rebuilder86

ethelyn glycol is not only for freezing. sorry if this sounds rude, but it is basic knowledge that coolant mix provides boilover peotection. it also has corrosion inhibitors and other things. look on the back of any good coolant concentrate bottle. u will see differnet concentrations and the reaulting boilover temp range. i watched a funnel video and yes it seema that if u have a big one and hang it from the bonnet, with enough head height it helps, but then the guy snaps the throttle and all the bubbles come up. exactly as i described. what i was saying is the funnel alone will not resolve the issue, u need to rev the engine to get the air to the radiator.

yep and i wish i could find a replacement. but i just have to live without it and keep the revs down. when i climb up the hill in 2nd gear as opposed to first, i get a cooler temp and that is because the pump gives the water a chance to conduct its heat into the radiator. if i choose third gear the engine produces so much heat due to retarded ignition and pushes it into the overheating zone. this shits all over everyones comments that driving in low rpm is the best way to keep an overheating engine cooler. there is a sweetspot. and uve gotta work hard to find it. for me that has meant 2 years of perfecting the runup before each hill and shifting gears at the right time. the number of times ive overheated this 4k sais alot about the strength of this engine. i was in my father in laws multicab (equivalent to suzuki carry in australia) the other day, straight 3 cylinder motor, with a whopping 38 kw, 7 passengers, up these hills, the thing spat out all its coolant (straight water) without me knowing and overheated and melted the timingbelt which went off with a bang. The needle was in the normal zone and i know the sensor was calibrated perfectly. this shows how bad straight water is. luckily, its a non intrusive non interference design so was able to fix it on the side of the road. bloody dangerous though.

if u have air in ur system, and perfect 50/50 coolant mix, and u do not get any bubbling, it means ur cooling system is running on the cooler side of the operating range. and thats no problem. thats great. But if ur cooling system is a bit gummed up, or the thermostat is the hot one, or your coolant is simply water, you are in marginal territory and any air is a big problem. as OP is experiencing. also the older rad caps were simply vented and not sealed, and they ran on methanol as a coolant i think. maybe thats why the design changed to compressed pressurized systems. i still see those steel springs in modern car bottom hoses. my frikn subaru 2001 outback had them. I always asumed it was just so it didnt kink or warp due to heat.

yes but those were as u mentioned, screw on caps. that makes them similar to the current day expannsion tank system, where the expansion tank is connected to the radiator and they are reinforced and look like this. layout what they look like. https://www.google.com.ph/search?client=ms-android-oppo&biw=360&bih=266&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=xsYDWou4B4HQ0ASM87bQAQ&sjs=3&q=radiator+expansion+tank+design+holden&oq=radiator+expansion+tank+design+holden&gs_l=mobile-gws-img.3...37445.38508.0.39043.8.4.0.0.0.0.309.728.0j1j1j1.3.0....0...1.1j4.64.mobile-gws-img..5.0.0....260.cZZTWxlUkss#imgrc=QYMEbmuHLqUBzM: we don't have this, we have a pressurised system, and it must have little to no air.

hey banjo my radiator is also well above the head and thermostat housing for that matter. i think there are other forces at play perhaps with my setup. i have no heater, both in and out are capped. and also, no thermostat because with the thermostat in, i can't get this air out. i would love to know if anyone else can get the extra coolant in by revving the motor, or if its just me. its the same thing on my ke55 bush basher in aus. 500 mls of air is a big issue. maybe not everyone has a big an air pocket as me, but i had been suffering from a constant overheating issue going over the hills which seems to have resolved itself just by luckily accidentally experimenting and finding this "phantom air" and replacing it with water. The cooling system takes a lot of liquid in these things, about 6litres, so there is a lot of people who buy a 4 or 5 L coolant premix and top it up with water; resulting in a weaker mix. (Thank u nulon and supershit for ur 6 L bonus deal). This means more pressures and more requirement for a sealed and airfree system. This is a closed system radiator which means it relies on pressure on the coolant to stop it expanding and bubbling. the glycol helps, but its mostly reliant on pressure. Water cannot compress, but air can, and this allows bubbles to form in the system when the air is allowed to absorb pressure from the water which is trying to expand. banjo I'm typing this for others, i assume u are the full quid on this as u have steered me in the right direction in the past on this topic!

