[richo144]

Hi & Help Please
Just got my 76 lj50 soft top rego'd after 2 months labour - it's now legal but it boils after 15 mins driving.
Fresh Glycol & water pump ( it has standard 540cc 2 stroke motor)
No thermostat fitted, radiator seems clear, heater pipes blocked off.
Static ignition timing, does not appear to have timing marks for 8deg BTDC - used screwdriver in no1 plughole to find TDC
Distributor does not have timing advancer weights etc

Do you think my timing could be that much out ( to overheat) if it idles & revs OK?
Should it have dizzie advance?

& thanks for a great forum - I've learnt heaps during the rebuild (also lj10.com)

Cheers
Richo

[missmyljdaze]

richo144 wrote:

No thermostat fitted, radiator seems clear, heater pipes blocked off.

I'm disregarding the timing stuff [better blokes out there to advise on that than me]
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If car manufacturers could save .0015 cents per vehicle by deleting the thermostat - they would!

The cooling system needs sorting.


so - find the right thermostat, and put it back
- often the heater is part of the cooling system - sharing the load with the radiator - so hook up the heater.
- either chemically flush out the radiator, or have it rodded or recored by a rad. shop.
- fans work more efficiently with a shroud - find one or make one.

most importantly.......

we need pics of your LJ

EDIT : the engine block might also be full of accumulated gunk.
quickest fix is a chemical flush.
best fix is to remove a few core plugs and run an old speedo cable through the passages to loosen up the solidified sediment, then flush with lots of water.


stephen

[henno]

Having no thermostat can actually hinder cooling in some circumstances. I even had to put one back in my drag car to stop it cooking.

[MrRocky]

Have rad flushed/rodded professionally and fit a new thermostat
Cars come setup spot on from the factory some things can be improved upon, cooling systems on factory spec cars are best left as they came standard

[MrRocky]

Contradicting myself u can however upgrade to a later sierra fan which will suck more air than the lj 4 blade design.

[richo144]

Good advice, thanks.
I'll put a new thermostat in, refit the fan shroud (It's off for painting) & hook up the heater & retest. i've replaced the head ( old one had cancer bad) so had a good look around the water jacket. There's no debris coming out of radiator flushing.

The car has been in a farm shed for 20 years but it's mostly original & complete - i'll post some pics up when I work out how to!
I plan to make/borrow a dial gauge to check my firing mark, unless someone has a better timing method.
Still not sure why the distributor has no timing advance - the ws manual shows a different dizzie with the sprung advance weights- would that not make the LJ run retarded at higher revs ie. stuck at 8deg BTDC?

cheers
Richo

[3cyl]

The carry had a low profile dizzy with no advance but also a side draft carb. Over the years lots of lj50s ended up with jap import engines, plenty were carry ones. My guess is take the radiator to a radiator guy and get it rodded or recored.

[tanshi]

im betting head gasket