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Looks familiar, I had to change the plugs on mine when I bought it and they came out looking similar. When I bought my car, it needed a head gasket and when I pulled apart the engine, the block was silted up with rust so that almost no coolant could get through. During the course of disassembly I learned, quite by accident, that the hose going from the expansion bottle back to the head has a rubber insert in it to restrict the coolant flow, and this had become plugged once upon a time with a piece of red RTV sealant. This is my thought process on what happened next:
- coolant flow to head was reduced, this caused the head to run hot and warp, thus the need for the head gasket
- leaking gasket blew bubbles into the coolant which collected in the rad
- the owners noticing overheating and low rad, being in Seattle filled it up with water on a regular basis
- this is when the rust started, exacerbating the problems all around, by reducing the coolant flow in the block and silting up the rad
- when I got it they had replaced the rad but by then the damage was done
After fixing everything and flushing the engine and hoses to death, my car is fine except on the highway above 65mph it will start to creep up and overheat after an hour of driving. So everything is not solved yet. Other things that may be going on that I will investigate next year:
- take off the water pump and look at the impellor. I think it's made of tin of some sort and if rust/silt got into the pump, which is at a low area of the motor, it could wear out the impellor, further causing cooling problems.
- I am also missing the plastic shroud that covers the bottom of the engine and I have it on good authority that this is key to keeping the engine cool at highway speeds.
Bottom line is that your engine wouldn't have probably had any issues if people had just changed the coolant regularly and used the proper mixture. Mine might have been fine without the wayward RTV.
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Yeah, I have had some issues with coolant flow in that top hose- it had collected a little bit of rust and was blocking flow when the engine was cold.
Also the new coolant tank doesn't leak.
I found a lot of rusty flakes in the bottom of the gallery when I took the plugs out- liberated as much as I could with a magnet.
This is also why I used a tiny speck of RTV on the plugs and spread it round thinly. It just needed to help seat the things in properly.
Mine doesn't have the lower shroud, the best it has is the plastic bit around the radiator fan. Despite that I'll sit at 70 all day long on the highway in 100F weather with the aircon on and it'll sit happily in the middle of the gauge.
Water pump is a cast aluminum affair, and fairly strong if it's an OEM style one. You should see a good strong squirt of water into the coolant bottle before the thermostat opens. The original thermostat was horrible. Also, the system is bad for getting airlocked. Do you have the original radiator with the bleed screw on the top driver's side? I follow the manual procedure:
Park the car so it's slightly butt-upwards on a slope, engine cold.
Open the screw on the radiator. Fill the radiator expansion bottle to the FULL mark (about 2" from the top).
Leave the expansion tank cap off.
Start the engine. Wait until the motor begins to warm up sufficiently that the thermostat opens.
You should get pops and burps of water and air from the screw.
Squeeze the top hose a few times to encourage any bubbles in the top of the radiator to be drawn through. Leave the hose alone after this.
Once the stream of coolant from the screw is only coolant and no more bubbles of air, close the screw with pliers, just nipped up enough that it doesn't leak.
Top off the reservoir to FULL and rev the engine a few times to about 3000 rpm. Top up as necessary.
Replace cap. Idle engine until fan cuts in, validate all hoses are hot, heater is hot and gauge drops rapidly upon fan cutting in.
--Phil
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Last Edit: Oct 7, 2015 20:02:17 GMT by PhilA
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Oct 24, 2015 15:46:58 GMT
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Not much to report really. Had some stalling/lumpy running problems. Took all the connectors apart in the engine bay, cleaned them and refitted with some DeOxIt.
Lumpy running gone, stalling reduced to first rev-up after cold (think the fuel pressure is wrong still) and fuel economy is improved from UK 26 to UK 33MPG, which isn't bad for short runs with the aircon on full blast.
In other news there is grease all over the front right wheel. CV boot will have let go then. Added to the to-do list.
--Phil
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Replaced the belt tonight and jetwashed the oil away. Front CV boot properly split, grease everywhere (everyhere!) and join making grumbling and clunking noises. Gonna cut my losses and get a new driveshaft, rebuilt, and chuck that in.
Need to investigate the creak from the rear suspension. Sounds like it's just the anti-roll-bar bushings but can't reproduce the creak by pushing on the body from under, on the ramps.
