686 Kilometres is the distance ‘t Kreng covered since the refurbished water pump was fitted to that car a few months ago. So far the water pump has gradually started leaking less and less. Though it kept leaking noticeably, with the level in the header tank dropping by as much as 50mm after an almost 200 kilometre round trip. Also the coolant level light looks like it has a mind of its own. Often coming on when the engine is idling.
And during a short tour last weekend the low coolant light came on less than 5 kilometres from home. Not good! First thought was to return home and give the car a Viking burial, but I managed to resist the urge!
Instead of returning home, I stopped a little further down the road at a safe spot to check under the bonnet. And sure enough there was a noticeable trace of coolant from the slot underneath the pump. But removing the pressure cap, from the still fairly cold header tank, revealed a perfectly normal coolant level. So I decided to ignore the light and carry on!
Fast forward and I returned home over an hour and well over 60 kilometres later with the temperature gauge constantly sitting between the quarter and halfway mark. And the paper tissue I put in the slot underneath the water pump was soaked with coolant.
Time to let everything cool down properly and check the coolant level in the header tank the next day. Turned out the level had only dropped by 1 or 2 millimetres. So it looks like the new after market seal is starting to work at last. Though I am still not impressed by its design and build quality.
Remains the coolant level warning light to sort!. Which means looking into the way this works and why it comes on with the coolant in the header tank at a normal level. In short there is a steel probe sticking into the coolant. It uses the coolants conductivity to close the low level warning light’s circuit. When the level in the header tank drops below the probe, the resistance will increase, the circuit will be cut and the low coolant level light will come on. Inspecting the connectors from the wire running to the header tank’s coolant level probe, clearly showed some oxidation and dirt that had accumulated there over the many years the car’s been used. This was tackled with a few squirts of contact spray. Maybe I need to do the same with the wiring from the alternator. But that is for after the next drive, though that might be a few weeks away.
And to conclude this inspection, I had a look at the coolant level. It was still the same as last week. Also the tissue paper I put in the wheep hole underneath the water pump was completely dry. Compare this with the picture of the completely soaked tissue paper after last weekend’s drive when the coolant level dropped only marginal.
So it looks promising. Though I still don’t trust the car enough to take her on long runs. So the final control of the route and roadbook for next weekend’s “Nachtrit” will be done with the Land Rover again. So no pictures of a lovely dirty TR7 in my report next week!
near Gouvy-Rogery, just north of the border with Luxemburg.
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