Well I finally got down south to Childers, to look at that sweet looking 64 S-Type I've posted about earlier. It was as perfect a performer as it was a looker, & dropping the price $500 (from $10K AUD) sealed the deal real quick. So We were happily driving northwards, the 1000 Klms home to the Atherton Tablelands before dark.
It ran like a Swiss watch too, all the way up the Great Dividing Range to the Nth Burnett Downs, where we refuelled at Gayndah, with the car showing no signs of stress & cruising sweetly. 20 Kim's north of Gayndah we pulled into a rest area at the top of a small, but steep, range, just to stretch our legs. But when we got out I could see steam rising from the bonnet & smell that awful hot metal stink, & popping the bonnet revealed coolant hissing out of the overflow pipe & out from underneath the lip of the radiotor cap. So I called the RACQ who came & rescued us & took us back to Gayndah. RACQ shouted us our motel for the night & the car's still on the recovery trailer awaiting the workshop's opening in an hour's time.
So what the hell happened? I phoned the Seller (as you do) & he was at a loss too, saying it had never done it to him. He did mention that he always fitted a small sock type device in the return pipe into the radiator, to act as a filter. & that he'd replaced the sock recently. So investigations will obviously start there. The other puzzling part is the temp gauge barely moved, from 70 to 80. & the car showed no signs of heat stress until we stopped. Indeed it's lucky we stopped when we did, as our next schedule stop was over an hour away.
So, any ideas what happened & where our investigations should proceed?
PS I'm obviously most concerned about any damage I may have done to that sweet running 3.8
litre piece of automotive history. So any tips on what I should be looking for in a compromised block will be especially useful & greatly appreciated.

 

a stuck-closed thermostat? a bad water pump? incorrect radiator cap?

are you sure it was not the Heater Valve leaking through the weep hole?

(heater valve is located below the Heater box in LHD cars).

I doubt you caused any damage, these engines can handle a lot of heat.

remove the "sock-type device", it doesn't need it.

you could drive it with the radiator cap partly opened, so there is no pressure buildup, just carry plenty of coolant.

 

Car's back. Mechanic could find no leaks, & no obvious faults, or causes, for the problem. He recommends taking it back to the Seller, & let him nut it out. But that's 150 Kim's in th opposite direction that I want to go. I've talked to the Seller & he thinks it was a one off, possibly caused by him overfilling the overflow bottle & an incorrectly fitted cap. So he agrees with me that my best course of action is to continue on home, carefully, stopping regularly to check on things. Which is what I intend to do. Hopefully the worst this has cost me is a few hours out of my schedule. & As I'm up for the motel room the RACQ shouted me last night, which I'd have had to pay for otherwise. I'll count this as a win, if I get the car home with no more dramas

 

We're about 150 kms down the road. The car ran fine until we hit another steep range, where it boiled again. We're parked at a rest area now, waiting for the old girl to cool down, which is happening a lot faster than it did last night. I think I may have just spotted the problem. The overflow pipe had come out of its bottle & was spewing coolant all over the place, which must have emptied the radiator fairly quickly. I'll know how much when I top it up, once the motor's fully cooled.
The trip's turned into more of an adventure than I wanted it to be. But as long as I get the car home in one piece, I'll have averted turning the adventure into a full blown catastrophe, which will be my best Xmas present this year

 

and still no pictures...

 

Firstly, congrats on your purchase. I would love an S-type to keep my Mk2 from feeling lonely & depressed!

The fitment of the "sock-type device" concerns me. It seems to acknowledge the cooling system has silted up & needs a jolly good flush. You'll probably find that opening the engine block drain tap will be an interesting exercise (most likely blocked), as silt seems to build up in that particular water gallery & hence a lot of back-flushing with the top & bottom hoses disconnected will be required.

I am of the opinion the Oz summer really tests these old girls out, and consequently everything has to be in top notch condition to avoid overheating problems. Maybe also check with the seller if he knows when the radiator was last serviced. Mine cost $160 for a full cleanup of the cores and pressure testing.

 

Welcome to the world of Jaguar. Ah, that brings back so many memories of driving my XJ-6 around Germany and breaking down at rest stops (numerous times), being hauled across the country on a tow truck, and the smell of boiling radiator fluid. But man was that a beautiful car.


