Morris Minor Owners Club

hello there!...need some advice please...!!...I'm running a 1976 A series 1275 Marina engine (with Marina radiator and expansion tank) in my 54 series 2 Minor. Seem to be having trouble with it running HOT....or am I? Only just recently completed full bodywork resto on car (mechanical side not touched) so have currently only done short journeys. After 10 miles or so when lifting the bonnet there seems to be excessive heat rising from the 'engine' and acompanied by a slight sizzling sound. To try and rectify the problem have today completely flushed the system thoroughly checked all hoses, connections etc....replaced themostat with new 88 degree and topped up system with water and fresh coolant....it still seems to be running very hot....very slight bubbling / leak around the heater shut off tap (this was left open during flush through). Have got to do a long journey on friday and am concerned and very apprehensive whether this is normal...or I should be worrying even more!? ...any tips / hint / advice would be greatly appreciated.....!...thank you!

88 degree stat is a bit high for summer use - but ideal in winter. I would change to 72 stat. Does the unit still have a fan drawing air in over the rad ? If it's not actually losing water out the overflow - it should be ok !

Why on earth wouldn't there be a fan?

..yep....still got a fan....and not losing any water from anywhere...just nervous that it feels way, way too hot.....but if that's the norm...and they do tend to be a bit warm...then I won't panic!....'twas also the sizzling sound that alarmed me as well....but I'll just try not to keep listening out for it...!!...thank you!

Let's see a bigger pic of that car - looks cool!

..haha!....thankya!.... ....but, just had the roof done in black holographic metalflake...so we are now waiting for a sunny day (can you believe it after all that sun!! ) to take some pics to do it justice...but will do asap.....

"Why on earth wouldn't there be a fan? " - many folks take the fan off - and this car has non-standard rad - so part of the fault finding routine is to ask the questions !!

"Too Hot" = water boiling out of the radiator!

Seriously, the pressure cap (the standard is 4 psi - for a Minor) raises the boiling point of water above 100C.

That gives (say) 12C difference between the thermostat opening and non-boiling.
Unless you're putting a lot more power into the system, it should manage ok.

There will be a "sizzling/hissing" noise if there is a microscopic leak - this may be hoses (I think that the Marina has 8psi radiator cap - so there's more pressure on all the hoses), more likley it's the pressure cap - if there's a slight nick in the seal - or the system is still heating up & the coolant expanding - via the overflow pipe.

Take a gallon of water with you,

Colin

...thank you....will check and tighten all hoses methinks as well....
.......we're starting to think it may be due to the fact that we've had her sat for over 3 months...not moving whilst we rebuilt her....so we've only done short 8-10 mile bursts of journey since then....she turned over first time after sitting idle all that length of time...so starting to think she just needs a damn good run....to flush everything through!!.....

bmcecosse wrote:"Why on earth wouldn't there be a fan? " - many folks take the fan off - and this car has non-standard rad - so part of the fault finding routine is to ask the questions !!

Only people who rally their car would take the fan of I'd say. Wouldn't it be foolish to remove the fan in a normal day to day car? If the original wouldn't fit, then surely they replaced it with a Kenlowe fan or similar?

And yes I do know faults can be found by asking questions. I may be weird, but I aint stupid!

bmcecosse wrote:"Why on earth wouldn't there be a fan? " - many folks take the fan off - and this car has non-standard rad - so part of the fault finding routine is to ask the questions !!

Right - It's just I've NEVER met one of the "many folks" who remove the fan. Clearly my life's experience is not complete.

I took the fan off one winter -it was quieter and warmed up quicker but I got nervous in traffic as it didn't have a temperature gauge so haven't repeated the experiment. I'm guessing minx's Minor doesn't have a gauge fitted either.

Stig28 wrote:I took the fan off one winter -it was quieter and warmed up quicker but I got nervous in traffic as it didn't have a temperature gauge so haven't repeated the experiment. I'm guessing minx's Minor doesn't have a gauge fitted either.

...no, we don't have a temp gauge....and I'm kinda glad really...would dread to be able to actually SEE how hot it's getting as well as feel and hear it!....

Big A wrote:

It's just I've NEVER met one of the "many folks" who remove the fan

Possibly because they are all at the road-side with vapour-locks?

Colin

or the system is still heating up & the coolant expanding - via the overflow pipe.

Not with an expansion chamber.
You may find the excessive heat is jsut down to the current air temperatures we are currently getting, the slight sizzling is the thing to try and pin down, if there is a leak the antifreeze colour show show where its coming from.

Hello all,

just to add to the fan debate. I only have a Kenlowe on my Triumph and even in summer it rarely cuts in unless I'm crawling in traffic. As I lve in a rural area this does not happen very often. Driving in town, even, is fast enough to keep the engine cool.

Alec

I tried that idea in my Triumph. Stuck a Metro fan on the rad, with a manual switch.

In the really hot weather it was really strugling, had to flick the fan on rather a lot, so went back to the normal setup.

A shame, as there was a lot less noise from under the bonnet with the fan removed.

I had an electric fan on my 2.25l petrol Land Rover and I think I switched it on maybe twice. No problems at all with overheating.

I had loads of trouble with my first Moggy though (1968 1098cc saloon). Flushed everything back and forth several times, replaced the thermostat and the water pump, but nothing helped. If I took it up a long hill I had to stop for half an hour at the top to let it cool down. I regularly had to switch the heater on in hot weather to increase the cooling capacity. I once boiled over on the A19 and had to refill the radiator with a bottle of Diet Coke I happened to have in the back... Eventually sold the car without managing to figure out what the problem was (I did warn the buyer).

My old rally Minor never had a fan - and was used to commute through Glagow every day too. My Traveller only sports the fan in high summer - no fan rest of the time - it is much quieter and seems to go better - but probably 99% of that is in my head!
I'm not really advocating fan removal - although it is very common on MGBs for example - with leccy fan fitted instead. My Q here was just to make sure this car DID have a fan ! To get back to the problem - the water pump vanes may have corroded very badly - new pumps have bigger/deeper vanes and may be a good investment. If you go that route - check the bigger impeller clears the internals of the block ok before bolting it all together again.