1985 Ford Escort mk3 Popular - welding time again!

[cjhillman]

So the other day I nipped down to the Hanger Lane area in the Escort, stuck in traffic as usual and the temp gauge went right up to just about a needles width away from the white mark (overheating). I did the usual, curse loads and turn on the heat inside to help out... it went down and it wasnt quite high enough to be a problem It seemed. Got to where I was going and let it do it again, opened the bonnet and apart from it sound a bit nocky/curse word (i think it was pinging) I noticed a trickle of oil had seeped out the breather on the rocker cover. Could this be enough to make it get too hot? I've never changed this and will be buying another off ebay anyway. I wiped it off and it didnt do it again when I was at home.

This Car seems to like to run hot but, this seems to be getting a bit toooo hot. Thinking of getting a new switch for the fan that makes it kick in a bit lower and maybe its time for a different thermostat? Is there anything else I should be checking?

I cant really afford for this to die on me right now. Maybe it was just a freak thing and heard me praising it for being a hard as nails.

[vulgalour]

Sounds like you're checking all the right stuff there. It might just have been because you were sat in traffic on a hot day and nothing more. A bad thermostat, something floating around in the coolant causing a temporary blockage, a bad sender not telling the fan to come on soon enough, all possibles. If you can get a lower temperature thermostat that would probably help if it's normally running hotter than you'd like.

Best thing is keep an eye on it, replace the thermostat and flush the coolant and see how it goes. Hopefully it's just a summer hiccup.

[cjhillman]

Jul 29, 2020 17:14:39 GMT vulgalour said:

Sounds like you're checking all the right stuff there. It might just have been because you were sat in traffic on a hot day and nothing more. A bad thermostat, something floating around in the coolant causing a temporary blockage, a bad sender not telling the fan to come on soon enough, all possibles. If you can get a lower temperature thermostat that would probably help if it's normally running hotter than you'd like.

Best thing is keep an eye on it, replace the thermostat and flush the coolant and see how it goes. Hopefully it's just a summer hiccup.

Cheers mate! It does always run hotter than I’d like and I changed the temp sender in February. The seemed to help it come up to temp better and not go too cold. I was only alarmed as it wasn’t that hot the other day and on some hot days it hasn’t gone that hi.

The leak on the back I’m guessing might be an oil pump. Could this cause anything other than an oily mess.

[vulgalour]

Oil leaks on old Fords is just the rust proofing kicking in I'd be surprised if you didn't have a minor leak somewhere. Unless it's leaking so bad you're leaving puddles and having to top up all the time, it's unlikely to cause serious issues.

[cjhillman]

Jul 29, 2020 22:46:01 GMT vulgalour said:

Oil leaks on old Fords is just the rust proofing kicking in I'd be surprised if you didn't have a minor leak somewhere. Unless it's leaking so bad you're leaving puddles and having to top up all the time, it's unlikely to cause serious issues.

fair enough haha... thats my capri to be honest haha. I keep thinking I should do the crank case seal on this but I don't know if I've got it in me. theres only about 4 inches between the pulley and the inner wing. guessing that all has to be removed with a puller before you can get to it.

[PhilA]

Just note that although not calibrated, there's about 5 degrees between the upper middle of the gauge and the top line and it moves a lot more for hot temperature than it does for cold.
The standard fan switch comes on just at the point where the engine is about to boil; it's not a particularly high pressure system (4psi if I recall) so you have got until about 108c or so before it starts to bubble.

There used to be a "hot climate" alternative fan switch that cut in at 88 instead of 95, to be used with the 68 degree thermostat. Dunno if they still keep them, it was an option for Spain though. Either way they were never very accurate on the temperature they switched on.

You might want to invest in a cheap little infrared temperature gauge, check the thermostat housing and radiator when your see it getting hot and check the actual temperature of the engine for peace of mind (or not!).

