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| Joined: | 10-21-2005 |
| Location: | Eastanollee, Georgia USA |
| Posts: | 72 |
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After looking around for something a little more economical to drive than my 1977 F150 4X4 my wife suggested a Jensen Healey since I used to own one way back when. A search on the internet found a JH advertised on the JHPS website in South Carolina. A reverse look-up on the phone number showed it to be in Charleston, about 250 miles away.
So after a couple of days and a couple of phone calls my wife, Lamb, and I piled on my trusty old Suzuki and headed for Charleston.
The car was pretty much as the seller had told me and needed a new floor and a new top, but only had 40,000 miles on it. The title, issued in 1993, showed that the car had only covered ten miles in the last twelve years, so I believe this milage to be genuine.
The seller also informed me that he had installed a new thermostat, new water temperature sender and had rebuilt the water pump.
So a deal was struck and we set out for home, with Lamb driving the JH and me on the bike. Ten miles up the road Lamb pulls over with the temperature gauge in the red. Although indicating hot, the engine did not seem hot, not boiling and didn't have that 'hot smell'. So we let it cool down for a few minutes then carried on to the next gas station to investigate.
After prodding around under the hood for a while I thought that maybe the guy had put neat antifreeze in, so drained some out and refilled with water. We were also getting very suspicious of the temp gauge. So we went on for a while and stopped at an auto parts store to see if they sold anything that we could verify the temperature with. After the third store we gave up on this but by then the car, and the day, had cooled off some.
So to cut a long story short we made it home in fits and starts.
Here are some of the cooling problems/corrective actions taken so far.
1. Installed correct thermostat (PO's new thermostat did not have the "bypass disc").
2. Flushed cooling system.
3. Installed new hoses.
4. After reading e-mail on JHPS, noted fuel gauge and temp gauge reading high. Removed instrument panel and checked voltage stabilizer. Input was battery voltage and output seemed to fluctuate. Scratched head for a while, reassembled, and now fuel gauge and temp gauge seem to be working normally. (Bad connection?)
5. Removed piece of "spring" from previously installed flex hose from thermostat housing.
5. Removed water pump, pressed impeller on to correct clearance and reinstalled.
6. Removed radiator, re-soldered nipple for outlet to water pump and reinstalled.
7. Drove to work today and temp gauge remained at 3/4 scale. I am still suspicious of temp sender installed by PO. Infrared thermometer shows about 200F on the thermostat housing which seems about right to me. Is there a way to positively ID if this is the right sender? I cannot find any part numbers or Smith logo on it.
Other work completed has been general engine tuning, changing of all fluids, correct installation of vacuum hoses (thanks Mark), replaced cam belt, replaced top (Bought a "cheapie" top from M & T Manufacturing for $177. I thought that it fitted well. Can put up pics if anyone is interested). Working on floor pan replacement.
Thats it for now,
Andy #15223