Heater Valve leak!

[Bret]

Sorry folks, but I need to vent!!

Ok, who else in the group thinks that the Heater Valve could have be placed in a better location that parked right above the Distributor?

The other day I went to the store with my 3 year old sitting in as co-pilot. Yup, a rare moment when Bret was actually at peace with the whole world, when all of a sudden the ol' B starts miss firing. Getting so bad that I could hardly get it through the intersection before it quite out-right. There we were sitting at the side of the road with traffic whizzing by us at 50 or 60MPH, while I was try’n to figure out what the problem was. At first I couldn’t figure it out until I remembered that over the past week or so I noticed a little coolant in the drip pan. So decided to pop off the distributor cap to have a look. Low and behold – coolant in the dizzy. Using an old rag and some WD-40 to clean out the moisture, I had us back on the road in just 20 minutes. Aside from one of my favorite Hawaiian shirts and one ½ gal of Vanilla Ice Cream nobody was too upset.

This morning (during a LaMans break) I decided to try and figure out where the water was coming from – sure enough the heater valve was dripping right on top of the dizzy.

[ 06-14-2003: Message edited by: Bret ]</p>

 

[Guest]

wasn't the smartest thing they ever went and did

 

[SilentUnicorn]

sounds like as much fun as my midge breaking the accelorator cable on I295 just north of providence. Glad i had some extra cable with me.

i recently rebuilt my heater valve. used an o ring i bought at abaohons hardware.. seems to be holding well. but i still carry a bypass kit consisting of a 1/2 in bolt for a plug and a piece of tubing for a union.....case i ever need it...
Glad all turned out well

 

[Bret]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by SilentUnicorn:

Glad all turned out well

<hr></blockquote>

Yes, so long as you don't count the loss of the ice cream.

 

[Guest]

I've only had mine do that twice in the 22 years I have owned the "B". The last time the coolant got into my Crane ignition pick-up and I had to get the car towed. Cleaned it out with compressed air and sealed it with RTV . Hopefully it won't wont effect the ignition the same way.
When stuff like that happens, I think up ways I can prevent a bad valve from doing tha drip bit directly on the dist like installing a pan below the valve with a drain hose dropping down past the dist. But after the valve is replaced, I don't need to do it until the next time.
Sound familiar?

 

[Dave Russell]

From time to time I have worked in old hydroelectric power plants. The old plants have miles of hydraulic piping, pumps, actuating cylinders & everything else. There are so many small leaks & drips that it is impossible to stop all of them. I was amused to see lots of tomato cans, hung by wires, under the drips. Beautiful polished brass, brightly painted equipment, spotless floors, AND the cans.The Operators just empty the cans on a routine schedule. Saves a huge mess on the floor. I was on an old ship once that had a similar can setup. I can't find anything on my LBC to hang the cans from.
D

 

[aerog]

My heater valve failed the day I brought my car home for the first time (actually probably had been bad quite awhile, you know how that goes). I pushed the valve (not the controls in the car) as far as it would go in the "off" direction and the leak stopped and I ordered a new one. Took me about 7 months to replace it, but it didn't leak at all in the 7 months. Go figure.

 

[Bruce74B]

The night I trailered my baby home I noticed a leak from the heatr valve which almost stopped completely when I turn the valve the whole way off as discribed above. But I also discovered that I could bend the end of the contol cable away from the distributor so that the tiny leak could drip harmlessly away from the distributor. I replace the valve in a lot less than 7 months though...why press my luck? LOL

Coincideltally, my wife cleaned out the garage yesterday while I had my LBC at work (mostly because of the kids' junk in the other bay...hockey equipment and half of my college-aged son's worldly possessions) and asked why the B's floor was so messy. I related my old LBC to her old (13 and 17 YO) labador reteivers and she undewrstood completely.

Does anyone have a lead on a good concrere cleaner??? I would help my marriage alot!

Bruce

 

[Bret]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by aerog:
My heater valve failed the day I brought my car home for the first time (actually probably had been bad quite awhile, you know how that goes). I pushed the valve (not the controls in the car) as far as it would go in the "off" direction and the leak stopped and I ordered a new one. Took me about 7 months to replace it, but it didn't leak at all in the 7 months. Go figure.<hr></blockquote>

Scott,

Great idea - I did exactly as you suggested above and while the valve hasn't completely stopped leaking, it is now just a slow drip at running temperature. But regardless I don’t like leaving my B in a sub par condition for very long, so I have already ordered a new valve and should have it soon.

I’ll do anything to avoid getting stuck on the side of the road again for something so silly as water in the dissy again. Besides we wouldn’t want the senseless loss of Ice Cream again either!

Thanks for letting me vent everybody.

[ 06-17-2003: Message edited by: Bret ]</p>

 

[aerog]

Good luck Bret - it's an easy job, if you haven't drained the radiator recently this might be a good opportunity to do that too.

I also replaced the heater-valve control cable when I did my valve. That was more a necessity as the new valve seemed little more stiff than the old one and at one point the old one would just flex rather than push. I used a control-cable for a model RC airplane that seemed to be a little stiffer than the automotive ones I could find. Once I finally got everything hooked up again the control knob worked like brand-new.