1973 DAF 44 "Lorna"

[Onne]

Hello all,

I am very pleased to introduce you all to Lorna:



In case anyone wonders what colour this is, it is Bergina.

Also a very cute bunny rabbit:

[spunkymonkey]

Looks nice, Onne - complete with cloth seats and posh badges as well!

The wabbit would make a great bonnet mascot - soft enough to pass pedestrian safety rules as well ;D

[Onne]

far too cute

[iliria]

or a wheel.ornament... lol glue one to each hub

[spunkymonkey]

She's well suited to this animal degree she's taking, isn't she? So much empathy and compassion for the little dears

You're right, though, Onne - that Daf is far too cute to spoil with an after-market mascot ;D

[iliria]

i just thoght faux fur wheel trims would be amusing..... hmmm thts an idea

[Onne]

No worries, that's not the old owner, just Mike's dad (insiders will know who this is)

I'm the third owner

[stefan]

Hi mate sorry i missed you yesterday, glad everything went ok with the colection

[Onne]

Not that I am aware of :)0

[Onne]

Had a play with Lorna the 44 tonight (that sounds wrong )

Somehow there seems to be oil ending up on top of the heat exchangers and thus exhaust, which results in a rather unpleasant (although not unfamiliar, I drive British smell.

I know the front seal needs replacing, but surely that wouldn't throw it onto the exhaust?
The oil is only on one side of heat exchanger, the UK passenger side (right hand side if you stand in front )

Any idea?

[spunkymonkey]

Split in the cover of the Carter valve? Split breather pipe to the air cleaner? Dipstick missing? ;D

[Onne]

The dipstick is behind the wheel


Where is the carter valve?

[spunkymonkey]

Big rubber pipey thing just next to the oil filler cap. That's the cover, not the valve (which is a smaller rubber thingy inside). It's part of the crankcase breather system so, if there is a split, you're likely to get oil sprayed a fair distance from it.

[Onne]

Any idea where I can get these?

[dafdaffer]

Hi Onne, are you sure its not the rocker cover Gasket? normal culprit as they have to come off every time you set the tappets.

[Onne]

Not sure

The base of cylinder 1 is quite wet with oil... And I think the front seal is leaking a bit.

But such comfort to drive

[Onne]

another thing I noticed today, on the chassis plate under the bonnet.

Is there a date there, or is it pure coincidence that it has the number 1971 in that order.
My tax exempt heart was beating a bit faster

[Onne]

Aaah ok...

Only the thrid car with seat belts I have owned

[Onne]

Noticed something odd today:



Any idea what may have caused the filler cap to do what it's done? Should I worry?

[spunkymonkey]

Was it like that before and you didn't notice, or is it definately a new development? Given that it's hard plastic, it must have got rather hot to go in like that without cracking.

If it heated enough to soften then the normal breathing of the engine would cause it to blow in and out a bit like a diaphragm and it'd be pot-luck whether it ended up "out" or "in" when it cooled.

But it would have to get a lot hotter than it should to get that soft - hence the question about if it's just happened? If it has, then you may well have a cooling problem. In which case, it needs sorting. Apart from anything else, you could end up with the centre of the cap disappearing into the sump


edited to add: hate to be spreading possibly bad news like that but better to go looking now than find out the hard way later!

[Onne]

I am not sure if it is a new development or not...

What is the best thing to check? Is there a valve I can check (as in pressure relief valve?)

Can the oil cooler get clogged up easily?

The car is obviously not used to being driven every day, seeing that she only did 30 odd miles since the MOT in July last year

[spunkymonkey]

No pressure relief valve as such - any buildup of pressure is released through the carter valve under the rubber snow-man pipe but with rings in good condition there's no real buildup anyway. There is, however, a rapidly fluctuating pressure as the pistons go in and out which would be enough to distort the cap if it softened.

Not sure how easily the oil cooler blocks, not having had that problem (yet) but it would certainly be one to check. The only reasons the Autodata Guess Book* give for overheating is a blocked oil cooler or very weak mixture but I'd be inclined to unclip the cylinder cowls and make sure the cylinder cooling fins are clear as well.

On a brighter note, if you're not sure if it was like that before then the chances are it was.

It really would have to get rather hot to cause that and it's unlikely you wouldn't have noticed other symptoms when it happened. The oil would have been very thin at that sort of temperature so you'd have smelt hot / burning oil, it probably would have been cutting out at idle and / or running on when you turned off , and you might even have had pinking under load (not easy on such a lightly loaded, low compression, engine!)

* It gives no reasons for the oil filler caving in btw ;D

[dafdaffer]

Onne, dont worry i have had loads like that and both of my mine are the same, either they crack on low millage cars or go like that heat oil and loads of crankcase pressure are the main culprits but would doubt you have a problem there, the grade of oil that alan put in the car is alot thicker and will increase pressure and help to find leaks.

bring it over when you get time and we will give it a good going over.

Paul

[veeruk]

The filler cap of my 33 is split and "feels" very brittle. I think that they used a kind of plastic that gets "eaten" over time by the gases inside the engine. These engines used to run on leaded fuel, gases inside contain acid, mayo might form on the cap which can "attack" the plastic. Also, if you are worried about the engine overheating, have you removed the winter cover at the front to increase airflow over the engine? The weather is getting a bit warmer now. ;D

[Onne]

Yup, that's in the boot

What oil is recommended for normal use? My Minor gets 20W50... should the DAF get a thinner one?

[Onne]

is 39K high mileage ?

[stefan]

Hi Onne the old cap that fell of my 46 was like that and so is the replacement that only has 19k on it.

[Onne]

I'd better not put 20w50 in then. Are they allowed semi-synthetic? The thick oil she has in now probably causes more harm than good and might be the reason for the leaks...

[daf44]

hi.

my 44 is run on tesco value 20/50 with no problems.
it has 48,000 on the clock, does not smoke or leak and the filler cap is perfect.

at less than £3 for an oil change you can also afford to just change the oil every 6 months or so, preventing any sludge build up and makes sure you are always running on clean, fresh oil. even when you are on a tight budget.

unless you have a performance car, or a new car on fully synthetic oil from manufacture, i find the tescos oil as good as anything else.

paul44

[Onne]

Had a look at doing a service today

Has anyone got a cross reference for the air filter? I wouldn't be surprised if this filter has been on here for a few years (20+)
It's a MANN 1532/1

I think it currently holds more oil than the sump