Phil

[cjhillman]

Back from "Holiday" (going north to see family and help misses brother move house) and the trusty Aygo "fan" belt snapped... back at 3am.




Anyway... next day I got the new breather on the Escort. Its a copy part, but seems ok. the old one was quite oily and the breather pipe to the air filter was oily too. I'd like to replace the gauze stuff in the air filter but not sure what with.

Took it for a spin and let it get up to temp... seems find but there was still a little oil from around the filler neck. Wondering if theres a couple of pin holes in the metal as I cant see it seeping down.

[cjhillman]

I just set up a new youtube channel called Retro & Rusty. I'm going to be filming jobs I do on my Capri & Escort and using it as a general outlet for my Car videos.

For the first video I thought I'd test the 0-60 time of the Escort for a bit of fun. I've been a bit inspired by an old VHS Camera I bought last week so, it all got a by synthwave/VHS/Arcade Game.

Let me know if you enjoy the video I'm thinking of doing more. If you do, please Like Share and Subscribe!

[cjhillman]

After a week away from London in a 1972 VW T2... driving from London - Stoke in my Escort seemed very weird. It made this car seem very normal, quite, positive and modern haha. Something I never thought I'd say.




Also, who would have thought someone would rent this Van out on points!!! and also, not put a spare pair in the Van!!!! I was fuming and also I have a set of points on order to pick up in the morning.

Luckily we had the only RAC guy in Devon with a Condenser for this Van.


Anyway....

I know this had a little bit of rust on the inner wings but its starting to split a side of the battery tray and fuse box. Maybe it was all that 0-60 stuff haha. Going to try and get a quote on this tomorrow... might have to sell something pretty big to afford to fix this though.

[cjhillman]

Just uploaded a video of me driving the Escort down the M1 back to Middlesex. Probably not the most entertaining but I quite enjoy old videos where people just randomly film driving around from "back in the day" (i put an example below mine if you havent seen these things).

[cjhillman]

My Escort has been chosen by the Telegraph to celebrate 40 years of the Mk3 Escort. I've also been touting it out other mags etc but they came to me which I'm cuffed about (even though its not my kind of paper).

I thought if it was going to be flying the flag for the mk3 that I should probably touch up that chipped bumper and move the number plate back to the bumper rather than under it. I'd been meaning to do this for a while and its a nice quick job. 4 bolts and its off. I think its easier to slide the plastics back on with the metal bumper if anyone ever does this.
Also, i think the old plate was hindering cooling to the radiator I wasnt sure of this before but since its been off the Car seems a lot happier (even though it still gets hot time to time).

Heres our house looking like a typical housing estate from the early 90s- 2000s


The interviewer said he had photos of a Ghia model taken in suburbia. Considering i live in suburbia I decided to use this as an excuse to visit Trellick Tower in London.








Also having a chat with Ade who takes pics for a few car mags on instagram. Turns out he took a pic of my Car in Glasgow a few years back... to me it looks a lot different! kinda miss it looking a bit meaner!

[hairdoo]

Nice car mr Hillman. Reminds me of the times you could pick up a mk3 for beer money. Would look lush on mk3 capri ls steel wheels.

[cjhillman]

When I thought all was ok. Just got back from couple days using it for work (60 miles rounds trips) and its leaving a pool of something. I just moved it and didnt check what it was. I assumed oil as its further back and the engine is oily at the back but, it looks like water and i know its loosing it somewhere.

[cjhillman]

Right so I havent looked at this very closely again as I assumed it was water. Moved the Car a few meters twice today while getting my girlfriends car off the drive and its defiantly oil. I know it was probably obvious in the photos above but I quickly dried off the oil pump and after a minute or so of running drops of oil seemed to be falling on it and onto the road.

