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Pinto plumbing AGAIN!
Mark Allanson - 10/6/06 at 04:31 PM

I have been running my car for exactly 12 months (passed SVA 10 June 2005), with no problems except if I get caught in traffic on a hot dat, the temperature does get to the nervous side of sensible, not overheating, but getting a bit too close for comfort.

I though a flush might help things a bit, did the flush and noticed that the expansion tank was not flowing like it should. The unput at the top comes from the inlet manifold and the outlet at the bottom goes to the water pump.

Neither pipe is blocked, the inlet flows freely when removed, but the tank fills when it is off. The pressure is obviously coming from the outlet pipe which is attached to the suck side of the water pump - how is it doing that?

The car works fine, but I would like to see a flow through the expansion tank

Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks
Mark

12a RX-7 - 10/6/06 at 05:24 PM

just fitted a pinto in one of our rally cars

Header tank connections are 1 large hose to the middle of the rad end tank on one side and one small bore hose that goes to the top of the T/S housing.

seems to work just fine

sminney - 10/6/06 at 05:38 PM

hi - I have a pinto in my Tiger - yours is definately plumbed differently to mine.

I have the outlet port between the carbs going to my heater then from that to the small port on the top of the water pump

the top small diameter port on the header tank comes from the bleed port on the top of the thermostat housing and the return from the header tank goes to the bottom of my rad.

This set up has never over heated or come close.

HTH

Steve

[Edited on 10/6/06 by sminney]

Mark Allanson - 10/6/06 at 07:27 PM

sminney, basically, my header tank is where your heater matrix is. The small outlet on the thermostat housing is blanked off and only used as an air bleed. It should still flow though?

sminney - 10/6/06 at 08:12 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allanson
The small outlet on the thermostat housing is blanked off and only used as an air bleed.


Mark - Do you have a bleed screw on the rad? If you have blanked off the one on the thermostat, maybe you have an air lock?

thinking about how you have your reservoir plumbed in, on my tank, the inlet at the top is a very small diameter hole, approx 5mm, and the diameter of the port between the carbs is a lot bigger, maybe this restriction is causing the engine to run hotter?

Mark Allanson - 10/6/06 at 08:37 PM

There is no bleed on the rad, but the rad is lower than the thermo housing so the chances of an air lock are a bit slim, longest journey with this setup is over 200 miles, I would have thought an air lock would have shifted in that time

Just - 10/6/06 at 09:15 PM

Having just replaced the water pump on my pinto I would say you may as well stick a screw in the rad and be sure.

I was pretty sure I had worked all the air out until I decided I may as well have the screw to be sure and true enough half a header tank of air came out.

Not sure if it is any help but my pinto Tiger is plumbed the same as above with no heater. It is essentially header > bottom of rad > bottom of rad to water pump > t/stat to top of rad and header.