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hi can anyone help us.
we have a friend who has tiger super kitcar,
the problem he has is the engine is not over heating or air locked but what is happening is the water level is flutuating up and down in the header tank, when he goes for a drive it goes right up and it either blows the radiator cap off or blows the bottom hose off, can any one surgest any solutions to the problem
Not sure what engine you have but is the header tank large enough? Another thought is to look at the pressure cap(s). On my Marlin Hunter the top cap on the rad is a plain blanking (non pressurised) cap and the one on the header tank is a 15psi one. Also check that they are not both plain blanking caps! Peter.
I would recommend a headgasket test which can be carried out by most garages in minutes with a liquid which tests the air in the radiator for contamination from a blown headgasket. More imformation is a must as Pete says. e.g. Has it been running ok prior to this. Is it a newly built car. Have you checked the flow through the radiator? Is the thermostat opening. what happens if you leave the cap off and run it up stationary. Some radiators and pipe runs are difficult to purge all air out so I personally would double check this especially as it costs nothing to try. You could also remove the thermostat to see if that makes any difference. Squeezing the hoses in different places should see a change in the water level in the header tank. If you get bubbles there is definitely air there. If you are near Plymouth give me a shout and I will take a look for you. Good luck
If it is a Ford Pinto engine there is a bleed spigot sticking out of the water pump housing that bleeds the cylinder head. Not sure if later engines like the Zetec have the same? Another way to help bleed air is to jack the front of the car up high or drive with the front up a steep ramp. Also does the top hose go "uphill" from the engine to the top rad connection. For best practice it should do. If not you may get an airlock there too. If you have a head gasket gone (enough to blow off the bottom hose) then running the engine with the rad cap off (from cold!) you will see air bubbles appear. Peter.
hi can anyone help us.
we have a friend who has tiger super kitcar,
the problem he has is the engine is not over heating or air locked but what is happening is the water level is flutuating up and down in the header tank, when he goes for a drive it goes right up and it either blows the radiator cap off or blows the bottom hose off, can any one surgest any solutions to the problem
Did you ever get to the bottom of this problem? I can then add it to my "solved unusual problems" list. Peter.
