Hi all,

i have a KA, just done an engine swap as the old engine blew the headgasket on the way home from buying it....

Anyway, was wondering as its my first ka ive owned, is the radiator meant to be cold at the bottom and hot at the top, also if left ticking over when fisrt started, the coolant does not get warm, just stays cold, even if left for half an hour, no pressure builds up either, but you can feel the water in the top pipe and if you squeeze it, the water in the coolant bottle swooshes around.

but after driving home (done 15 miles), it lost minimal water but it was above the max, and the water in the coolant was warm....

im just worrying incase i have a water pump on its way and cooking another engine... should have changed it when the engine was out, same as the alternator as the bearing is noisy as hell!

is the water pump easy to do with the engine in place worse case, or am i better in just dropping the engine out and jacking the car up around the engine to get at it? can do the alternator at the same time then....

any help is much apprechiated!

hmm sounds like the water pump or thermostat

Water pump would be first thing to change

i dunno, im reading on google and it appears that other cars seem to be cold at the bottom and hot up the top, as the bottom is the exit?

im going to get the water pump changed anyway, as the engine has done close to 80,000 and this seems the typical mileage that all kas end up in the scrap heap because of overheating issues, ive already blown a headgasket on the way home after buying, the heater control valve decided to konk out and kill the engine,

on the new engine ive bypassed this so i just get a constant hot air flow, unless i turn the dial off.

for good measure im going to change the waterpump and also throw in some k seal for good measure, if i can get 6 months out of it, ill be happy!

The stat could be stuck open but also the expansion tank cap may not be holding the pressure which would also affect the circulation of the coolant and may have been the reason the original head gasket went.

so it could be worth for the sake of £6 for a thermostat and a few quid for a new coolant cap, to be on the safe side... aswell as the water pump... should be good for while then!

when i got home last night i dipped my finger in the expansion and the water was not boiling but warm i had just done about 12 miles, and on duals going 70mph, so enough pressure should have built up, when i took the the cap of it made a little whoosh like opening a can of pop.

when the last headgasket went, i was driving from western super mare, and before coming on to the m5, every window in the car steamed up, i didnt think much of it as i was approaching a round about so panicked a bit and opened the windows, but anyway i was toddling up the m5, overtook the mrs at approx 80 and the power dropped and i pulled over as i initally thought it was on fire, as the guy had a problem with the loom which he had repaired or some thing... i think was a load of balls as i didnt see any repairs to the loom when the engine was out. i think he knew the headgasket was gone, and tightened the head bolts down knowing it was going, stupidly didnt even check the oil filler cap.... was full of mayo! DOH! second time being stung like this...