my new trike project

[Olds]

I've got into the habit of drilling a 1/16" (1.6mm) air relief hole into thermostats that don't have one already. Lets the air past without making any noticeable difference to warm up time.

[fifer]

pm received cheers olds 
just so you can see, this is how she looks after coming home

my new trike project

I can see a major problem in that you do not appear to have the water hose connected from the rear of the cylinder head to the waterpump ?
The Reliant engine is prone to silting up at the rear pot . It can also come from the factory with sand in the casting .
If you do not have the water being recycled and cooler water introduced the water will not fully circulate and super heat around pots 3 and 4 .
Partial cure is to remove the wee drain plug at the rear of the block and , if clear water will pour out ,If blocked it could just be a trickle or nothing at all .

Beware ; the wee drain plug often shears off , so think carefully before you remove and ask yourself if you can repair / sort any damage

If blocked , prod the hole gently with a thin screwdriver through the crud and , after doing that , flush thoroughly  .

I know that some trikes with Reliant engines run ok with the rear hose removed but these are few and far between .
I agree that it improves the looks but personally I would go for Rideability and long mileages rather than looks
.
.

[twisted]

cheers guys. yes i will be fitting the aforementioned hose as soon as i get the parts i need for the job. might be able to get at a couple of robins at the weekend that are being broken so hope to fit after that. will flush it all out before fitting. fingers crossed that fixes the issue and i can get out and about on it.

[twisted]

ok i got the bits that i needed. fellow member supplied water pump and rear hose adaptor and i bought hose, clips, thermostat housing, rad flush and coolant. removed rad and fan to get pump of and fitted new one then added pipe so she now looks like this.

my new trike project

my new trike project

then followed the instructions and flushed the system.
took her out on saturday for first run. covered about 20ish miles. she only coughed about 4-5 times and nowhere near as much as before. so and sunday after reading some posts from here i fitted a temporary overflow/expansion tank using a 300ml pop bottle so i could see what was happening. before heading out looked like this

 

my new trike project

covered another 24 miles. got her up to 60mph at one point for a bit  . she coughed a few more times and did towards the end of the run just slightly over fill the bottle so it sprayed on my leg again. when i stopped back home the bottle looked like this

my new trike project

and in around 4 minutes (time taken to unlock building and open shutters) the bottle looked like this

my new trike project

so i think i will drop all the fluid out and flush with water again.
questions :
is this normal as in spitting fluid?
is it common to need to have expansion/overflow tanks?
any causes for this?
am i going to do any damage by keep riding her?

i have trolled the site over the weekend and am worrying it might be head gasket. partly due to an old post by tbone in this thread http://www.mankymonkeymotors.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=6458.msg77818#msg77818. at some point after starting the trike i remember seeing bubbles coming from the pipe in the bottle but cant remember if she was still warming up or warm. i thought at time it might be the air escaping out the pipe as the air expanded in the rad. would that be right? there is no mayo under filler cap and oil on dip stick looks clean as. any other ideas?
still need to set the timing. could this cause the issues?
and whats the test called that a garage can do for it and any idea of cost? cheers again in advance for any answers.

on the plus side....... WHAT A BUZZ i loved it. didnt want to get off but it got to dark to ride in my tinted glasses. had a racer biker pull up next to me at lights and said he really liked it  and plenty thumbs up whilst riding. she is steady and great on corners. getting used to gear changes and happy to let go of bars with left hand, no wobble. was a bit worrying at 60 bit bouncy bit will get used to it and let a bit more air out the front i think.cant wait to get out again.

[kapri]

Water expands when hot, if the system is filled to the top it's got to go somewhere  Original rads used to have a marker wire in the neck to show a level . Fill it to about 20mm below the neck and try again.

I know Reliants have a reputation for head gasket issues but before stripping and spending money on a hunch dye test the water for CO2 . Kits are about £10 on Ebay

Amount of expansion and contraction looks pretty much spot on. Run it a bit more to let it settle down.

Once all bled you can expect some small bubble but large bubbles are still air lock or poss head gasket issues.

They're fun aren't they

[Olds]

It can take a while to get all the air out of the system. The change in colour is a bit strange. Seems you might still need to flush the system some more.
What per cent antifreeze are you using and does the air in the bottle smell like exhaust ?

[twisted]

kapri. after reading one of your other posts i looked for a marker but couldnt see one so i filled it to about 20-30mm over the fins in the rad  . will look at getting a kit now. i had small bubbles so that makes me feel a bit better, no big burps. and yes lots of fun. still some getting used to but feelling better with every mile.

olds. yeah i didnt like the colour  . water was running clean after the flush. will drop the pipes and run the hose through it again then refill. i think i had it about 50-50. the bit in the bottle was more like 75-25 coolant/water. i have not sniffed the bottle, will do that next time i run her out. think i will be getting one of those ali bottles olds 

if it is the head gasket am i going to be doing damage to her by riding her more?

[Olds]

Never had an overflow catch on mine.  If all is good with head, fuel and ignition, the coolant level should settle to a point where it's covering the rad tubes when cold with no more spurting out the overflow.
Shouldn't really ride it too much until you have it sorted, but it's such fun.

[andyrennison]

Wouldn't worry about the water color too much at this stage. Fifer may know better but i recall my old reliant regal took quite some time before the water became stable and transparent after i rebuilt her engine. Each temp cycle seemed to free another load of gunge into the water. Settled eventually.

[twisted]

cheers for that andy good to know. dropped the coolant out of her again and flushed her through with the hose again. before filling her up with coolant again the usual happened, saw a hole and thought best to stick me finger in there  so just inside the rad in the corner below the filler cap i found.......monkey poo!

 

my new trike project

so thats half of what i dug out with my finger. it feels like greasy mud.
put some clean coolant into the overflow bottle and took a short ride down the road, about 1.5 miles. no real cough but water was discoloured when i got back. calling someone tomorrow to see if they have a co2 test kit, if not i will order one. hope to ride her on my lunch hour to go and by more coolant and maybe more monkey poo flush

[terry t]

you want to put some engine rad flush in there run it then flush it out

[twisted]

yeah terry i have done that already with holts 2 step rad flush but think i might have to get another bottle and do it again 

[terry t]

yeah terry i have done that already with holts 2 step rad flush but think i might have to get another bottle and do it again 

Craig, try some central heating flush like fernox cleaner F3 or similar it wont damage any rubbers or gaskets as its designed for modern boilers. it you lived closer you could have came round and I would have connected it up to my central heating power flushing
equipment that would shift the sludge   

[twisted]

cheers terry will look into that. if it dont shift and i get more confident might ride it down 

[the coppersmith]

I agree, I highly rate central heating cleanser, I put it in use it for a week or so, then flushed it all out, like you I was shocked at what came loose, including a sandy residue. My mate then power flushed it both ways, fantastic job and the engine never gets to hot now. I also use inhibitor now and I'm sure the engine is quieter.