What's the "normal" running temperature range for coolant ?

[mk1]

Those internals are remarkably clean!

A great tip.

[Spider]

I am glad that you are making headway with this.

The CLR is the best 'in-situ' cleaner I've come across, but as well as it works, it's still not as good as an Acid Dipping, though for that you need to remove and strip the block.

[iain1967s]

+1 for Brian as above. Been using it in both my 69 S and 2000 RCS-5 for a few years now in the hottest summers. Never had a problem of any kind. No pressure cap (except to keep the liquid in of course) so no pressure to load up the system and hoses. My pal also uses it now in his temperamental Dolomite Sprint too. Now if there ever was a car that was coolant critical, it's a dolly

After three hot summers, I can safely say that the overheating problem with my 1275 S is a thing of the distant past - thanks to the help of this forum.

So with winter fast approaching here in the north eastern USA, rather than my normal change to 50% antifreeze I decided to give Evans waterless coolant another try. I know there are differing opinions for using waterless coolant in a Mini, but my car sits for nearly 6 months over the New England winter so should benefit from the anti-corrosive properties.

Drained most of the water-based coolant via the brass stopcock on the back of the block (best 'accessory' I ever bought!) and the drain plug on the radiator, then disconnected the heater hose from the valve on the head and blew into the hose to push the water from the heater matrix back out of the radiator drain. The Evans instructions say to use a high flow air pump to dry the system if not using their flushing prep fluid, so I connected the hose to an electric airbed inflator for a few minutes until all the dribbles stopped.

Closed both drains, crossed my fingers and filled the rad up with Evans. Ran it at fast idle until the thermostat opened, and topped it off. So far, so good - no pressure in the system and the temperature on the dashboard gauge is behaving itself on this mid-60°F autumn day, both while driving at 75MPH and when idling. We'll see what fortune next summer brings...

Now I just have to get the brown rusty water stains off the driveway before the wife gets home