160 replies to this topic

[LittleGreenMini]

Evening all,

 

Slowly chipping away at the wiring.

I've removed the ammeter in favour of a volt meter, and reverted the wiring back to standard here.

Ive replaced the old fuse box with a blade type and added a second 8 fuse box to cope with some extras and remove some of the old inline fuses.

Ive wired the spots in through the second fuse box and one relay

Ive also decided to add a relay controlled by the 2nd stage ignition circuit in order to add some ancillaries on a new fused circuit. Possibly overkill, but I'm enjoying myself 

 

The loom will get wrapped and tidied up once I've tested it all and got the engine started.

 

I've discovered a company called 'Vehicle Wiring Products' who can supply a multitude of different cables and wiring parts at a good price. I didn't discover their range of cables until I had place my order, hence why its all in white and grey. All of the wire ends will be labelled up according to either the Haynes or my own additional diagrams.

 

[colinf1]

Good work so far, it will be interesting to see how tidy you can get all the wiring!

 

Keep it up!

[LittleGreenMini]

Big day! Finally finished the list of things to do before starting, so I connected the battery and put some fuel in the tank. After turning it over for 10-20 seconds to draw the fuel through and check the oil pressure, it spluttered into life, needless to say I have a very big smile on my face!

All I had to adjust was the idle speed screw to keep it running smoothly.

 

It got pretty hot quite quickly though, Any idea where I should start trying to track down the issue? The thermostat opened.

The water pump seemed in good condition when it was off the engine. 

 

It feels as if the heater is one big airlock, would this play a part and stop water pumping round the system? Do people tend to prime the matrix and pipework prior to connecting it up at the engine end?

 

I will be checking whether the fan is on the correct way round.

Is there a check that I can do to see if the pump is circulating.

[pete l]

Probably an air lock.

 

Run the engine with the water tank cap off, don't let it get too hot, and look to see if you see movement of the coolant.

 

Changing the fan around will not change the direction of the air. It just brings the fan nearer of further away from the radiator.

[cooperd70]

LGM,

Fan direction does make a difference...smooth centre side needs to be pointing towards the engine block.

Though it Def sounds most probably an air lock.

[GraemeC]

Fan orientation in the photos is correct

[pete l]

LGM,

Fan direction does make a difference...smooth centre side needs to be pointing towards the engine block.

Though it Def sounds most probably an air lock.

 

It doesn't change the direction of the airflow though. 

[GraemeC]

But it also doesn't

 

 just brings the fan nearer of further away from the radiator.

 

The blades are shaped and are far less efficient at pushing the air through the rad if the fan is the wrong way round.

[LittleGreenMini]

Thanks everyone. It doesn't look as though water is passing through the rad so hopefully it is just an airlock.

 

I'll pop the top hose off and fill from there tonight, should give me enough head to push the airlock out. 

[sonscar]

When warm the water should slightly draw downwards when revved.I fail to see where an airlock can occur in a Mini except for the heater which would have no effect on the engine.I would take the pipe off the heater tap,remove the rad cap and slowly fill from there.Steve..

[LittleGreenMini]

Morning all,

So we’re still having a problem with overheating.
There is no airlock through the heater any more, I have good flow and return here.
With the rad cap off. I can see some draw down through the radiator. I wonder if this is enough.

I’ve adjusted the points and new plugs with the gap set.
I need to adjust the timing but didn’t want to when it was getting very hot! I will do this next time.
I need to adjust the mixture, I’ll take a look at the plugs before I next start it.
This should see the engine running as close to normal as possible so hopefully no extra heat from there.

I’m thinking I should replace the radiator as it’s been sat for a long time and potentially had a little water sat in it. It draws water through and I flushed it as best I can, but I’m not sure it’s as efficient as it could be.

The other thing I’ve noticed is that the fan is little way out of the cowl towards the rear of the engine. Do these normally have a spacer between the fan and the water pump. I found something in the old box of fixing that looks like it would fit this bill.

Thanks for your help.
Greg

[sonscar]

Fan should be halfway into the shroud,Set timing firstly as too retarded can very quickly cause overheating to the point of the manifold glowing red.
Is it actually overheating?have you an it thermometer to measure it?you may be worrying about nothing.Steve..

[LittleGreenMini]

Thanks Steve,

In this case, the Fan looks about right, I'll add a pic when I get the chance.

 

I will check the timing next then. Before I think about replacing anything.

 

I haven't checked that it is actually overheating yet. What temperature should it be, and where would be the most stable place to take a reading. I will borrow our calibrated infrared thermometer from work so can take a fairly accurate reading from anywhere.

 

Thanks again

[LittleGreenMini]

Some pics

 

 

 

[LittleGreenMini]

Afternoon All,

 

Been quiet for a while but I've managed to get some headway on the mini now.

 

I have a few questions that I'm hoping you can help me with:

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks

 

1. Still overheating (not checked the temp for sure), timing is now correct. What I have noticed is that the top of the rad gets toastie, but the bottom hose is completely cold. I'm therefore working on the assumption that the radiator is blocked, or the water pump isn't spooling. The odd thing is, the pump was turning fine when it was off the engine and has simply been bolted in and left for about 3 months before starting in a dry garage. There is some draw through the radiator when I accelerate but I'm not sure what is normal, I would say the level drops app. 3-4mm then comes back up again. Any thoughts? Are there any more checks I should do before pulling it all apart?

 

2. What should the second hose attachment on the float chamber lid be connected to?

 

3. The exhaust manifold is an LCB type and is really close to the O/S pot joint. Is there an easy way to manipulate this around the joint? It's also pushing the exhaust over to the side of the tunnel and extremely close to the battery cable. Almost as if its twisted. I was pondering changing this for the freeflow option from MiniSpares but would prefer not to suffer the expense at this time.

 

4. The heater blower doesn't appear to be working. I have power to the heater switch, earth connection is OK, switch is OK, connectivity across the earth and heater supply. It doesn't sound like the blower is engaging and something is stopping it spinning. Any ideas?

 

5. I bought a new wiper stalk, when I switch down for a single wipe of the windscreen nothing happens, however, on the two constant settings the motor engages fine. Any ideas?

 

6. After running up to temp. (considering the temp issues in point 1) I removed 3 and 4 plugs to reveal the inner plugs being very black and the outside plugs being quite white. I know a certain amount of this is normal, but I'm wondering if my rough fuel mix is OK and this has left me a little stumped. Any thoughts on this one would be useful.

 

Thanks everyone

Greg