Previa

[sarahjaneking]

Hi Propnut,

unfortunately i started off my working life as an engineer for BP on an oil tanker, whilst nothing like a car it puts me streets ahead of the hubby who couldn't even find the dipstick in our old BX, it's probably going to be slightly easier to train him to look after the kids LOL (although, and it's not funny really - when i had our fourth the eldest two were at my parents so he had one 16 month old child - this is the first and only time one of my kids has ever been in an ambulance as he fell down the back of the chair and injured himself - doesn't give you confidence does it really)

thanks for the link, i'll let you know how i get on, at the minute i have had the car 2 years and including repairs etc it has come to £2170, i shall be keeping a running total

whilst i'm on (i really should stop using this thread) is there anything to be said for the theory that leaving overdrive off when on short trips increases the pitiful airflow to where the engine is sited to a useful extent, seems a bit of a stretch to me but wondered what you thought,

thanks again

sarah

[propnut]

I assume you mean the airflow through the radiator. Here we have a common misconception the the higher the engine revs the faster the fan will turn. With old fashioned cars with static fans that would have been true however these cars have a viscous coupling. Now with your engineering background I am sure I don't have to go into how a viscous coupling works but suffice to say when it detects the environment (i.e. the hot air coming through the radiator) is above a certain (and slightly variable) threshold the silicon inside will start to solidify hence engaging the fan.

So keeping overdrive off will result in the engine revving higher for a given speed but not necessarily the fan.

Personally I don't believe this theory.

In my opinion if I were to buy a diesel Lucida the first thing I would do is

1. Flush the entire system a number of times until it ran totally clean

2. Take off the head as without a shadow of a doubt there will be numerous blocked water ways.

3. With the head off block the sleeves and oil ways and flush the block and head again and use a bottle brush to clear out as much and as many of the channels as I could.

3. Fit a new head gasket, radiator, cooling pipes and thermostat.

A lot of work perhaps but then I would know that the system was in almost the same condition as it was when it left the factory. Lets face it in that state it lasted 10 -15 years.