:: Diary - June 2009 ::

:: Tuesday, June 2, 2009 ::

I phone up the TVR garage about the Cerbera. He agrees that the symptoms sound like head gasket, but very mild - it takes ages for the water level to drop sufficiently to cause overheating. He says that he can't rebuild it, because he doesn't specialise in that engine and doesn't have the special tools. He tells me the one garage he would trust with the work.

Then he surprises me totally by suggesting that it will probably be fixed if I put some sealer in the antifreeze. I've always had my doubts about that kind of stuff, but he swears by it - he uses it in his race cars and his road car has a repair that lasted 7 years... He says I have nothing to lose - either I get the engine rebuilt, or I try this stuff and if it doesn't work, I still have to get the engine rebuilt.

I order some on ebay. Worth a shot!

:: Sunday, June 7, 2009 ::

It's Car Club day today, and also S Club Heaven - but I've previously promised to take one of the cars to the Borders Vintage Vehicle Club rally at Lauder, to take part in the Sporting Bears dream rdes. I'd promised to take the Cerbera, but seeing as that is more of a sweaty nightmare than anything resembling a dream at the moment, I'm taking the S.

The drive there is uneventful (it's nice to drive a TVR without swivelling your eyeball to the temperature every 100 yards eh?) and we're soon there and all set up. I only do one run over the day, because I'm also helping in the garage, but the wee lad seems to enjoy it.

There's a rather nice Ferrari 399 with yellow brake calipers... hmmm... My son't just painted his yellow and they look pretty good. Double hmmm...

The car then gets home without boiling or breaking down either - all good!

:: Thursday, June 11, 2009 ::

I finally get around to putting the sealer into the cooling system. First I take out 2 litres of coolant, because the instructions say that you should mix the stuff in, and not put it straight into the overflow tank. I mix the sealer with one litre, and put it back in and bleed the system. That litre fills up the system, the sealer is only a quarter of a litre so there's 3/4 litre less collant in there than there was when I started.

I start the car and warm it up with the cap off, then bleed it again. Still plenty coolant left over!

It seems to be ok though - the fans cut in and out at the right temperatures (but they did that before when the system was newly filled).

:: Friday, June 12, 2009 ::

I take the car for a run. It behaves perfectly - warms up to 88, thermostat opens, temp drops to 80 then rises a bit again, but cruising at about 81. After about 20 miles I stop at a roundabout and the temperature shoots to 90, where it stays for a few miles then drops again. The temp gauge is swaying up and down almost at random, not related to whether the car is going fast or slow, moving or not. It shoots up over 95 as I am parking back at the house.

A quick inspection shows that one of the bleed nipples hasn't been nipped up properly and is leaking slightly. Jeees I'll never suss this bloody thing out at this rate. I leave it to cool.

:: Saturday, June 13, 2009 ::

The Cerbera is still driving me bonkers. I refill and bleed the system again, this time making sure I let the coolant run until there is absolutely no air in it. I also make sure that all the bleed nipples are done up tight, then I put the radiator cap on tight.

Then I take it for a drive around the same route as last night, and it behaves exactly the same... it runs perfectly then gets hot at exactly the same roundabout, then wavers about a bit. I can't figure out the needle behaviour - you're driving along normally and then the temperature rises to 90, then drops again - you accelerte a bit and the temperature drops, then it rises as you're following a horse box - and then it drops again but rises as you accelerate this time... Then you come to traffic signals with the temp already at 90, and you have to stop - but instead of boiling, the car cools down... then you pooter about local streets with the temperature wavering between 82 and 90, occasionally up to 95-ish... all pretty normal.

When I get home I leave it running - and it varies between 90 (fans cut in) and mid-80s (fans go off again) - all entirely normal.

I don't understand - it's almost entirely random.

:: Thursday, June 18, 2009 ::

Right let's have another (yet another!) go at the Cerbera. First, another pressure test with the engine warmish (not hot, just not cold). It goes to 15psi easily, and hold that pressure for ages. So far so good.

Now the block test again. Get the engine hot while I fill the tester with blue fluid. This time I carry out the test for 5 minutes and there's no sign of any change in colour at all. Maybe the sealer has done its work? (Or maybe the test isn't reliable?) Dunno - all I know is, all signs this evening point to "normal".

I also check that the fan isn't blowing air forwards instead of sucking it backwards - that would cause air to "stall" in the radiator matrix at slow speeds but be ok when stopped, or when going faster. Nope nothing as simple as that - it's fine.