Congrats on your purchase, and I hope you make it home safely. Sorry I have no constructive advice, but I appreciate the memories

 

I agree with redtriangle, also don't forget that a cast iron block stores a lot of heat, and there is no overrun fan unless its electric, but a soon as you turn the engine off all cooling ceases and heating continues in the block.

Take it easy getting home, turn the heater on (and open the windows) and try to get the temperature down as much as you can on the uphill climbs when you need more energy the extra heat will be a bi-product and do not turn the engine off straight after you have had the engine working hard, a light cruise before stopping will help dissipate some of the heat from the block before you turn the engine off.

Well done with the new car, hopefully you get home without too much problem and get the engine and radiator flushed as Redtringle says, and it would be worth checking the water pump and thermostat too.

 

forget the seller, if you bought the car, the car is yours now. You now have one of very few S types remaining in the planet. Feel happy!! Join the International S type Register for more opinions, maintenance docs, improvements, etc.

I hope you got it home and then you can flush the cooling system. These cars need a very specific Thermostat, also known as a Bypass Thermostat, make sure you get the correct one and a new Gasket.

 

Thanks all. We made it to Charters Towers last night, taking advantage of the cool night air to chew up some miles. The car ran well, though still a little warm. There was a top end rattle that disturbed me, when we pulled into our motel, & I thought I may have dropped a valve. But on checking the oil this morning, & finding it very low, I think it may just be lack of oil. I've topped it up & will see how it goes. I've got around another 400 Kim's to get home, which is heartening. But it is some of the harshest conditions I'll be driving through. True tropical outback conditions, with only two fuel stops to break the journey up, & miles of mulga scrub to cross. I'll be very happy to get the old girl to my shed & start ripping it down. & I'm thinking it would've been much cheaper, easier & less stressful to have had the car shipped to my place. Oh well, we live & learn
.ps I'm travelling too fast & too stressed to even think about pics. & for the record, I'm very happy with my purchase. & I'm not complaining to anyone, including the Seller. I'm just asking knowlegable people for their advice, which includes the Seller, & of course, the good folk here

 

We're 200 kms closer to home, at the old mining town of Greenvale. The car's running the same, though it's stayed underneath boiling, so far. We've another 250 kms to go & another 1500 ft to climb, to get home. & we're about to lose whatever coolness the morning gave us, with the temp already well above 30C. So it'll still be steady as we go, until I lift the door on my shed & show the old girl her new home

 

Great thread. I always enjoy reading driving sagas on the forum and especially about places I'm never likely to see myself.

Your difficulties on the journey take me back to memories of 60's and 70's Jaguars I've had in the past and, like many of us, wish I'd kept. The only thing I don't miss is the uncertainty of getting to the destination on time or getting there on a recovery truck!

I can see you've covered over 1800km so far from Greenvale to Childers. I hope the last 250km is less eventful.

Graham

 

Has it got the right pressure cap in the radiator ? Measure the depth to the lip where the rubber seal sits and then compare with the pressure cap. for the same. It is possible to fit a cap which doesn't reach down far enough.

 

Thanks Fraser. That will form part of my investigations, along with giving the whole cooling system & damn good flush. & if a thorough inspection of my radiator gives anything less than a 10 out of 10 result, I'll be replacing, or re-coring the one I've got. Now I'm sure there are countless threads on this forum regarding the optimum cooling set-up for these cars. But to save me the search, & put the info out to anyone reading that's curious. Could someone point me in the right direction? Please!
We finally pulled into my driveway around 3.00PM yesterday, with a celebratory six-pack on the back seat, to suitably mark the end of an excellent adventure. The car ran much better once the oil was topped up (funny that). The Seller assured me it was topped up the day I picked the car up. So where the four litres went is a bit of a worry. Though old motors can do some strange things when they're taken on long hot runs, especially if they've not done a run like that in years, possibly decades! & I'll wait to see what it's consumption is when it's back doing local runs, before I pass judgement on it. I still don't like the rattles the motor's making, which sound like the valve train to me. But the motor's still got mobs of power, & the noise goes away as soon as the car's up to cruising speed. So I don't think it's anything terminal. But I've already booked the car in with my regular Spanner Man, who's very keen to have a fiddle with my latest acquisition, but not until he gets back from his holidays. & I'm only going to use it sparingly until then, mainly showing it off to my envious friends.
Thanks to everyone who showed some support & offered advice. It's comforting to have access to such accumulated wisdom while travelling the outback.
Merry Christmas y'all.

