Coolant leak DHC

Or preparing the car for the first drive of the year! As the weather forecast for the weekend was very nice, I decided that one of the jobs for the Saturday was a check-up for the DHC. It turned out all fluid levels were OK, though the dip stick might tell a different story.

But it is the dip stick from a Dolomite 1850. In the past I checked the exact level by filling the sump with the exact amount of oil. And with this in the sump, the level was halfway between the tip and the low level mark. In other words the oil level was almost at the maximum mark.
The coolant level also was nearly at its maximum level. But when I checked for signs of leaks underneath the engine I found a small puddle of coolant sitting on top of the sub frame. As it was sitting right underneath the water pump, that was where I started the search. But the infamous hole was bone dry.

The same applied for the other regular leakage point, the connector pipe between the inlet manifold and the water pump cover. Everything was dry there too. Also the joint between the waterpump cover and the block showed no leaks. This only left one option. The top of the hose that goes from the water pump cover to the radiator. And sure enough, there was coolant on the back of this hose back. And on closer inspection I found this originated from the top of the hose. It turned out the jubilee clip pictured above had become a little lose. Quite easy to rectify!

The final jobs were topping up the oil in the carburettor dampers and checking the tyre pressures. They were all at about 1,8 bar. So they needed a little extra air, as I run the tyres on this car at 2,0 bar on all four corners.

And this afternoon I was able to enjoy a glorious winters day with the hood down. Sadly all photogenic places were cramped with people, so only the one picture as proof.

It was nice to be out again in this car, and before I knew it, I was back in the shed with 165 kilometres added to the cars odometer. It was an afternoon well spent indeed!