Running hot, Rubbing & Steering!

[artrider50]

Okay, for this is one for those who enjoy a mystery (not me!)

I've had a problem with the car running hot when driven for some time at speed (45-50mph) - sitting in traffic & round town it's fine. I think my other problems may be linked to this:

There used to be a deep, vibrating rubbing noise when turning right at slow speeds; this was cured (I thought) by new discs & pads last year but now it's back (less than 500 miles later) ? it does it a little in a straight line too when coasting at slow speeds. A dab on the brake peddle kills the noise.

There is also now a noticeable resistance encountered from the steering when turning the wheel - starts at about 5 degrees anti-clockwise ? you turn harder and then it breaks through, then the steering feels normal beyond this.

Recent work done:
- New brake discs & pads
- New front wheel bearings
- Recon unleaded cylinder head & gasket
- New water pump
- Rad tested and they said slight performance issue ? I really don?t think it?s the rad but I?m getting a new one from Danny Nelson anyway! (Danny - please give me a shout on 07790 494585)
- New 15? wheels are 195 tyres

Any suggestions or red herrings not already listed will be gratefully received

On the plus side, a girl at the office were I?m working at the moment recognised ?the little red car? in the car park as a Marlin and asked me were I?d bought it? then subsequently was amazed that it was 22 years old and that I?d had it for 17 of those years ? she thought it was new! :-)

[artrider50]

Re: Running hot, Rubbing & Steering!

I don't know my right from left!

Whenever I said turing right I meant left!"

[dogoncrazy]

Re: Running hot, Rubbing & Steering!

Chris
How old are your brake hoses? They can break down internally so acting like a non return valve, this will lead to 'sticking' at the calipers and you then end up driving with the brakes partially on, engine will then be working harder to overcome. A little off the wall maybe but one you might want to consider

[amalgamated users from prior forum]

Re: Running hot, Rubbing & Steering!

Message originally posted by: Sue Roedel (MOC Editor)
Hi Chris

Have your tracking and caster angles checked. I had some resistance when turning, althought it either got better or I got used to it but I have recently had some specialist work done by a company called Elite in Rainham, Essex. They were excellent.I don't recall any rubbing noises though. But even if it's not anything to do with that, I recommend getting your tracking AND casters checked. Mine were way out and the steering is much better now.

[amalgamated users from prior forum]

Re: Running hot, Rubbing & Steering!

Message originally posted by: Doug Billings
Wondered if the calipers are sticking

[philcoyle]

Re: Running hot, Rubbing & Steering!

Partialy siezed steering UJ can give lumpy steering,also check clearance between master cylinder pushrod and servo,there is an adjusting bolt on the push rod, but you have to seperate them, and do the maths.

[mazzjngooglemail.com]

Re: Running hot, Rubbing & Steering!

The over heating fault could be down to the rad being partaily blocked/full of crud, the impella could have become loose on the water pump arbour (did it overheat before you changed the pump ?), did it overheat before you changed the head gasket ?.

[artrider50]

Re: Running hot, Rubbing & Steering!

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Brake hoses are probably the originals (over twenty years old) - I've certainly never had them done, so that sounds like a good(cheapish!) place to start. Tracking/caster hasn't been done you years either so I get that done too.

[amalgamated users from prior forum]

Re: Running hot, Rubbing & Steering!

Message originally posted by: Don
From the symptoms that you describe I would guess that your steering rack has run dry, check the gaiters and refill with I (think) 120ml of 90W gear oil. My marina did this some 25 years ago.

[CABRIOBOB]

Re: Running hot, Rubbing & Steering!

Hi Chris,
I had the same issue and i put some copper slip on back of the front brake pads and it stopped the noise due to dry dust and the pad vibrating. Cheers.............Bob

[paul]

Re: Running hot, Rubbing & Steering!

Chris, As far as the steering problem goes consider this. My LWB Roadster failed an MOT because the tester said that one of the bolts securing the steering UJ was not tight enough. It was the one nearest to the radiator. When I tightened it (which was difficult)it pulled the bolt further through. I had to saw off a couple of threads because it was now rubbing on the inside of the bodywork. It's worth a look if your steering column is very close to the bodywork. Good hunting.

[paul]

Re: Running hot, Rubbing & Steering!

Chris, As far as the steering problem goes consider this. My LWB Roadster failed an MOT because the tester said that one of the bolts securing the steering UJ was not tight enough. It was the one nearest to the radiator. When I tightened it (which was difficult)it pulled the bolt further through. I had to saw off a couple of threads because it was now rubbing on the inside of the bodywork. It's worth a look if your steering column is very close to the bodywork. Good hunting.

[b_caswell]

Re: Running hot, Rubbing & Steering!

Check the wheel bearings, as too much play can allow the disc to scrub against the caliper.
The overheating could be the gauge reading high when the engine is revving. But more likely the rad needs a shroud to block off the air from going over and around, the air pressure then equalises in the engine bay and reduces the flow through the rad itself.Lastly check the fan (if electric) if its pulling(behind) or pushing(in front)I have seen a car with your symptons that had the fan the wrong side and was negating the air speed. You could leave it running standing still with no problem. But every time you took it for a run it overheated.

[Cabrio_Simon]

Re: Running hot, Rubbing & Steering!

The warm weather has found out my car and I experience the same overheating problem as you when driving above 40-45mph for any sort of sustained period. It's better at low speed and in traffic but is still on the warm side. This is my first Summer with the car. If I put the heater on full blast and the electric cooling fan on constantly I can just about control the engine temp but watching the temperature gauge all the time spoils the fun and it's only a matter of time before it cooks properly. I've done the obvious - fitted an electric fan (blowing through the rad from the front like a good'un)in addition to the engine fan, changed the stat and flushed the system, including back flushing the rad but no improvement. The fact that the heater helps has led me to the conclusion that my rad has insufficient cooling capacity in terms of surface area or it's gunged up inside. I'm not sure but I think mine is a Vauxhall Viva rad so I suppose it's no great surprise that it won't cool a 1950cc B Series. Either way I think I need to get it re-cored with 3 cores. A specialist near me can do the re-core for 80-90 pounds so I'm going to take the rad out this weekend. I've read Hugh's comments on the Austin 1800 rad - why is this rad better? It can't be physically much bigger than mine so what makes it have more cooling capacity? Did it have more cores as standard? I'd be interested to know if only as part of my learning process. With my limited experience I would say that your problems Chris are not related but I'll post my results here when the rad job is done. As an afterthought - do any of you experts think my / our cars might be running lean at higher revs thus causing overheating?

[dogoncrazy]

Re: Running hot, Rubbing & Steering!

I found that the standard viva rad wouldn't cool a 1300, so had mine recored by serck marston increasing it's height/length so that the bottom of rad was level with chassis rails and as high as possible in the nose