Yesterday I decided to take a look at why the rod was idling too high. Once it warmed up I began to tweak the carb, something started squealing and I realised what I thought was a little sprinkling of rain was actually water droplets being flung off of the water pump pulley, I shut it down. I went back up the front to take a look and could see little evidence of a water leak, until I moved the pulley and a stream of water ran out from behind the pulley. On closer inspection there was what appeared to be a grease mark on the lower rad hose, that I wiped away to leave a clean spot, which must have been water. When draining the rad I found no antifreeze, just rusty old water. Clearly the previous owner hadn't used coolant, which had allowed the water in the system to eat away at the water pump bearings, and waterways by the looks of the water colour. I pulled the pump and the thermostat housing, suspecting that there was no stat in there, my suspicions were confirmed, the stat housing was just home to more dirty water.
I have a stat knocking about in the shed, which will be fitted today, after I drill some bleed holes in it, and give the cooling system a thorough flush ready to have the new water pump, which should arrive today, fitted, all filled up with water, drained again and replaced with a healthy dose of blue ethylene glycol antifreeze/coolant. While the coolant is draining I'll change the oil and filter as I assume that it is going to have the wrong grade and quality for the engine.
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