Relay for the heater fan burned up. One contact got very very hot and melted the contacts. Gotta sort that out also.
Might be off the road if the tripod starts making worse noises up front. Fun times.
--Phil
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Dec 11, 2015 11:32:03 GMT
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I had a GTA convertible in the early/mid 1990s. Wrenched on it myself and it did have its share of things go wrong, but I had been annealed by owning several British cars. It was not possessed with a demon from hell though, as yours is. That probably had to do with mine being of a relatively young age at the time. Can't imagine it lasting as long as yours has.
I think it dropped a valve, I don't remember for sure, but I sold it and replaced it with a 1986 Maserati Spyder. It made the wife happy (both were her cars) and continued to make sure I spent plenty of time in the garage!
Keep up the good work. You are turning back the clock twenty years for me. That's priceless.
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Dec 11, 2015 12:32:11 GMT
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Forgot. I toyed back in the day with getting a turbo Volvo 480 engine & auto tranny imported (wife wanted the auto-box). Today they've developed this engine into all sorts of glory. Has that crazy thought ever crossed your mind? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_F-Type_engine |
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Dec 17, 2015 18:45:48 GMT
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Forgot. I toyed back in the day with getting a turbo Volvo 480 engine & auto tranny imported (wife wanted the auto-box). Today they've developed this engine into all sorts of glory. Has that crazy thought ever crossed your mind? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_F-Type_engineOh yes. Quite a lot, however, it's pokey enough with the engine it has, and the fuel economy is good. No point tearing it all out considering it's only done 3000 miles since rebuild  It's currently broken, wheel bearing took a dump on itself. --Phil |
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What's up Phil? You haven't posted in a while.
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Jun 23, 2016 21:00:47 GMT
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Jun 27, 2016 22:39:13 GMT
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Fixed wheel bearing, then the brakes went. It sat up for a while, went fitted a replacement master cylinder but that had a manufacturing defect. The ramps at work are broken, waiting- currently mowing around the car...
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brc76
RR Helper
Posts: 1,108 
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welcome back Phil, when is the 2nd replacement master cylinder due in?
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Jun 28, 2016 11:11:32 GMT
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It's in, need to get the system bled.
Phil
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Jun 28, 2016 21:24:37 GMT
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Did you take a look at that instrument cluster idea?!?!?!
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Jun 28, 2016 22:00:33 GMT
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I did. Interesting use, rather slow to boot up though.
Nice that it's very versatile. Imagination is the limit. I still like my dash, it mostly works properly...
Phil
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I got a mirror from a guy in Canada. Old one for comparison. New one looks almost new in comparison.  Also been mowing round it. That is 4 days' worth of grass. Yay summertime.  --Phil |
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brc76
RR Helper
Posts: 1,108
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the grass up here in Massachusetts is brown and dead. I'm not sure what's better. brown and crunchy or extra mowing....
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This morning's drive to work in the cold* was nothing but a loud KRIEEEeeEEeIIIiieeeEEEEEEEeEEeeEEEEEEEeEEEEEEEEE from the speedometer drive. Dash out again then. --Phil *it was actually 2 degrees Celsius this morning how do you get the cable off the cluster on the 1987 gta just want new lights |
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would just like to know how to remove speedometer cable from dash of my 1987 gta if some one could email me at tourandr@msn.com
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düdo
Part of things
wide as house
Posts: 770
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would just like to know how to remove speedometer cable from dash of my 1987 gta if some one could email me at tourandr@msn.com The dash looks pretty similar to my '88 Renault 21.. try this,it might help or it could be useless : - lower the steering column, - remove the four instrument panel cowl screws, - depress demist and hazard switches then use a screwdriver to depress the clips to release the cowl - remove the instrument panel screws - lift and withdraw the panel you should just be able to get your hand behind to disconnect the electrical connectors. It helps to feed the speedo cable through from the engine side of the bulkhead so you can get enough space to twist it off its connection on the back of the instrument panel. Sounds easy but it's a pain in the area.. my hands got quite grazed in the process. Good luck |
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Last Edit: Dec 5, 2016 18:53:31 GMT by düdo
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Jan 18, 2017 21:38:57 GMT
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Any updates for this?!?1
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