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[Rocketman]

I'd question the valvestem seals. Were they replaced?

The crack is common, and can leak when cold. Does it still leak when the car's warmed up? (the iron usually expands & closes the crack) where is your heat shield?

I think the brake light is more of a fluid level sensor in the BMC - what's the fluid level like?

[rcdraco]

Valvestems HAD to have been replaced, it was a completely rebuilt head.  If it doesn't clear out within a few weeks I'm going to warranty return the cylinder head.

Fluid level is good, I just filled it to the MAX line.  Pressure seems a bit low though, so I'm siding on the brake master cylinder seals being worn.  In the FSM I've run down every other problem except a seized rear caliper, and I don't think that either of them are.

[Rocketman]

Did you at least bleed the brakes first?

[rcdraco]

I haven't bleed them since I changed the front caliper about a month ago.  I'm going to consider flushing the system completely with dot 4 or 5.1.  The fluid in there is green for some reason, probably from the breather line, or the oil burning, which as of today seems to have stopped.

[Rocketman]

Burning oil will not contaminate the brake fluid. It's sealed from the engine

I'd flush the system.

[rcdraco]

Okay next time I get the cash together I'll get that all flushed out.  I have one last problem, what is the thread size on the foglight mounts?  I installed a bumper on my car but I had to put my foglight mounts onto the non-foglight bumper.  All of the nuts are stuck on the studs and I can't seem to determine what the thread size is using normal gauges.  Closest I've found is m9x1.25 but that's an increasingly uncommon size.

Also the car seems to run pretty nice at 40+mph, right around 175-180, but when I get down to about 25mph or just sitting the gauge goes up to 225 and the fan eventually cuts off.  Is this normal, or is the radiator fan not working properly?

[shoeish]

"Also the car seems to run pretty nice at 40+mph, right around 175-180, but when I get down to about 25mph or just sitting the gauge goes up to 225 and the fan eventually cuts off. Is this normal, or is the radiator fan not working properly?"

This might be a symptom of a lack of hot fluid going through the thermostat housing, which means steam/lack of pressure/leak.

You may rent/borrow a radiator tester and pressure test your cooling system.

[rcdraco]

Fluid level looks good, and it's done this the entire time I've owned it.  If I run the car with the heat on max, it keeps it steady at 175 on highways, and 190 around town.

[shoeish]

Have you ever flushed your radiator/coolant system?  


Reduced cooling system performance because the radiator is clogged.  

At idle, with less air moving through the radiator, the nonclogged parts can't perform well.  This causes everything to heat up, and eventually boil (over 220 degrees because the cooling system is pressurized), and as the coolant turns into steam, the sensor that turns your fan on can't measure that temp (shutting your fan off), where the sensor that sends to your gauge keeps working.

Just a suggestion.

[rcdraco]

I just flushed it about 2 weeks ago, whole lot of radiator seal crap in there I had to blow out.  Currently running without a thermostat.  If I run the heater on full blast, the temperature stays good the entire time I'm driving.

I'm still looking for those foglight nuts though if anyone knows the sizes.

[Rocketman]

Your engine should run around 190* on the highway and really shouldn't ever go past that as long as you are moving. If the fan cuts out while the temp is still climbing, something is wrong.

The foglight nuts should be a standard metric size, I don't remember off the top of my head. Commonly used are
M8x1.25
M8x1.5
M10x1.25
M10x1.5

If I had to guess it would be M10x1.5. I'll see what I have laying around here

[rcdraco]

I took a measuring device from work home to check with the studs on the car about a week ago.  Threads matched 1.25, but neither 8 nor 10 matched.  Unless it happens to actually be some strange standard size.

[Rocketman]

There's a chance it could be SAE then.

[rcdraco]

EDIT: Guy at work PBlaster'd the nut off the stud, it's m8-1.25.  Guess mine just need some more polishing to get the dirt off them.

Back on the engine though, my pcv appears to be operating erratically.  The smoke is probably from it, and the breather I installed is literally spraying oil out.

[rcdraco]

Fan does cut out when the gauge is reading 225.  Also my fuel gauge reads empty almost the entire time I'm driving, it only reads 3/4 for about 2 seconds when it's actually at 3/4.  Is there a way to repair/clean the sender, or should I just get a replacement unit?