Clementine's Garage
Clementine the Cat
 
Image of flower
Yellow R4
 
home my cars restoration tech tips guides forum
Réparateur d'automobiles

Redline WaterWetter

Sorry benchseat, I wouldn't trust the jam thermometer as a calibration tool! 100 degrees Celsius is boiling water temperature (not the steam), so that would a decent datum to check the sensor & gauge against.
 
Agreed, although mine shows 100°C spot-on when the water boils. Mind you, I'm at 68 metres above sea level so it might actually be boiling at 99.75°C. Anything is suitable as a calibration reference-point so long as it is known to be accurate.

And if one is talking pans of boiling water, this would also be an ideal opportunity to measure the temperature at which the thermostat opens (see previous posts).
 
Last edited:
IMG_9002.JPG

Solved! I decided to remove the thermostat this morning and this is what I found, a thermostat with half of it missing! I've decided not to replace the thermostat with a new one until later in the year. I took the car on my usual test run when previous trips would show the temperature gauge reach 100-110c but this time the needle hovered around 80c and with the manual fan switch turned off. What a relief!! I wonder how common that fault is?
 
Question. Where is the missing half? I'd guess somewhere in the system still (but not impeding coolant flow significantly), as nobody but a total cretin would fit half a thermostat on its own. Probably won't cause any long-term problems but it might be worth a look just in case it decides to disintegrate further — if it did, bang goes the water pump, probably.
 
Good point. I did think about the missing part once I'd got the hose back on but............yes I will look.

(Later) I undid the hose and had a look inside with a magnetised screwdriver. No sign of the missing bit nor hope of finding it without dismantling the water pump.
 
Last edited:
Thermostats don't seem to be made of ferromagnetic material. I have a spare thermo with a brass top (just like your fragment) — I put it next to the powerful loudspeaker magnet I keep on my workbench — not a flicker of attraction (sounds like the effect that I have on women). So your screwdriver won't necessarily give any indication of what, if anything, is stuck in there.
 
Hello Paul, if you are going to remove your waterpump to investigate be very careful as the bolts that hold it on are only 6mm ones, and can shear off quite easily. If that bit of the thermostat has fallen into the pump it's probably sitting by the temperature sensor, nowhere near the impeller, so it's probably quite safe where it is. Regards Brian.
 
Brian, My guess is that the missing piece has been sitting there minding it's own business for quiet a while so I've decided to leave well alone. A tad chancy I know but as the car has been coping manfully for ages sending coolant through the tiny hole in the remains of the thermostat and failing to expire, I think this may be a 'lucky' car.
 
Hello Paul, I'm trying to imagine how that part of the thermostat could dislodge itself from the main body as usually the two parts are fastened by crimping, for want of a better word. So how they came apart is beyond me, if indeed they did, on their own.....Yes, I think you are right, leave well alone.
 
I added half the bottle of WaterWetter to the expansion tank and drove the car on my usual test route. Result? Not one iota of difference (so far). Identical 80c both with and without.
 
The Waterwetter may be more effective (if it has such an effect) if it is added to the radiator directly (after sucking/draining some coolant out via the radiator cap to make room). Waterwetter (or anything else) put in the expansion tank only enters the engine areas when there is a loss of coolant from the main system to then suck fresh coolant and Waterwetter in - the coolant is not circulated through the expansion bottle as on some other vehicles, so the Waterwetter would normally just sit in the expansion tank doing nothing.
 
Adam, The same thought had crossed my mind however I have disconnected the heater and its hoses as well as siphoned coolant out of the water pump in search of the elusive missing thermostat, so adding the WaterWetter to the expansion tank resulted in the level dropping 4" or 5". Hence the WW did get into the system.
 
Paul Narramore said:
I added half the bottle of WaterWetter to the expansion tank and drove the car on my usual test route. Result? Not one iota of difference (so far). Identical 80c both with and without.
Click to expand...

Paul-Did you fill direcltly into rad or what? (if into expansion-bottle it'l take some time to work,but seing as you found the culprit to be the thermostat and
temp now in the 80C range you might not need it at all) -Reid
 
Yes, that is probably the case Reid. Whatever, it's a relief that the engine is now running cooler and at the correct temp especially as we shall be driving on to Portugal after Thenay. Spain in July will be hot
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Community platform by XenForo® © 2010-2024 XenForo Ltd.
Back
Top