SJ + sailing = Fun!

[SherwoodNash]

Mine's a 4 speed, be grateful you have 5 gears for the motorway

[Tramp]

Twiss, my sj413 is fine on the flat but terrible on hills, even without a trailer, going down the motorway at 50mph, even the slightest incline and I will have to change down to 4th!

She has 28" mud terrain tyres, I though this might have been the reason but maybe she could be low on power? I know they don't have much power to start with!

Mine is the same, underpowered & it was an absolute dog when it came to towing!!! It never used to be this bad, at one time I could maintain 7ph on the motorway, but now I'm lucky to get 60mph,I think mines missing something somewhere and I'm toying with the idea of taking it somewhere for a check up!

[twiss]

Well I do have a 1.6 16v which probably helps a bit

[dan00001]

My sj has been fine all weekend, and then on the drive home she overheated :( when I lifted the bonnet, the radiator reservoir cap was off and sprayed water everywhere, but their was still water in the reservoir!

Also, momentarily, the heating in the car started blowing cold air, but turned back to hot air after I put the cap back on.

Where do I look first? I have no Idea about a cars cooling system!

Thanks.

[twiss]

there's usually either a little hole in the top of reservoir cap, or an extra pipe coming off and then going downwards.
I've had the hole block up before and the pressure pops the lid off. Although I would definitely check the coolant level in the radiator as well. Top it up with the heater set to hot as it can help to avoid getting an air lock in there.
Also idle the engine with the rad cap off... make sure there aren't any bubbles in there as its a sign of headgasket failing...... just to be safe as it can build up extra pressure like that

[dan00001]

Thanks Twiss,

She overheated again today, :( so I have taken her off the road for now, and am using my other car.

Also no hot air was coming through the heaters.

I am going to do some work to her, the cambelt, water pump, she's leaking oil from the front, have been told its most likely the crank seal, and I'm hoping the overheating is the water pump or thermostat or something simple like that!

I might do the headgasket while I'm at it just to be sure, I was thinking of doing the piston rings but that seems almost like a job not worth doing when an engine swap would be cheaper!

[twiss]

Also try the "fan newspaper test"

Roll up a news paper and poke it into the radiator fan with the engine hot. If it stops the fan, the fan clutch is broken. If it shreds the newspaper the fan is OK.
If the clutch is broken it will spin, but partially freewheel to won't spin fast enough

[SherwoodNash]

Spend about £10 on a new thermostat first and see what happens.

[dan00001]

Thanks guys,

I'm going to do cambelt & water pump anyway, and will do the thermostat,

Twiss the 'newspaper test' sounds fun

One more question, the normal running temperature on my sj sits around half way on the gauge, this sound right? And when overheating the needle got to the top 'line' on the gauge before I pulled over to let cool down, is this hot enough to do any serious damage? Should I change the head gasket while I have her off the road doing the other work just to be sure?

[twiss]

Personally unless you know its the head gasket I would probably leave it for now. As I said before, check for bubbles in the rad with the engine running, and make sure there isn't a load of gunk in the oil cap. Some is OK due to condensation but if theres a lot there it could be the head gasket.
The normal running temp is about halfway up the gauge but can usually go up to 3/4 under normal running conditions. I wouldn't think you have done much damage as you didn't run it that hot for ages.