Car not running right. Broken spark plug?

[James k]

I might try flushing the system out again and refilling, the dishwasher tablet approach scares me slightly though. I drove the car forty miles today and it was running smoothly for most of it, it did get less smooth near the end of the journey though. Firstly, one of the front brakes is binding and getting very hot. Would that noticeably affect the smoothness of the car? The heater is getting VERY hot, almost too hot to touch. There is no white smoke pouring out the back as there was before when the head gasket went but there is some blue smoke when I reverse into my driveway after a drive. That's the only time I get it.

[panky]

You can also use a conventional flushing agent but, if you've got some, the tabs wont do any harm. Blue smoke is oil burning, either rings or valve guides but worn guides usually give a puff of smoke on start up, the reason you see it when reversing is because you're driving into the cloud If it's not bad and the oil consumption isn't horrific it will be OK for a while yet.
I'd check out that brake drum, it may be just over adjusted and binding when hot but best to take it off and check it for cylinder leaks. Get yourself a can of brake cleaner to give everything a good spray to wash the brake dust away - beware of asbestos.

[James k]

The problem is, I don't have a jack so I can't adjust the brake myself :/ I know that the rings are worn, a wet and dry compression test confirmed that before, there's not much smoke though. I've noticed that the fan belt is also loose, not squealing but you can see it flapping when the engine is idling.

[panky]

You can get nice little bottle jacks off ebay for about £15- a small trolley jack is even better but you need to get some axle stands as well if working on the car - , worth the investment. It would be advisable to nip up the fan belt too, but not banjo string tight.

[bmcecosse]

Heater sounds slightly extreme...

[James k]

Heater sounds slightly extreme...

That's what I thought It got too hot to touch the front plate for more than a second.

[James k]

I've just got back from a three mile drive. Again, the heater got extremely hot but no steam coming out the bonnet or anything like that. I checked the radiator cap again, very little pressure released. I also checked the oil filler cap when revving, no smoke. I put a dirty plug into cylinder two as Roy suggested before the drive, it didn't clean up. Since I have no temperature gauge, I can't tell if it's overheating. The hot heater doesn't seem right to me though. The radiator doesn't seem to be losing any water but the coolant is now all a muddy brown colour instead of the blue that it was before.

[panky]

Drain off the coolant by pulling the bottom hose off the rad and flush it through a few times and see if it makes any difference. While you're at it check the thermostat, if it's not opening properly then the heater will see a highflow of very hot water

[grumpydad]

Hi
if you want to borrow a jack and a brake adjusting spanner
send me a PM we are in Hastings
have seen you out and about
we have the light blue travey

[bmcecosse]

All sounds good to me then. I assume the heater output is 'good' ?

[James k]

grumpydad, Thanks for the offer, I'll drop you a PM when I get round to the brake. I've seen your car around Hastings too

Roy, The heater output is 'good', I just wonder if it's a little too 'good'. It gets extremely hot whereas most people I speak to go on about how rubbish the heaters were on Morris Minors!

I've just spent a while flushing out the cooling system. I flushed out the radiator until it was clear then flushed the heater both ways, then the engine by flushing through a heater hose (water went in the heater hose and out the bottom radiator hose). Was that the right approach? I had to use about an olympic swimming pool's worth of water to get anything approaching clean to come out. The water that came out at first was absolutely FILTHY, like sewage. I've now refilled the system and stuck a load of dishwasher powder in the radiator. I've taken it for a long drive (about four miles) and am waiting for it to cool down.

My speedo cable also snapped today, so many jobs mounting up :/

[bmcecosse]

Don't leave the dishwasher powder in there! Drain and flush immediately. Check for a winter thermostat fitted.

[James k]

Okay, I'll drain it now. i din't want to burn my hand:/ How can I check if the thermostat works? The housing is stuck so hard to the head.

[bmcecosse]

You need to get it off. Run release oil down the studs, and try to remove one stud at a time.

[aupickup]

like wise if you need to borrow anything i am in sedlescombe not far from hastings well 5 minles
also have some running spares if any one gets stuck on a sunday

[James k]

Thanks aupickup! I'll bear that in mind too

I've now finished flushing and refilling it. The dishwasher powder filled water came out brown and full of rubbish. I then flushed the engine the same way as before, radiator, heater and engine until the water was consistently clear (a lot of flushing). I then filled the system with water and antifreeze and took it for a run before topping it up. So far the coolant is still crystal clear so we'll see how that works out. I've got a forty mile drive tomorrow so I can't risk trying to take the thermostat off at the moment. I'll see how the heater and coolant colour are after that run. Fingers crossed!

I also tightened up the fan belt which had become quite loose, I wonder if that had been contributing.

On another note, I've heard about people 'steam cleaning' their engines by getting them to suck water in through the vacuum advance tube. Does this work? And more importantly, is it safe to do?

Thanks for all the advice so far!

[panky]

Good luck and take plenty of water with you - just in case
Not heard of the steam cleaning trick, sounds dodgy to me - I wouldn't like to hydraulic an engine

[grumpydad]

Hi
use plus gas on the studs
NOT WD40
remove the nuts first and soke over night
be very careful its very easy to snap the studs
you can also heat up the ally housing around the studs
with a blow tourch and soke with plus gas again
lots of pople come to grief on this job

[bmcecosse]

Steam clean works well. Hot engine, good fast idle and yes just dribble the vac pipe into a jar of water. Obviously the if it falters too much, lift the tube out. beware the filth that will come out the exhaust. Perhaps best to do it out of town,... Then a good run home.

[panky]

I'd heard of water injection systems but this way is new to me, I think I need to have a go and annoy the neighbours.