eddysaddington

Yes sorry 22mm copper pipe. I am a great believer in that philosophy also it always comes back! Thanks once again!

Hi Tony, that's correct..... pipe B is the return from the calorifier (and exactly as you say) T's into the water pump below and the heat exchange above. Last week I identified a leak in the raw water system (very inaccessable right under the engine) lt looks like it could be a compression fitting on a 24mm copper pipe... This I Shall look into fixing first... The calorifier producing hot water is further down on the list but it would be nice to have it working at some stage. Thanks again Tony, can I make a donation to your cold beverage fund some how? Bank transfer perhaps?

Sorry about the confusion of the systems and terminology .... I am totally new to both engines and narrowboats. Yes The header tank is linked to the calorifier and has a sprung cap... for the first time in 6 months the said tank was overflowing ad rejects about a pint of coolant. clearly something has changed! The raw water pump does work and is expelled through the exhaust pipe ALTHOUGH I'm not sure how effectively it is working....Some water comes out but not a great deal and I have nothing to compare it to! Would you say that this is the most likely cause of the engine overheating? I shall try and post more pics

Hi Tony, Thanks again for the reply I only just noticed!! I can say for sure there is no skin tank fitted to the system! There is A bowman type heat exchange with raw water/exhaust and a jacket of coolant setup. The red lever you see is on the fresh water circuit.... There are no valves on the calorifier circuit. The header tank is about the size of a rugby ball. I am about to have another go at trying to squeeze any air from the system. Thank you again for your reply!

I don't suppose you'll be able to tell much from this picture but the tank is quite sizable!

Yes there is a sprung cap for coolant on the exhaust manifold (is that called the skin tank can you tell me?) There is also the same sprung cap on the header tank above the calorifier. The boat is from 1973 and has had many owners ripping out and changing things. There is evident of a stove back boiler being installed once upon a time. Quite possible that this tank powered radiators also but not sure. I shall post a few pics... if you don't mind?

I think you might be right about it not bleeding correctly,The 15mm copper flow pipe from the engine head gets hot up to about 1 foot then cold the other side(I thought it was a blockage but probably an air bubble) I'm fairly certain the header tank is purely for the calorifier loop, It's an old setup and I don't think it has pressure cams or manifold/ exhaust header tank(I'm A bit out of my depth with those terms) Thanks very much for all your help and info Tony..... I wish I could buy you a pint or two!

Yes the return pipe comes from the pump, then T's off to the calorifier and up to the skin tank. I thought that the air would just bubble out of the top tank as well! My main concern is whether the calorifier system is necessary to keep the engine cool??

I'm keen to get it the engine all back together so just had a look. It is a vertical calorifier and there is a small header tank above for topping up the coolant. The Flow and return come from the engine head and below the skin tank. How would bleed air out of the system?

I have a the original gauge which i managed to get working but also rigged up a Digital prob thermometer. I take it it shouldn't run above 90 degrees??

Thank you for the quick reply Tony. I will have another look in the engine room first thing and try to answer some of those questions.

Hi all, any help and advice would be so much appreciated. I've been running my BMC 1.5 narrow-boat engine for six months now and I've serviced and replaced quite a few parts...Glow plugs/lift pump/water pump/ thermostat 82 degree Celsius ect. It has been starting and running well for the most part but the calorifier the cooling system it is linked to has never produced any hot water. During my last cruse the engine stated to overheat running over 100 degrees which has not been a problem in cooler weather before now. My first thought was there must be a blocked pipe in the calorifier loop system but having just taken it all apart it all seems to be free flowing. First off can someone tell me what temperature the engine should run at during say a steady 1500 rpm? Is the calorifier essentially the engines radiator? Is the engine water pump (brand new) powerful enough to circulate the coolant through the whole system...or do I need an additional pump for the calorifier? Is the thermostat supposed to kick in at 82 degrees and then allow circulation of the coolant? Any advice or answers to these questions would be really great Thank you Eddy

Thanks for the quick reply Tracy. Today was the second time I've tried to remove it. I'll have another go tomorrow and give it a bit more welly!

Hi there, I can't seem to remove my BMC 1.5 lift pump. After undoing the two retaining bolts the pump has a little wiggle room but will not pull out. I have tried cranking the engine so the cam is in a different location but still no joy. Can anybody shed some light on this for me please? Thanks in advance eddie