Griffith 520 - coolant leak

[JazzyO]

Hi all,

I noticed a coolant leak yesterday and since I am quite far away from a decent TVR garage, I would like to ask you for some advice.

After noticing a leak right side (passenger side as she is LHD) just aft of the front wheel, I quickly drove the car home (2 miles) and had a look. I noticed that the engine coolant pot (the one at the front with the screw cap) was covered in a milky substance (see photo).



To give some background, this engine was completely rebuilt by Austec Racing from the bottom block up as a 5.2L, everything is new and she has now run about 300 miles.

The milky substance makes me worry - are we talking head gasket? But if so, how is that possible with a brand new engine (unless they didn't even install it)? There is a lot of it on the underside of the hood as well, see photo.



If you were like me, 2 hour drive from a TVR garage, how would you proceed?

What level of coolant do I need to see if I take the screw cap off? Here is a pic - it seems to show that the level was much higher in the past. But from seeing what spilled underneath the car I can definitely say it lost quite a lot. No idea where the leak is at the moment, I thought to ask for some advice before starting her back up.



Many thanks in advance for your kind help!


Onno

[The Red Baron]

Just seen your other thread with pics of the car. Looks amazing. What colour is the paint? It looks like it has some dark red in it. Loving the interior, especially the steering wheel.

Anyway…

Have you looked at the bottom of the oil filler cap? Has it got milky emulsion on it too? That would indicate water in the oil and vice versa and likely a head gasket issue.

My expansion bottle only ever has a couple of millimetres of coolant in the bottom. If yours was over filled the excess could have expanded and come out under pressure.

Hope it’s a simple fix.

[Loubaruch]

The amount of coolant in the overflow bottle seems to vary with different cars e.g. mine only ever has about 1 cm in the bottom if I try to put more in it will just blow it out when warm. What is important is the level of coolant in the swirl tank that does need to be completely full. Your problem could just be that someone has overfilled the overflow tank but worth checking as said above that your oil is clean and not contaminated in case it is a more serious problem

[LucyP]

"To give some background, this engine was completely rebuilt by Austec Racing from the bottom block up as a 5.2L, everything is new and she has now run about 300 miles."

Says it all.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[eff eff]

LucyP said:

"To give some background, this engine was completely rebuilt by Austec Racing from the bottom block up as a 5.2L, everything is new and she has now run about 300 miles."

Says it all.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

What he said!

[Belle427]

I'd let someone check that engine out before actually driving it based on that company's reputation.

[lancepar]

Just an observation.

On my 1992 Grif with no overflow tank, just the swirl pot, which was the norm, if too much coolant is added then when the engine is hot it burps the excess liquid out which runs down the pot and looks like your milky substance and needs to be polished off. Only does it once.

HTH

[JazzyO]

The Red Baron said:

Just seen your other thread with pics of the car. Looks amazing. What colour is the paint? It looks like it has some dark red in it. Loving the interior, especially the steering wheel.

Anyway…

Have you looked at the bottom of the oil filler cap? Has it got milky emulsion on it too? That would indicate water in the oil and vice versa and likely a head gasket issue.

My expansion bottle only ever has a couple of millimetres of coolant in the bottom. If yours was over filled the excess could have expanded and come out under pressure.

Hope it’s a simple fix.

Regarding your question on the colour - it is a specific idea I had in my head and my paint specialist mixed it for me. I wanted a wine red that showed up black where the sun does not hit it directly. He added a slight bronze tinge to it. It looks amazing and everyone comments on it.

Thanks for the tip on the oil cap, I will go and check that.


Onno

[JazzyO]

Regarding the comments on Austec Racing - with respect I think that this issue has nothing to do with that. They rebuilt the engine, back in 2009, as a standalone unit. Putting the engine in, rebuilding the cooling systems, fitting the hoses etc was all done in the Netherlands. It also gives me no path forward just to blame things on Austec Racing.

[Johno]

JazzyO said:

Regarding the comments on Austec Racing - with respect I think that this issue has nothing to do with that. They rebuilt the engine, back in 2009, as a standalone unit. Putting the engine in, rebuilding the cooling systems, fitting the hoses etc was all done in the Netherlands. It also gives me no path forward just to blame things on Austec Racing.

Just a cautionary note…. When the cam went in my Griffith many years ago Austec organised the rebuild of the engine, many claims were made, it was V8D who had done it and it was all fantastic etc.

When that engine failed <18mths later I took it out with a couple of friends and took it up to V8D, who as you might guess knew nothing of the engine, we’re able to talk me through exactly how they knew it wasn’t built by them beyond engine numbering into component choices and decisions taken in the build.

The V8D engine continues to this day, well over a decade later - I have 90k miles on my car from it having 3k miles on it when I bought it. I use it often.

Austec’s reputation has been earned, unfortunately for the wrong reasons to the costs of many people on this forum.

None of us are saying there’s an inherent engine issue, however we would all suggest overfilling of coolant, checking clamps, draining and refilling to remove airlocks, checking oil cap for mayonnaise tyre residue. The white stuff if it’s just dry looks like hard water stains, so seems like overfill blow off.

What did the gauge read? What type of stat do you have in it, jiggle pin or no jiggle pin? Was it filled correctly from the tower and not the expansion tank? Has the expansion tank cap failed?

[JazzyO]

Thanks very much for the cautionairy note Johno. A very helpful post. Unfortunately, I don't have the knowledge to understand most of your questions let alone answer them. I'm going to Italy for a short holiday in a couple of days and have decided to let this rest for a bit, as I am also waiting for my Esprit to be repaired. I think the Griff will be shipped directly to a specialist and we will then take it from there. Best not to take any risks. I will put the questions you all have put here to the specialist and see what they say.

Onno