Thanks for ther link. Out of stock on Brickwerks but I'll keep an eye on it.
OK. The saga continues to waste my time. I have so much other stuff to do on this van, the overheating is getting me down as i can't work it out
I've taken everything to bits so many times now. As mentioned, it's not the dismantling, it's the constant draining / refiilling of the coolant.
So, this is how the cooling system in my van works. The rad is at the front of the engine, more or less upright. It actually sits at an angle, with the bottom more towards the front of the van.
The expansion tanks sits directly on top of the rad, which is more or less the same level as the rocker cover.
The whole engine is at an angle, left to right, with the rocker cover more towards the left side of the van, when viewed from the front.
The only exception in this diagram is that the expansion tank (4) shows a dashed circle within the rad entry / engine return line. I assume this signifies the access to allow the coolant into the system. This isn't the case (unless it's there and completly blocked?). This tube in the ET is simply a pass through and the holes are actually in the other through pipe, returning from the heater (1 - I've marked with two red dots) Therefore, this is how the system fills up. These are clear when I've blown through them.
The rad return hose (marked with my wobbly red line) always stays cold. The rad seems to get hot at the top, mostly where I've marked with the red 'circle' (I'm not a good drawer with a mouse : ) but not at the bottom at all.
All other pipes / hose (to heater and around engine) get too hot to touch.
I bought some car rad flush / cleaner yesterday, which I added to the coolant then drove for maybe 30mins. Temp seemed to reach just below the overheat marker and, as mentioned, the hose to the tstat remained cold.
The cleaner seemed to make little difference - coolant is always clean and clear from the first time I drained it.
Any ideas? If it was air in the system, how much would this affect it? There only seem to be a couple of places it could sit, unless it's inside the block?
Thanks in advance for any insight.