Hey there Guest!
Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
STOP!! Never post your email address in open forums. Bots can "harvest" your email! If you must share your email use a Private Message or use the 
smilie in place of the real @
Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
sparkydave
Jedi Knight
Offline
Went to go change the coolant in the Midget last night, and it's funny how something I've done before gets to be a big production.
First surprise was draining the coolant onto the exhaust pipe, which I had forgotten was now covered with heat wrap tape. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif That stuff really soaks up the coolant. I was refilling it with water to put the flushing compound in, and couldn't remember why it was being such a pain to burp the air out of the block and the heater. Oh, that's right, I took the top heater hose off last time. Okay, so now the water is going in, along with the flushing compound. Started up the car to let it run until the thermostat opened, and was reminded of that heat wrap tape /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. Large plumes of steam or smoke coming off the heat tape, and that's such a great smell /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/pukeface.gif. Also got a chance to pour off the old coolant, and found a few teaspoons of rusty sludge in it. Amazing how much rust builds up (or is it still coming loose?) in two years. Went to go take off the heat wrap tape, since that was part of an attempted vapor lock fix which turned out to be something else. Well, the now scalding hot exhaust pipe pretty much meant it was time to break for dinner and let it cool off. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thirsty.gif
Anyway, driving around to let the flushing stuff do its job, I noticed the heater has way more heat than it did before. I wonder how much of that rust was clogging the heater return? It did that once before and required shoving a coat hanger down into the return pipe to clear it out. In that case it was bad enough the auto choke stayed stone cold so it never shut off. Maybe BL intended that to let you know the little return pipe is clogged when the automatic choke won't turn off and the heater is making no heat. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif Now the fun part will be convincing the GF that it will NOT break down, overheat, spring leaks, have tires come loose, etc. on this year's road rally. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/angel.gif
First surprise was draining the coolant onto the exhaust pipe, which I had forgotten was now covered with heat wrap tape. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif That stuff really soaks up the coolant. I was refilling it with water to put the flushing compound in, and couldn't remember why it was being such a pain to burp the air out of the block and the heater. Oh, that's right, I took the top heater hose off last time. Okay, so now the water is going in, along with the flushing compound. Started up the car to let it run until the thermostat opened, and was reminded of that heat wrap tape /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. Large plumes of steam or smoke coming off the heat tape, and that's such a great smell /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/pukeface.gif. Also got a chance to pour off the old coolant, and found a few teaspoons of rusty sludge in it. Amazing how much rust builds up (or is it still coming loose?) in two years. Went to go take off the heat wrap tape, since that was part of an attempted vapor lock fix which turned out to be something else. Well, the now scalding hot exhaust pipe pretty much meant it was time to break for dinner and let it cool off. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thirsty.gif
Anyway, driving around to let the flushing stuff do its job, I noticed the heater has way more heat than it did before. I wonder how much of that rust was clogging the heater return? It did that once before and required shoving a coat hanger down into the return pipe to clear it out. In that case it was bad enough the auto choke stayed stone cold so it never shut off. Maybe BL intended that to let you know the little return pipe is clogged when the automatic choke won't turn off and the heater is making no heat. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif Now the fun part will be convincing the GF that it will NOT break down, overheat, spring leaks, have tires come loose, etc. on this year's road rally. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/angel.gif
A friendly reminder - be careful what links you click on here. If a link is posted by someone you don't know, or the URL looks fishy, DON'T CLICK. Spammers sometimes post links that lead to sites that can infect your computer, so be mindful what you click.