I don't believe anyone can have this much bad luck

[AZ88Turbo]

Having put my engine back together after the rebuild and changing the injection system and ECU, I was out last night doing runs to get the settings for the fuel maps. Things were going great until...... the coolant temperature just goes off the gauge. The damn water-pump AGAIN! (third time in about 6 months). All of the water in the cooling system; gone. There was also steam coming up from (what appeared to be) just above the exhaust manifold so I'm assuming the head is warped AGAIN because of the intense heat caused by all of the water in the cooling system evacuating so quickly (when I tried to top up the cooling system; water just pored out from the pump). No water in the oil or anything but I'm assuming it is a blow from the water channel to the outside of the block? Anyone had this happen?

Anyway, just wanted to vent a bit. I guess my Thanksgiving is going to be spent looking up in to an engine bay

Hope everyone else has a better Thanksgiving Holliday.

Best wishes,

Mark (88 Turbo)

[princecharming]

Sorry to hear that, Mark. Jeez, when it rains, it pours.

Take a moment to step back and have a cup of coffee or a drink. Either way, take a little rest from it. When you're ready to tackle it again, take your time, stay positive and take a good look. Hopefully, it won't be as bad as you initially thought. I feel for you though, that's no fun.

Last month, I was broken down on the side of the road when the mechanic that changed my waterpump and timing belt didn't tighten things down properly. Suddenly lost my power brakes due to the loose belt to the vacumn pump and overheated at the same time due to airpockets in the system from improper bleeding. Sat on the side of the road, stuck with everyone on the bus staring and pointing at the pretty car with the green coolant trails. For the first time, was actually losing faith until a great friend and fellow clubmember came and rescued me. Fortunately, there was no real engine damage from the overheating.

Two weeks later, I was on a fun run to the Half Moon Bay Ritz Carlton with Lotus clubmembers and some from the Ferrari and Lambo clubs. Suddenly, it was all worthwhile again.

Hang in there, it "does" get better.

Roy N.
'88 Commemorative Esprit Turbo

[redhotv8]

I would have a leak down test done or do it yourself if
you can get your hands on a tester. Bring each cylinder up to TDC prior to applying the air pressure. If the cylinder leaks at over 10% or is higher than the others you can listen for leaks at the oil filler, water fill neck,intake and the exhaust etc. to try pin down where the leak is occuring. Hopefully they have a leak rate <8%. Not sure exactly what the perfect leak rate should be but the key is to find out if one cylinder is out of line with the others. Also it is a good idea to tweak the piston location a few degrees one way or the other until you get the lowest leak-down reading. Good Luck!
GaryM '01

[mikelr]

Mark,
Really sorry to hear that.You've really got to find out whats going on with these water pump failures. I can understand getting a bad pump on the first time round, but twice!!
On the bright side, your getting to know your motor in a way that most of us (hopefully) never will.
I guess that you got your Electromotive system up and running. How much of a pain was it to set up the ignition trigger wheel? I assume you went with the distributor mount.
I think simply pressurizing the coolant system may be enough to determine if your head gasket has gone south.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Mike Reed 94' S4