i put it to u, that the funnel wouldnt even solve the issue I'm talking about. the water pump has to push the air pockets forward (by revving) to the radiator or else it just goes back immediately and sits in the block or head somewhere. and as i said, its not just a little bit, for me its half a litre. pushing water down from the top of the radiator wont help, the pump in the engine is the best at pushing air and water around. in short, simply running the engine isnt good enough, regardless of how hot or hiw long u let it run. it must be revved to pull the air forward. at least the funnel trick will free up a hand while u sit in the car smoking a cigarette revving the engine!!

its not until i got this 4k, that i learned just how much air can be stuck in the block and head. Banjo, just for shits and giggles, try my revving method and see if all of a sudden u can fit an extra 500mls in urs. No matter how long i let it sit there idling, it doesnt burp up any air, and when i rev it, the air makes its way to the top of the radiator, but as soon as u stop revving it, the level comes back up again because the air moves back to some other point high up in the motor and nestles itself there. so u have to put the cap on while its revving at about 1600 rpm while that bubble is up the front in the top tank, then when u let the revs go back to idle, nothing moves and nothing is overfull it just holds extra coolant hah.

yeh give it a shot. also one important thing that gets overlooked by even the best mechanics, but is fundamental and crucial, is the radiator overflow tank. tbis doesnt just catch escaping coolant, it returns it to the radiator on cooldown. if it isnt working as intensed, it will suxk air in on every cooldown. for it to work propperly it neesa. 1. coolant/water half way, above the bottom of the hose, the hose muat be submerged. if no water, the water comes out as steam and exits the wate tube, and then it sucka in air on coolsown. 2. a working vacuum valve on radiatir cap. if the spring and hole in the top of the cap is plugged with lime or rust, water will never get back i to the system and over time, not much time, the radiator will empty itself. see this diagram for the opeartion during cooldown. https://www.google.com.ph/search?client=ms-android-oppo&ei=N1sCWp9sxOXSBPKVnOAM&sjs=3&q=radiator+cap+with+overflow+vacuum&oq=radiator+cap+with+overflow+vacuum&gs_l=mobile-gws-serp.3..35i39k1.7292.8505.0.9316.8.8.0.0.0.0.186.1099.0j7.7.0....0...1.1j4.64.mobile-gws-serp..1.7.1098...0i22i30k1.252.T4awlZ54RiM#imgrc=RaMC_NJY8IpkjM:

bingo, i actually know thia one and have been waiting for someone to ask. haha bubbling, ive heard bubbling when my cooling system has a bit of air in it. the reason u hear it at idle is because the waterpump is running slow and heat is making steam pockets want to rise up the radiator, bubbling past the rest of it, and the engine is pointing up hill so all thw air pockets hang around in the radiator where noise is easily heard. when reving the engine, the water flow forces everything back down the radiator into the block where it globulates to large areas. this is a problem because the water in ur coolant will be allowed to expand. expansion allows bubing which in turn allows temperature to increaese. the solution is to ensure you do a good coolant refil. this is not as simple as filling the radiator till ful. fill it up, put the cap on loose, start the car and let it warm up slowly. once u can feel the coolant in thw radiator starting to get too hit to compfortably stick ur finget in, rev the engine with ur funnger on the carby lever until u see the level in the radiator go down and the splash coming from the inlet pipe near the filler. at this stage u want to fill the radiator at that rpm. and then let go, then do it once more with the same technique, but this time be ready with the cap. rev to lowest coolant level is seen, fill with water or coolant, then stick the cap on tight before letting the revs go back to normal. i have perfected this texhnique, and can het an extra half litre of coolant into the system like this.

