Major Coolant Loss

[MikkiJayne]

Its chromed then painted mild steel. Not sure why they chromed it tbh - it makes no sense when it is then painted black afterwards. Possibly they were trying to reject heat from the exhaust manifold and then decided it looked rubbish so painted it.

Rust on steel cooling parts is usually caused by a constant leak (ie the oil cooler pipe) which then gets topped up with plain water, or, ironically, the coolant being too old and losing its anti-corrosive properties. The latter is quite rare on D2s because they have usually been in bits for something well before the coolant goes bad

[steamship]

Originally Posted by HPsauce

Ah, for those horrible spring band things!
If I encounter those I tend to try and replace them with jubilee clips.

Quite understandable as I don't like them either, but because of where it was I didn't have much choice. After removing the intake pipe to the throttle body, a rubber pipe coming from the SAI and unbolting and pushing aside several shrouded cables, I could just about touch the clip with my fingertips, and I don't have fat fingers.

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Rust on steel cooling parts is usually caused by a constant leak which then gets topped up with plain water, or, ironically, the coolant being too old and losing its anti-corrosive properties

"ay, there's the rub" ...and MJ has once again hit the nail on the head. I think it's what they refer to as karma. A combination of little events resulting in disaster.

1. (For those with a good memory) Knowing about an insignificant leak from the radiator so small you can only see a tiny bit of steam coming from the top corner after a long run and not getting around to fitting a new one (which I have sitting here).
2. Topping it up once in a blue moon with said 'plain water' because my garage is a locked shipping container and water is easier to get hold of.
3. Underestimating just how cold it's been these last couple of weeks. I've been living in this house in NI on and off for 50 years and have never seen it so cold (-6 at 9am on the day in question).

We live and learn from our mistakes!

[steamship]

Good new and bad news.

The good news is that I got the refurbished pipe from MJ yesterday, and fitted it today. You can see from the photo a comparison of old and new. Fitted everything back together again, no spares parts left over so started filling it with antifreeze and water...

Now the bad news. There's another leak from the front of the engine, but I think I'll need to take the entire front off to see where it's coming from. Hoping it's something simple like the water pump gasket or water pump, but fearing the worst. Not a very good photo, but it's taken from the top of the right bank, looking down towards the centre

[MikkiJayne]

Damn. Thats not a good place to have a leak.

Lmk if you need to borrow the timing tools to take the belt off.

[steamship]

Cheers MJ. Thankfully I have the timing tools. Bought them from someone on the forum years ago.

I think I'll spend the next while figuring out all the parts I can fit once the front end is off, working on the premise that it ain't the head. Just won't be nice working on it outside during winter.

[steamship]

Well, after a lot of lousy weather and other 'issues' I have to deal with, I decided to start working on the car. Got the headlights off fine and disconnected the loom going to the bumper and disconnected the washer pipe. That was the easy part! The two bolts for the bumper took me about a hour each to get out using a 60cm breaker bar, which leaves me with a question.

In the attached image, you'll see the bolt and the threaded bush it goes through. Near the far right of the bolt, you'll see a bright line. That's about three threads deep of stripped material (both bolts are like that). The question is, is the threaded bush in the image and the attached illustration (#28) threaded on the inside as well, because if it is, mine are both completely stripped? The initial force used to start the bolt removal wasn't that strong (I used a bog standard 1/2 inch ratchet handle), but after that I had to use the breaker bar until the last few threads.

[MikkiJayne]

That threaded bush wasn't supposed to come out at all Did that come with the bolt? I don't understand even how that is possible tbh. The hole in the bumper is smaller than the bushing

The galled aluminium on the end of the bolt has come out of the retaining nut on the top of the bumper bar, and likely taken the rest of the thread out with it unfortunately. They are held to the bumper bar with T25 torx screws so you may be able to remove them and rescue the thread with a tap.

[steamship]

Sorry for the confusion. I removed the threaded bush after removing the bumper just to get a photo of it along with the bolt. It was getting dark so I didn't get a decent look inside the bush, but it looked like it had threads at one time. Possibly just the result of the galled aluminium on the thread leaving score marks as I unbolted it.

Can I assume therefore that the inside doesn't have threads, and all I need to do is give it a thorough cleaning?

I had thought about the gall maybe coming from where the bolt met the but, along with 20 years of corrosion, but never checked the nuts on the bumper, as I wanted to get it put in a shipping container overnight. I'll check them out and see what state they're in.

[MikkiJayne]

Originally Posted by steamship

Can I assume therefore that the inside doesn't have threads, and all I need to do is give it a thorough cleaning?

Correct

The aluminium on the end of the bolt can be poked out with a pick. I don't have an intact bumper to hand at the moment, but if you look at it where the bolts go through you'll see the 'nuts' on the top of the cross beam. The bolts are M12x1.5 which is easy enough to get a tap for if you don't already have one. You may be able to clean up the thread enough to torque the bolts.

Unfortunately seized bumper bolts are becoming quite common on D2s as they do fewer miles and don't get taken apart so often. When faced with this I will remove the bumper complete with the support rams and strip the bumper down to get the cross beam out, rams still attached. I'll then cut the heads off the bolts and unscrew the nuts from the top, complete with the shank of the bolt. Then with the nut in the bench vice and with some persuasion from WD40 and mapp gas, I'll screw the bolt further in to the nut, pushing the galled section out of the top which I can then cut off. The remains of the bolt can then be unscrewed and the nut saved. I'll sacrifice the bolt to save the nut, since the bolt can still be bought from Tradition, and the nut can't.

[steamship]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Correct

Perfect.

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

The aluminium on the end of the bolt can be poked out with a pick.

Initially I thought those threads were stripped (thinking back to the 'mechanic' who did the last timing belt, etc. and the rear output shaft seal), but thankfully found exactly what you said, that they were full of gall. I've ordered up a tap and die set, as who knows what other issues I might face.

BTW Is it possible to change the belts and all the pulleys and tensioners without taking the front end off, as it's a very tight area to work in? Just curious, as seriously beginning to wonder if the 'mechanic' ever did the job years ago.