One thing I do notice is that, between the air intake scoop, the number plate and the oil cooler, there's hardly any radiator exposed to the airflow. And what there is, is manky. In this photo, only the yellow bits are open to incoming air.

Don't understand this, need professional help - either a psychiatrist or TVR specialist would do.

:: Saturday, June 20, 2009 ::

I've decided that I need to have the engine looked at properly, so I phone the TVR specialist that was recommended to me. He says that the engine is basically reliable (like Hexham did!) and even although I protest that it's been well toasted, he says it's probably all right.

He suggests that it might be the water pump, but when I explain that it's all fine at idle, he suggests an air lock. I say that I've bled it like a mediaeval physician trying to cure the plague and feed his leech farm at the same time, but he's sure - he says it needs to be bled with the engine running and heater on at full blast. He also advises me to steam clean out the radiator fins.

OK, we'll give it a bash. I do what he said and quite a bit of air comes out, but I don't have time for a test run as I have other things to do.

:: Sunday, June 21, 2009 ::

Right. First I bleed the engine again after it's been standing all night, and get a bit more air out.

Then I take off the number plate and spray engine cleaner onto the radiator, before jetwashing it clear. I still can't see through the radiator and aircon condenser though...

Then I decide to leave the front number plate off to maximise airflow as I take it for a drive around the same route again, and it definitely seems better. although it gets hot at exactly the same roundabout - this is after a blast at the max speed limit (honest) and then about a mile at 50 mph. This time though, it cools down again to where it should be and runs perfectly from there back home.

Again, no time to explore more - I have to watch the Grand Prix and then I'm off to have a look at another Cerbera 4.2 with an engine noise, which turns out, I think, not to be terminal. When he's driving me about though, I notice that his runs at least 5 degress hotter than mine, all the time. When we get back to his house, I look at his header tank, and it's almost completely empty. I ask him what level he fills it to. He doesn't know, he's never put water in it.

Am I trying to run mine too full? Am I worrying that it's too hot when it's not? I know that my S runs with less water than the book says, if you put more in it loses it, then keeps at the same (wrong) level for bloody ages. I decide to try leaving it without refilling for a bit.

It was definitely overheating though - the clouds of steam on the two long runs I've attempted, have been testament to that.

I'll need to put the number plate back but I reckon I can cut about an inch off each end and still comply with the regs. Will that be enough or will I have to go for the stick-on number plate on the bonnet, E-Type Jag stylee? Don't forget to tune in to next week's exciting episode...

:: Thursday, June 25, 2009 ::

I mark up the numberplate after checking the regulations: you need 11 mm of clear white space around the letters. That means I can cut almost 30mm off each end.

5 minutes with a hacksaw sees to that bit, then I smooth off the edges with a handfile, and then round off the corners before fitting the plate back on to the car.

No time to try it out though.

:: Saturday, June 27, 2009 ::

I bought some more leak sealer and was going to put that in, and re-bleed the system. But no, let's see how it goes.

I have a 50-mile run, which includes 20 minutes sitting in a queue that moves 200 yards. The car doesn't overheat. Then I have a blatt about and, although the needle wavers about a bit, and gets up to 93-ish at one point, it still doesn't overheat. No steam, no nothing. It runs perfectly.

Is it fixed though? Dunno. 50 miles is the furthest it's ever gone without overheating, except when I drove it back from Hexham after its service. It's definitely a lot better than it was though - that's 100 miles without refilling or bleeding!

It starts to drizzle with rain a tiny bit, later on in my wee run, so I put the window up - the first time I've driven it without the window open. The aircon works! Overall, with the windows up and the aircon on, the inside of a Cerbera is a pretty good place to be. The fact that it's passing through the scenery at a helluva rate is an added bonus.

:: Sunday, June 28, 2009 ::

I happen to wake up early, so decide to have a longer run in the Cerbera, again without lifting the bonnet, checking water level, bleeding it or anything - dive in, start it up and go!

After 100 miles, including only a brief stop for fuel, it's still absolutely fine! The needle stays resolutely below 90, even when I am held up for 20 minutes in a queue for the Royal Highland Show. Absolutely fine.

I also give it a brief full-chat acceleration (and hear the rev-limiter bleep for the first time ever!). Still absolutely fine.

It's early to be optimistic, but I'm optimistic!