It's not a good thing to have happen, but it is possible to have it happen in a
relatively normal engine.
While water is better at transfering heat then the glycol mixture, it also has
a lower boiling temperature. If you had a highish temperature thermostat in
the engine already bringing the temperature close to the boiling point, and you
drove it hard (as in up a long hill) creating a lot of heat in the engine head,
and promptly shut it down, you could quite conceivably put enough heat into the
water in the head to bring it to a full rolling boil. This could well cause
the radiator cap to release because of the pressure of the steam, thereby
spraying the engine bay with water.
The clutch thing, many japanese hydraulic clutches have an adjustable push rod
for the exact reasons you noted. I tend to leave return springs off the arm
for the reasons you noted.
>>> "David Armitage" <David.Armitage@nottingham.ac.uk> 06/21 5:29 AM >>>
Hi all,
I've a couple of questions about my 1967 MkII Spit. I've recently transplanted
the engine and after a test drive yesterday my coolant boiled (looks like it
sprayed from the pressure cap). This happened after the engine had been
switched off. At present there is no anti-freeze in the system and I guess
this caused the problem... would this be expected (I live at the top of a
steep hill), or is it likely that I have other cooling problems. Could the
head gasket be at fault (no signs of oil/water mixing and no steam from the
exhaust). I'm planning on adding anti-freeze tonight and trying again, just
looking for reassurance that it's nothing more serious.
The second question relates to the clutch return spring fitted to early
Heralds and Spits. This spring links the clutch release arm to a mounting on
the gearbox. The spring is currently disconnected and the clutch works OK, if
I reconnect the spring the clutch no longer operates (most of the slave travel
is used in bringing the release bearing to contact the diaphragm spring). The
only way I can see for the spring to operate is for some kind of adjuster to
prevent the spring from pulling the arm too far from the bearing. I'm not sure
if the spring is necessary, as the clutch would be released by the pressure
from the diaphragm. Anyone have any ideas on this?
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