oh and of course if the spark is weak in both coil only and coil + distributor test, check the points gap, that is, if u have a points dizzy.

this sounds very much like a bad ignition system, most likely the coil. pull a plug out, clamp it to part of the engine with vice grips, attach the main HT lead from the coil directly to the plug and observe the spark. i am not sure how to explain what the spark should look like, but a small yellow one is no good. nice n bright blue or white is good. if u have good spark, plug the coil HT lead back into the distributor and check again with the plugs appropriate HT lead. if this weakens the spark, ur HT leads or dizzy cap or both needs replacing. if its still good and strong, read on. really the only true way to test an ignition coil is to buy a new one, but I'm pretty confident in my analysis that this is likely ur issue. ive had to change the coil on my 4 k manual transmission and the economy and power increase was staggering. it can also be from an incorrectly set distributor advance setup. check your vacuum advance is operating first, by sucking hard (use ur cheek muscles) on the vacuum line and watching inside the distributor for movement. if u can suck air, the membrane is broken, if it just doesnt move, its jammed. if its jammed, someone may have set the base static idle timing for a smooth idle, which would be too advanced when load is applied without the required timing retarding. other possibility is that the engine is running off the main fuel circuit and not the slow circuit, which puts a horrible blobby non vaporized fuel mixture into the engine and bogs down when load is applied. this is easy to check, get it idling nice n smooth, and look down the carby throat with the choke out the way and see if fuel ia dribbling out into the main venturi in the centre of the little circle at the top. if it is, its likely this is ur problem and someone has hidden the blocked idle circuit by winding up the base idle screw. people that do this, piss me off beyond reason. check the spark quality first. its my guess

whereabouts are you josh? I'm in toledo , cebu. u need to let the guys here know exactly which 4k u have, but even better still, because of all the rebuilt motors here in the philippines, u really need to confirm which pistons are actually in it now. Mine is a 4kU which happens to be quite popular here, with the D shape dished pistons. have a look with a flashlight down ur spark pkug holes and see if u can see a dish on the crown. i believe u should get a bit better compression from flat top pistons but I'm not sure that it would be worth it unless you allready plan to have the engine apart. whatever u do, make sure you change the spark plugs to suit the new flat pistons.

justvreading this now. max those clearance figures are for a hot engine. u must heat the engine up completely byvtaking it for a lolght 10 minute drive before pulling the cover off and quickly setting the gaps. personally, i just turn the engine over watching the valves and wait for the intake valve to close then i know both valves will be at there most closed cam position.

in fact uve just inspired me to go check my plugs. i may even plug the solenoid to the battery and go for a blast n see if it has any runon.

my brothers ute had the bonnet release lever snap, and we didnt notice because the spting on the lever is quite strong. now he has a pair of small vicegrips hanging from the cable next to his feet haha.

