coolant problems

[mgbv8]

Tape a balloon over the expansion tank overflow when you next take it out.
This will tell you if you are blowing the water off due to pressure.

[ramon alban]

I have been told one way to get any bubbles out of the system is to cut the bottom off a plastic 2 litre Coke bottle and upend it into your rad cap neck, sealed with tape. Then fill the bottle with coolant so it is much higher than the rest of the system. Run the engine for a while and any bubbles that pass by the rad will shoot up into the Coke bottle and into the outside world. When you see no more bubbles you can take the bottle off and pop the rad cap on. Run the engine and water will expand into your expansion tank as normal. Check the level frequently while it warms up.

Bravo Paul! That is clever! And it has to work! Should be a Sticky.
Ramon

[dave wj]

Hi All,

Many thanks for the replies (been away over weekend, so first chance I've had to reply).

Brilliant idea Paul, I'll jack the front of the car up and give it a go this weekend........wish I'd thought of it

As far as blowing water out of the exp tank, this no longer seems a problem with the new cap, so I'll file the balloon idea over the cap for future reference (another great idea BTW).
BTW I know when the exp, tank cap blows because coolant eventually drips onto my feet around the loud pedal (weelll it is a kit car)hmmm come to think of it, if I'd thought about the balloon idea earlier, my socks wouldn't be blue now!.

I tried all your earlier suggestions guys and am starting to see an improvement in coolant levels. The rise and fall doesn't seem so dramatic and I'm hopeful given a few more runs, it'll settle down.
My car is a lotus 7 style with no screen, so I'm a little dependant on the weather.

Anyway thanks again guys for your help and great suggestions. All this should be a huge help for those guys in a similar predicament to myself.

Cheers for now,

Dave.