posted 05-11-2003 09:07 PM                  

As I posted elsewhere, I tried to do a "closed-system" replacement, but that went by the wayside early on when I unscrewed the petcock too far. So, more or less a conventional coolant replacement followed. For the "trick", jump down to "THE TRICK". For the whole process that I used, read on.

I did catch the original coolant - no grit, no slime, nothing other than a slightly brownish tinge which I would attribute to Bars from the factory. All in all, it looked pretty good for 3 years/36,000 miles.

Since I was doing the MTD 2.2 air intake at the same time, I had the passenger side-panel off, airbox and coolant tank removed. BTW, I would recommend to anyone replacing the stock airbox to remove the coolant tank - I can't imagine doing this job otherwise (and this probably accounts for the reports of original airbox breakage upon removal).

The steps I followed:
1. Removed the coolant tank.
2. Opened petcock, attached clear hose to bleed valve and opened, removed upper end of radiator hose from radiator.
3. Hose-flushed throuch larger hose (5/8"?) at coolant tank, hose-flushed through radiator.
4. Jacked car on opposite side as petcock to assist draining and also blew into coolant hoses, bleed valve, and radiator to force out as much flush water as possible.
5. Reassembled, filled with distilled water, brought to temperature.
6. Allowed to cool, removed pressure cap, opened bleed valve, detached upper end of radiator hose, opened petcock, tilted car to drain distilled water (blow, blow, blow again).
7. Installed 5.5 quarts Prestone green and distilled water to fill (about 3.5 quarts), brought to temperature, checked for leaks.

THE PROBLEM:
I noted that when the car reached temperature (after both steps 5 and 7), I could not feel any coolant in the upper radiator hose. I believe that this is the airlock problem. This seems to be confirmed the next day since there was no air at the bleed valve when totally cold.

THE TRICK:
WHEN COLD, loosen the upper radiator clamp and move the hose halfway off of the radiator. Screw an air needle (like you use to fill a basketball) into the clear bleeder hose and slip the needle between the radiator hose and the radiator sleeve. Seal it with a couple of small strips of duct tape and suck on it.

I WAS ABLE TO ADD OVER A QUART MORE COOLANT THIS WAY. I believe the trapped air problem now has a simple solution.

Comments, please.

-GRROWL

posted 05-12-2003 06:47 AM                  

You found yet another use for duct tape!

posted 05-12-2003 08:12 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by Black Tie 161:

Hows the new intake feel?

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gRReat!

-GRROWL