wings, nope those plugs are fine. runon is a good and a bad sign at once. u can actually eliminate runon, but its quite difficult and almost pointless because the cutoff solenoid takes care of it for you. its just if u have severe run on, it can be a result of running too rich. which is something to look into. now i don't say that because the rich mixture is easier to burn and "run on", i say that because the rich mixture leaves carbon which covers parts of the piston head and creates a hot spot underneath it(carbon doesnt conduct heat so well), which spreads outwards untill a very hot spot is created on the outer region of the carbon buildup. this ignites fuel air mix that is compressed enough. On most engines, you should experience "run on" only after the engine has warmed up. this is because on most engines fuel is rich when warming up which keeps things cool. once it leans out, temps increase quite a bit and hot spots begin under the carbon and spread out until they reach an area not covered by carbon, and then you have a "hotspot" if the run on lasts more than 2 seconds, you have very good compression, but that may be due to a substantial amount of carbon covering your piston and or cylinder head. during light power cruise, this can cause preignition, which is different to detonation or "pinging" sometimes called "pinking" by tossers. i have experienced this on my shit mitsubishi express van. It would run on until i kicked it in the guts with the clutch and some help from a handbrake and 5th gear. even accelerating to put out the fire would make it just gurgle and run faster. one time i decided id see how long it would go, it went for about a minute. a fuel metering air bleed solenoid on the carburettor, was not working due to a wrong O2 reading because of a cracked exhaust manifold. this made the solenoid stay completely closed blocking the air bleed which made it run rich. very rich. this affected the entire primary circuit. in effect this caused a very big carbon buildup. after i hacked the solenoid to remain open, the constant lean running solved the issue. You may find u have a rich condition or a poor combustion. now would be a good time to look into cleaning the valves and running some seafoam through the engine to remove the carbon. Some people just spray water from a spray bottle directly into the hot engine at 1200 rpm, but ive never seen proof of it working to remove carbon. the theory is that the carbon cracks off due to the instant temp change. I'm not sure that would be good for the valve seats so i don't condone it. some things to note about my point on carbon hot spots. don't confuse (doesnt conduct heat so well) with (doesnt radiate heat so well) conduction is physical contact, radiaton is the radiation of heat away from an object. as the carbon cannot conduct the heat, it has nothing to radiate, so the piston crown underneath it, gets fucking hot. this spreads outwards until it reaches a place not covered in carbon, and there u find a "hotspot".

heres my frankenshaft. has been running perfect for a year now. hehe

id imagone there is a good reason for the 2 piece driveshaft. however if an expert approved its replacement with a singke shaft, perhaps the yoke is simply missaligned ever so slightly on the mounting flange due to worn flange bolt holes. i managed to repair a none repairable staked in u joint and balanced it on the vehicle using nuts n bolts welded to the holes on the cross bearing (u joit bearing) holes. I cranked up the rear left axle stand under the rear, started the engine, put it in first gear got under the car and used a marker pen held firmly in my hand against the ground and touched it lightly against the rotating driveshaft. it left marks on the side which needed to be pushed away. u can use this marker pen method just to see if there is a particular direction your shaft is vibrating to. if it consistently indicates movement only in one direction, (marker only marks one side), the u joints are defective or missaligned and need to be replaced or the flange is missaligned. if the marks are ranm, then something is loose. or have a jungle mechanic like me have a go haha.

bit of fishing wire through the grill just to get you by till u get one??

quite impressive to have run on in a 4k. some good things can be determined from that... u have good compression and good vaporisation at low rpm. However before u go and fix the solenoid, first try to limit the run on. its a good indication of either nasty carbon buildup or a spark plug of too high a heat range, and someone once informed me that sometimes those pointy electrode spark plugs can even cause it, because the sharp pointy tips can get so hot they cannot push the heat back up the plug like theyre supposed to. Another common cause can simply be modern e10 fuels which apparently cause dieseling. Checjing hese things now will help u get a good safe head start on preignition. PREIGNITION not to be confused with normal GOOD OLD detonation.

there is 2 of them ona 1l engine :o haha wow. that puts my theory to bed. Perhaps my experience is with a Junk SU. i couldnt get it (a single downdraft SU) to operate efficiently, or even close to effectively. interested to see how it goes and i hope u can learn enough about it urself to tune it good.

I'm no expert, but a 1.3 litre designed for less than 80 hp is no place for 2 x 1.25 inch carbies, especially SU. atomisation of fuel is the problem. i can't give u any solid figures but i just feel that its going to constantly bog down. ive used a single su and threw it in the bin. but now ive given u the amm9 to prove me wrong, and u have the carbs so make it work

get that shit out and drill it only the secondary. leave the primary alone for now

well, spill the beans, what other options has he got?

egggselent. did u find any crap in the idle circuit? make sure u do the hot method for valve clearance! take it out for a 10 minute drive before setting intake to 0.2 and exhaust to 0.3. if the clicking only happens when its hot u may be in the same boat as me and have the std 4k knock n slap.