 

Good to hear you made it home.

 

Great to hear you made it home, I've just picked up my rad from a re-core, I will post pics tomorrow so you can see the difference between the old and new cores.

There are loads of aly ones out there, the cheaper ones aren't as good as the old original IMO, so my choice was a re-core, modern core with old look. But there will be plenty of other advice too.

 

I had my S type's radiator recored with a modern "V" core and saw no difference at all, and I was warned by the radiator shop that it would make no difference at all.

Speaking to other MK-2 and S type owners who have installed expensive aluminum radiators, I am told the same thing, no real difference.

However, everybody seems to agree that a pusher Fan in front of the radiator is the answer but, adding another electrical load to an already overloaded Generator requires going to an Alternator, and fitting an alternator will bring a new set of problems to be resolved, so in my case, I've left the whole thing alone.

Here's a good writeup by Wolfgang on his V12s website:

"People are tempted to replace the engine thermostats with ones that are set to open at a colder temperature - this is a mistake.

The manufacturer of your car engine spent a lot of time and money arriving at an ideal operating temperature for your car's engine, this is because of fuel efficiency goals, warm-up requirements, carbon deposit and emission requirements.

If you have an engine that has a 92C (198F) thermostat in its coolant system and you replace it with, for example, a 76C (168F) thermostat you will increase the warm-up time of your car, this creates additional carbon deposits internally, cause more emissions, and increase your fuel usage.

Worst of all, you may not even make your engine run cooler because you didn't fix the cooling issue you had, you just added to it.

A colder thermostat in the coolant system is not the answer.

What To Do:

If your car has an electric fan for the radiator or A/C condenser swap the current fan switch with one that opens sooner. For example, if the fan switch is currently a 92C (198F) fan switch, replace it with a 85C (185F) fan switch.

A great example of a car that adapts well to this is the Jaguar XJ12 6.0 litre, it came with a nice set of electric fans in front of the A/C condenser but they get activated too late. Install a cooler fan switch and improve the cooling.

Your radiator needs air moving across the core surface, so starting the electric fan sooner than the thermostat opening will be beneficial.

Once you drive faster than 35 mph you don't need a fan running.

Many European and British cars use a 22mm 2-blade or 3-blade fan switch. Easy to find on Ebay.

If you drive an automatic, add a separate transmission oil cooler. I incorporate a transmission oil cooler with some of my electric cooling fan systems, it makes a big difference".

v12s - Jaguar XJ6 ?Twin Electric Cooling Fans in Aluminum Shroud

 

Congratulations on making it home safely with your new Jag! Thanks for sharing your journey with us as it was quite exciting. Hope you continue to share your experiences and what you learn with your car as it is very helpful.

 

Here's the pics of the old and now re-cored radiator, the old core had 27 rows, the new one has 42 if I've counted correctly !

Simon at Advanced Cooling did a great job

 

Thanks for the input everyone. Priceless info! & it's very much appreciated, I can assure you all.
My car has an electric fan fitted. A massive mongrel that sounds like a VC10 taking off! It's also had an alternator fitted, but as I don't know what the issues are surrounding that conversion, I don't know if the car's better or worse for having it done. I do know that the cut in temp for the fan is adjustable & it's currently set at 70C.
The motor is harder start cold, & runs very rough until it's warmed up, with the top end death rattle very prominent until then too. So I think I'll be delving inside the block sooner than I'd hoped to. But it's a job I would've done at some time anyway, so I'm not too perturbed. & having a freshly refurbished mill will make for many miles of smiles, for many years to come. So it's money well spent, IMO, & the biggest consequence will be that I'll have to push back the retro A/C project until next Summer, which will give me time to work out what else needs to be done behind the dash (fix dodgy gauges, fit retro stereo etc) so it can all be done in one foul swoop. Though it could be worth doing all of that while the engine's out too. I'll just have to see what the engine's going to cost, as it's the highest priority & I don't want to scrimp on the rebuild. But it may be best to extend the project until she rolls out of my shed exactly how I want it. Time, & further investigations, will reveal all.