I finally got a chance to look at my Challenge project, I understand it ran once. The oil looked nice and clean but the radiator was dry. I added a gallon of glycol and some water and then fired it up. Because it was so cold in the garage the exhaust was all over and I couldn't tell if it was condensate from the warm exhaust hitting the cold air or it was steam pouring out. It didn't smell funny. The engine sounded strong, a little belt noise from the alternator, but just as I was going to shut it off, fluid came barreling out of the radiator and it was black/brown and nasty.
I haven't done a compression test yet, but what is your knee jerk diagnosis? Would a bad head gasket show up in a compression check?
Dan
perhaps remnants of old coolant? Do a complete rad flush and see if it gets any better,and change the oil and see if theres coolant that got past security and is in the VIP section of the club...
Look for coolant in the oil, do a compression test, then if it looks ok, take the thermostat out, dump some spic n span in the radiator and fill it up with water and let it run for a while, then flush and refill it, and pressure test the system and see if it holds pressure or if their are visible leaks. If all of that goes ok then you will just have to see if it will run ok without overheating.
More data needed. If the car hasn't run in awhile it could be a ton of different things. Simple being the first thing to look at..I wouldn't rule out a leaking hose or loose connection.
Distilled water, lots of it. Pick up 10 gallons at the Piggly Wiggly and a couple bottles of the most aggressive coolant flush you can buy.
Flush the system. Then be prepared to look for a coolant leak.
Remember the green antifreeze flouresces under blue light, once you flush you can fill with green and light up the car in a dark garage and find the bad water pump...
Personally once you pull the engine out I would replace the intake and head gaskets if the leak isn't obvious.
I have not personally seen a bad head gasket on one of those Cadis but I have seen a bad head, It WAS abused.
The engine is out so firing it up again isn't going to happen soon. I may pull the heads just to take a peek, see what its history is.
Peace of mind for the cost of a few gaskets? Gee that was easy.
Dan
You mean you've never started an engine on a concrete floor? Dude, you have not lived. 
You need to keep your fingers etc safe and it'll dance around in circles but it looks pretty cool. 
Jensenman wrote:
You mean you've never started an engine on a concrete floor? Dude, you have not lived. You need to keep your fingers etc safe and it'll dance around in circles but it looks pretty cool.
nope...just started a 750cc bike engine on the bench. didn't bounce at all. nice and smooth