I'm wondering if its coming out the distributor and looking like its the oil pump. Is this mad? From these photos you can see the engine is oily behind the dizzy but, its dry. Also the king lead looks like it has some oil around it. I'll pull it off in the morning as I was going to take it to a show. Just trying to get a little advice before I start going wild buying parts etc that I don't need.
I need to start using the Car again for work so don't want to nip this in the bud. Annoyingly the Capri still cant take over Like i'd trust it anyway









Brief Video of it running. ZXRob have you got any ideas?

[vulgalour]

If the O-ring on the distributor shaft has failed, or just shrunk with age, that could be causing it. I'm not very familiar with your engine, does it have an oil pressure sensor around that area? I've had those leak from the spade connector in the end which then tracks down a wire and makes the oil appear as though it's leaking from elsewhere.

Best thing to do is clean all the oil off that you can in the area where it's wet and see where it reappears, it'll at least allow you to narrow it down.

[cjhillman]

So i think i've fixed the leak. I have it a good ole clean and put some white paper under the dizzy while it was running, No oil coming from that. After a bit though the rear of the oil pump started to leak. You can probably see it is 3 bolts then a plate that can be removed.

According the the Haynes it has an O ring on the inside so i'm guessing that has gone bad. Burton Power seem to sell the whole unit for £40 so I'm thinking it might be easier to pop one on if it carries on rather than, Drain the oil, Fit an O ring, It doesnt work, another can of oil etc... For now I just put some Loctite sealer on it so, I'll see how we go with that.


Had a look at the points. Looks a little oily in here but I'm not sure if it is usually anyway. I rarely open this up. I do have a set of Points & Condensor though that I might whip on if I can find another set too.



We also went to a Car show in High Wycombe today. Lovely turn out. I'll put some videos on my Youtube when I get chance. For now heres a few pics... tbh, not many seemed interested in the Escort haha. 


Loved this so much! 


Seem to be getting a little bit of trickle down from the Rocker Vent. Unsure why but its hardly a problem right now. 

[kevins]

You don't need to drain the oil to take the oil pump off, with the engine off, there will be some in the filter which should stay there if you keep it pointing down and a little in the gallaries, so put something underneath to avoid soiling the drive. The cover on the end is the pump end plate, it may be easier to take the pump off and do it on a bench to make sure the pump stays together.

[cjhillman]

Sept 13, 2020 18:58:07 GMT kevins said:

You don't need to drain the oil to take the oil pump off, with the engine off, there will be some in the filter which should stay there if you keep it pointing down and a little in the gallaries, so put something underneath to avoid soiling the drive. The cover on the end is the pump end plate, it may be easier to take the pump off and do it on a bench to make sure the pump stays together.

Cheers mate, good to know! I did wonder as i guessed it would be in the sump. We live in a rented house so don't want to get oil all over the drive.

I do need to watch how much I spend on this engine though as I noticed its looking water and today in the heat I heard the expansion tank bubbling

[kevins]

Nothing will spring out of the pump but the vanes are just a sliding fit, if you are carefull and slide the end plate off rather than pull it they should all stay put.

Wrt to the bubbling,it's not uncommon if you have just switched off a hot engine, the coolant stops flowing and can locally boil in areas like the exhaust ports, Even if it's a head gasket they are about the simplest engine going to do one on.

[cjhillman]

Sept 13, 2020 21:38:48 GMT kevins said:

Nothing will spring out of the pump but the vanes are just a sliding fit, if you are carefull and slide the end plate off rather than pull it they should all stay put.

Wrt to the bubbling,it's not uncommon if you have just switched off a hot engine, the coolant stops flowing and can locally boil in areas like the exhaust ports, Even if it's a head gasket they are about the simplest engine going to do one on.

Yeah I’m not mega worried about it if I need to do a head gasket. not like I’ve done one before but it’s a tiny engine and simple. More with this car just catching things before it’s a problem as it’s my daily. Come to think of it I never turn this one off and stick my head under the bonnet really . It is loosing water on every trip so I need to find out where that’s going.
I guess if I used a compression tester It would tell me if something odd is happening right?