P38A The right words to use....

Well, it's make or break time...
Waited for two years to get to go to the offroad weekend...
The day before we go..
Plans are..
Change the coolant,
Load the bus with all the camping gear and solorpanel and gazebo and clothes tools and some spares...
Living room is packed out with stuff to load up and this is where the choice of phrase or words or curse or luck even come into it ....
Fu ker decides to spew coolant....
Thermostat checked,
Water pump checked,
Radiator checked.. I'll burn the tw t, break it... Set fire to it... Or even thank her for letting go here rather than 5.5hrs away or in some woods on a hill or valley.... Boy am I really Fu ked off right now... Worked with my son Elliott until 2am this morning.. We even put his rad in and fitted his viscous so i didn't have to butcher his rad.
All for Fu king nothing.. What à tw t....
So... Manifold off, compression check... And see where I go from there... At 224.000mls it's done well but what's the next thing.. Gearbox ? Axles? Transfer box (which grumbles)? Fuel pump? Maybe some sleep will help.. Green ba tard...

Mine dumped all the coolant out 7 years ago. Missus towed home (lots of words). I refilled and watched it ... never did it again. Over the following weeks I replaced the water pump and stat as preventative maintenance but other than that it has been fine. I assumed sticky-stat in the end.

I assume you're thinking cracked head?

You don't have a viscous, do you? Fan cutting in?

We put my son's rad and fan on at the end and it still pushed the coolant out.. Tested the thermostat and it opens, the water was pulled out and the blade is tight. The pump was pulled the first and was still quite warm in the hands.
My rad had curved on the top plastic section and was letting coolant straight across... Checked that with a camera and an air line. I could see the air bubbles at the bottom of the baffle and the brass bypass tube in the top had popped out by 30mm.. The rad is shafted and it never had the strong coolant return at the filler cap after it was replaced. Fu king gutted, angry and disappointed for my better half and kids as we were fighting to make the limited places for this weekend.

It's not just an air lock causing a localised boil, is it?

We drained and filled the bugger multiple times, nose up, nose down and level. It's never had an issue being refilled before and it's been refilled a few times in four years..

Pull the stat and run it cooler for the weekend till you can get another rad.

The radiator was cold at the bottom while the heat built up in the engine. I'm going to check some more today. I didn't want to go near it at all right now..

I almost daren't ask.. did it need to be changed before you went away?

P38-DFX said:

Pull the stat and run it cooler for the weekend till you can get another rad.

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We swapped the rad for another known good one and still the same issues.

kermit_rr said:

I almost daren't ask.. did it need to be changed before you went away?

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Two years was up and there was a build up in the tank.

Thankfully it let go here at home and not fully loaded in the middle of France or up on the circuit..

Mark Piercy said:

We swapped the rad for another known good one and still the same issues.

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I mean, remove the thermostat completely. The engine will run a little cooler but should stop it from boiling over.

P38-DFX said:

I mean, remove the thermostat completely. The engine will run a little cooler but should stop it from boiling over.

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I know and thank you. It's a 5.5hr drive fully loaded with the family. I'm not going the risk if it ruins the engine the car will be broken. At this point in time I don't even want to look at it. Thanks peeps.

I am sorry to hear about this mate
I am gutted for you and your family though i am glad it happened while you were all safe still at home and not somewhere miles away.
I had a very similar issue with an old P38 of mine.
I let my coolant drain then gave everything a blast through with my air gun.
I was that ****ed off like you are right now mate.
I then walked away reassembled and put coolant back in and it worked. Never found out what caused it. I sold that P38 about 4 months later to a friend and he never saw the problem again.
It never raised its ugly head again and everything was fine,
I think the blast of air frightened it into life.

kurtjohnson10 said:

ISorry to hear about this mate
I am gutted for you and your family though i am glad it happened while you were all safe still at home and not somewhere miles away.
I had a very similar issue with an old P38 of mine i et my coolant drain then gave everything a blast with my air gun.
I was that ****ed off like you are right now mate.
I then walked away reassembled and put coolant back in and it worked. Never found out what caused it. I sold that P38 about 4 months later to a friend and he never saw the problem again.
It never raised its ugly head again and everything was fine, I think the blast of air frightened it into life.

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Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh, you know what... Ive been out and with my great ability of self doubt and self questioning... I got a funnel and fitted a rubber hose around neck and filled the funnel above the level of everything on the engine and heater pipes.... Squeezed the carp out of it and tons and I mean tons of basturd air.... Never had this as you say ever in the time I've owned the old girl....

I feel like such a pr*ck. At least I didn't take it for granted.... Took it out for a run calmly and then dropped in into third and beat the **** out of it... With my lads viscous fan it never even touched 12 oclock on the gauge. I'm letting it cool now, making a drink of coffee and going back out to stare at the cow and blame my own stupidly....

P38s, they love to be the centre of attention.

Christine should have been written around a P38, not a Plymouth Fury

Mark Piercy said:

Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh, you know what... Ive been out and with my great ability of self doubt and self questioning... I got a funnel and fitted a rubber hose around neck and filled the funnel above the level of everything on the engine and heater pipes.... Squeezed the carp out of it and tons and I mean tons of basturd air.... Never had this as you say ever in the time I've owned the old girl....
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I feel like such a pr*ck. At least I didn't take it for granted.... Took it out for a run calmly and then dropped in into third and beat the **** out of it... With my lads viscous fan it never even touched 12 oclock on the gauge. I'm letting it cool now, making a drink of coffee and going back out to stare at the cow and blame my own stupidly....

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once gain - well done young Jedi

Thanks for your support my mates.
We are going Fu king caaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmping and range rover bashing...

Glad you managed to sort it. Time to go apologise to her before she takes it seriously lol

Mark Piercy said:

Thanks for your support my mates.
We are going Fu king caaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmping and range rover bashing...
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Good man - enjoy all of you - plenty of pics please .
Have a great time