was around 1am now. I was really tired and even more hungry. I did some calculations in my head: a 40degree temp rise got me 12 miles, to get the last 19 miles home I would need a bigger "buffer". I let the car cool as long as I could, it didn't seem to dip below 56deg on the oil temp (i guess residual heat from iron engine) so I decided just to beans it back and do my best. This was 2am when I left.

 

Event #6 - The RETURN

 

So, the outside temp is about 11-12 degrees, I was cold tired and hungry and had enough. I used my new redline quite well in upping my velocity with respect to Oxford and sat at a comfortable 90-95 on the last leg (last leg regardless as I had no more water now!). On the bends, I slew between lanes trying to hit the apex and cut just a few hundred yards off my trip. Very bad form, and if the roads weren't deserted I wouldn't have done it at all; normal driving returned for passing traffic :salute:. I got to Hinksey Hill Interchange and sailed up to the roundabout. All 3 sets of lights were green so I took the racing line through the roundabout, keeping speed low and revs unharassed and up the long slip road. Those lights turned green so I took the lovely left-right line up to the last roundabout. Those turned green as I approached ( :clap: ) and I was back within a mile of home. Coolant light had been a solid red for at least 5 miles and the oil temp was 120....122.... and I'm back on the drive next to the G60 :pale:

 

Symptoms

 

Water doesn't seem to be circulating. Radiator and lower hose stay cold, upper hose gets really hot and then seems to empty itself, but no obvious leaks from any parts of the system (all obvious hoses, THE hose that always blows, the stat, etc etc etc) as there was no coolant on the floor other than that which boiled and overflowed from header tank...aha...

 

Diagnosis

 

Stat not working properly,

TENUOUS - After ignition system testing to redline, parts of water pump impeller breaking off and getting stuck behind the thermostat, causing a coolant flow blockage,

Any others?

 

 

 

I have NEVER been so happy to be home! I was borderline :cry: on the way back, it was just a HORRID situation to be in. I knew full well the head could have warped at any minute and I would have been fu...stuck proper. ProdigalSon was (is) away on business, Sis in law was in chester, no breakdown cover any more ( lapsed :bad-words: ). I literally had bottles of water, and the knowledge that the specific heat capacity of iron before deformation is that much better than alloy, which made me think that the head might not warp and I might juuuust be able to limp Stella home (I'll put out the gunson and do a compression test sometime).

[dirtytorque 0]

for pure engine cooling water is better than coolant.Coolant though has other properties that help your engine.

Anti corrosion and obviously anit-freeze etc.

 

Do you not think that this is all related to your previous coolant problems?

Obviously not circulating properly .

 

Are you going to start with the stat?

[CorradoVR6-Turbo 0]

thats one hell of a strory mate,been there many times,as for the coolant problem can you see the header tank water returning into the header,can you see a flow of water?

 

The impella might have come of but the stat is easier to do than the pump,so start with the stat.

 

Ive had my valver very....VERY hot and it did pop the headgasket but the head was spot on,i saw 145 deg oil temp! the waxoil in the engine bay was liquid!!!

[boost monkey 0]

Do you not think that this is all related to your previous coolant problems?

Obviously not circulating properly .

 

Are you going to start with the stat?

 

yeah, it had crossed my mind! Perhaps I didn't drain it properly when I washed out the mudwater a few weeks ago, I know Jim had some concerns (seem well-based at the mo!)

 

I will start with the stat and go from there. I'm gonna check the water pump belt (or whatever drives it) cos I was poking round that end recently trying to get the PAS belt off as mine is redundant now, so may well have loosened something I shouldn't. Is it run off the aux shaft or did someone slip me some peyote?

 

The main problem I had for using just water in the coolant system was obviously it likes to turn to gas above 100... :nuts:

 

thats one hell of a strory mate,been there many times,as for the coolant problem can you see the header tank water returning into the header,can you see a flow of water?

 

The impella might have come of but the stat is easier to do than the pump,so start with the stat.

 

Ive had my valver very....VERY hot and it did pop the headgasket but the head was spot on,i saw 145 deg oil temp! the waxoil in the engine bay was liquid!!!

 

Hi mate,

 

kinda hard to see what water is returning. From what I could tell (and toad too?) the water was bubbling up the bottom tank hose instead of being returned from the snaking hose which comes from the top of the rad. The rad was cold all the time I'm pretty sure, only water in the system seemed to be heater hoses, top rad hose and head flange (and pipes off that) and the metal water pipe that wraps round the front of the block.

 

OMG@145! That's impressive. Did the oil cake up or was it synth? I'm thinking I might need (another) oil change now, but I'll go check the oil quality in a bit.

[dirtytorque 0]

 

The main problem I had for using just water in the coolant system was obviously it likes to turn to gas above 100... :nuts:

 

true true. :bonk:

[boost monkey 0]

apart from that it's good stuff.

 

makes good tea. My mum said yesterday I should have dunked a teabag in the header tank when it was whistling! :lol:

[ProdigalSon 1]

Event #2 - Leaving Wedding

 

Left the wedding around 10pm ish after refilling my header tank with another 2-4litres of petrol (spare G12+ was all used up by now).

You mean water, right? :shock: :cuckoo: :lol:

 

Seriously, though, good to know you made it back OK, wasn't that bothered about you calling me at 1:30am :wink:

 

Am dying to get back and see if we can crack this particular issue :nuts:

 

Go easy on my C this evening... :camp:

[boost monkey 0]

ah yeah, not petrol. That probably would do something else at 100deg :nuts:

 

I will do. I don't wanna go through town, so i'll creep round the ring road in the G60 :clap:

[was8v 0]

The main problem I had for using just water in the coolant system was obviously it likes to turn to gas above 100... :nuts:

 

Not when its under pressure in your cooling system. Because its a sealed system, under pressure the water can go much higher (My VR has hit 120deg+ on track with no loss of coolant etc). Think of camping stove gas being a liquid in a gas bottle at room temperature cos its under pressure, normally at room temp its a gas.

 

The pressure is controlled by the temp (fans and radiator keep that down) and if the pressure gets too high (i.e. the temp is uncontrlled - fan failure or blockage) the header tank cap has a valve in that will release excess pressure (you experienced this).

 

I'd whip your thermostat off and put it in a pan of water. It should pop open before the water boils.

 

Whilst its off use a hose to flush all the water system out of every orifice pf the radiator and block.

 

Straight water is fine to use as coolant for short periods. All coolant does is add corrosion resistance and reduces the freezing point of the water. It does raise the SHC of the water a little, but not drastically.

[boost monkey 0]

Cheers for that matey, I really should know that pressure stuff being a thermodynamics geek huh! :nuts:

 

Cheers for the clarification on pressure relief valve. I tested the stat before I put it in and it opened further, quicker and earlier than the current one which is why I chose to put it in. I had to choose cos they're both 2nd hand. Old one was Prod's original VAG one from before he went 70deg style.

 

will do with the hose too, cooling system understandingment still eludes me sometimes, but not for long :grin: