As already referred to in another thread, my 450SE 'Goldie" has been off the road for a number of years now. It's aleays been an ready and immediate starter, but I did discover a slight water leak from somewhere 'deep down' that I could not really trace accurately. So, I decided to remove shroud and coupling, top and bottom radiator hoses, the overflow container, but I left the rediator untouched.
Whilst groping around in that area, I got rid of the seized smog pump and gave the whole front of the engine a really good degrease - quite remarkable just how much gunk I was able to get rid of. Oh, BTW, I also removed the Alternator and respective brackets. Anyway, I refitted all the components I had removed, and filled the system with water and started the car. Normally, once an engine reaches operating temperature, the running engine will just suck all water into its eternals, but that didn't happen in this instance. After putting in not a real lot of water, it just stayed in the overflow tank, the temperature remained at normal, and the top radiator tank got hot after a while, but the bottom tank remained cool or cold. I am looking for advice as I am not really sure what causes this phenomenon. Could the radiator be blocked, or is the thermostat stuck in the closed position ? I simply don't know what to make of it. Regards Styria
Whilst groping around in that area, I got rid of the seized smog pump and gave the whole front of the engine a really good degrease - quite remarkable just how much gunk I was able to get rid of. Oh, BTW, I also removed the Alternator and respective brackets. Anyway, I refitted all the components I had removed, and filled the system with water and started the car. Normally, once an engine reaches operating temperature, the running engine will just suck all water into its eternals, but that didn't happen in this instance. After putting in not a real lot of water, it just stayed in the overflow tank, the temperature remained at normal, and the top radiator tank got hot after a while, but the bottom tank remained cool or cold. I am looking for advice as I am not really sure what causes this phenomenon. Could the radiator be blocked, or is the thermostat stuck in the closed position ? I simply don't know what to make of it. Regards Styria