+ 1 ^ Your baby needs to be burped.

 

How does one do this? Hold the car on it's belly and thump the roof firmly but gently until all the air escapes?

 

If you do that I want a picture.

How I have done that in the past is to put the rad cap on just to the fist notch so that it isn't sealed completely. Then I drive the car & it will burp the air out of the system. Make sure to turn your heater on while doing this. Check the coolant level & add as needed.

 

Oh, that's a bit easier.

So, when you say "the radiator cap is tired" do you mean that the spring gets weak and doesn't hold pressure as well? I don't think they're too expensive to replace if that's all it is...

 

They are cheap & yours is 16 years old. If it was me I'd buy one.

 

Consider it bought... I need to get a new valve cover gasket anyway - theone Paul and in installed somehow ended up with a 1/2" gap in the rear... It's amazing how much oil can leak past such an aperature...

 

If you want to see oil, start your engine with the rocker cover off. No don't do that.

 

GAH! OK, I gotta hear that story...

PS - it was the gasket that Paul and *I* installed... I'm sure that I somehow f-ed it up and caused the gap. Not sure *how* exactly, as it's pretty simplem, but there you go.

 

I'm glad to hear Fiona is ok.

Edwin

 

Suggestion, cement the cork gasket to the cover. Do not cement it to the head surface. That will hold it in place to install, but will allow you to remove it without issues if you need to adjust valves.

Re Rad Cap - yes, they "tire" and the rubber gasket also can leak.

Re "burping" - idle the car with the heater valve on, rad cap off, rev it a little now & then, air will escape thru radiator. top off fluid, install cap.

 

I'm soooo confused... That's normal for me, of course, but...

MiniMania tells me that if I have an expansion tank that I don't use a radiator cap with a spring/valve. But I *do* have a cap with a spring/valve on it... and I'm seeing a white, plastic tank stashed in the wing (although I can't see the top to see if *it* has a pressure cap like MiniMania sez).

Just once... ONCE... can't it be easy to order a frickin' part?

Re: gluing the gasket. Yep - Paul suggested that but I didn't know where my rubber cement was. I'll do that with the new one - the one on there now is soaked with oil.

 

Pull the cover & clean the oil off with some brake clean. My way of holding the gasket in place was to use a few pieces of masking tape. Once the rocker cover was on I'd pull the tape that was showing on the outside off. Gluing the casket to the cover is IMO a better idea. I just never had the right glue & was always in a hurry to finish. Also don't over tighten the bolts that hold the cover on. You'll smash the gasket & have more leaks.

 

do not just run water in your cooling system......and it's ethynol (not alcohol)glycol (antfreeze), not only it keeps your system from freezing it also protects your system from corroding....so unless you like flushing your system out every few months follow the haynes manual with a 30-50/50 mix regardless in what part of the country you live in.

 

^ + 1

 

It also lubricates your water pump.

 

yeah, I don't plan to keep the water in there - it was just a test to see if the thermostat wasn't opening or the water pump had been damaged. As everything's cooling properly now, I assume the only issue was that the level got too low. I have the "extra long screwdriver" that I need to reach the gasket clamp - the only concern I have is getting the hose back ON after I'm done draining and flushing - there isn't any clearance for my hand. Maybe if I come at it from below...

 

depending on which way the clamp is facing as to how you are going to loosen it. I foud the easiest way to get the hose on and off is to take the hose off from the water pump and which ever hoses you have to disconnect (heater hoses on a SPI which are multiple) then take the radiator completely out with the hose as a assembly. Then put it back together and slide it back in the same way you took it out. You can leave the clamp lose on the bottom and using that long screwdriver tighten it when you have it completely back in.

 

FWIW most Racers don't run AF cause it makes the track slippery if the radiator pops. Your car should have more thermal capacity with a higher pressure rated radiator cap too.

I've never used water wetter but most of the people that I talk to love it. IIRC you're supposed to use it INSTEAD of AF, not pour some in with your AF...

 

i remember reading an article a while back on cooling issues with V8 engine swaps and cooling issues in jeeps.
they tested cooling the system every way the average person discusses. 100% water, 100% antifreeze, etc.
they came up with the best solution being distilled water mixed 50-50 with antifreeze.

And If you have had your fluid in your vehicle more then 1 year, change it. same with brake fluid, trans, pwr steering, etc. no fluid should be in a car more then 1 yr.

 

FWIW, I had a 1994 GMC Suburban k1500 with a setup like yours. That is an expansion tank sitting by the firewall and a spring cap sitting on top of the radiator. So, I would say that if your car has a spring cap now, and needs replacing, do it.

 

According to the Book Of Lies, all you should need to to for a flush is disconnect the lower radiator hose (or open the drain plug if you have an early-model Mini), then run hose water through the fill cap until the outflow runs clear. You can do the same to flush out the water pump by removing the thermostat assembly and running clear water straight down into the pump assembly, again until it runs out totally clear.

Are you saying that you think you have to take out the entire radiator just for a flush??

Re: 50/50 - I've heard that as well and that's what I plan to use. thanks for the confirmation anyay!!

 

If you have a radiator cap with a spring on the radiator then your overflow is simply a catch tank and not pressurized. (hence, plastic)

If you have a rad cap with a spring on an overflow tank, then it is pressurized and the cap on the radiator does not have a spring. A/F that overflows will be drawn back into the radiator as it cools with this system.

You don't have to remove the radiator to flush. Use the Prestone Flush n Fill Kit as directed.

Do not use "rubber cememt" on the gasket. Go to the parts store and get proper gasket cement/compound. Something as cheap as old-fashioned Indian Head is sufficient to hold the gasket in place. I frequently use a spray from Form-a-Gasket in a little spray can. It's red and fairly light (also easy to remove with a solvent). Spray both surfaces (gasket & cover), let it get tacky, install.

 

I got the Prestone back-flush kit (only $6 at Ace hardware on Kenny and Henderson here in Columbus!) but I have a question...

For those that have installed this, which hose did you cut to install the "T" fitting, and which sized adapter did you use? It says to use the "heater inlet hose", which runs "from the firewall to the top of the engine".

Where would this hose be relative to the thermostat? I know where the thermostat is and I know where the hose running to the BOTTOM of the radiator is, but I don't think that I might be envisoning the hose properly, and the illustration on the back of the kit illustrates a configuration not exactly the same as I'm seeing inn Fiona.

I'm so EXCITED that I have the kit!! I'm pumped by the idea of watching rusty sludge jetting form the top of my radiator!

How big a car geek *am* I???

 

It is on the opposite end of the motor from the radiator and runs into the passenger compatment. It is 1/2" dia. heater hose. Just splice it in - or if you don't want it splced in permanently, buy a small piece of 1/2" hose, remove your hose from the control valve, add the Prestone kit to the open end, add the new piece of hose to the other side of the kit and re-attach to the valve. Then follow instructions per kit. When complete, remove kit & extra piece of hose. Then re-attach as original.

 

Which would you recommend - splicing or adding the temp section? Is there a drawback to adding the T section right to the existing hose? Does it, say, leak over tome or introduce some other complication?

So, the radiator is on the left - the hose you mean is on the RIGHT side? I'll go take a look - thanks so much!!!

Also - the instructions say to "open the radiator drain valve" prior to hose-flushing, but my rad is a newer-model and does NOT have a drain plug according to Haynes - you drain the system by removing the lower radiator hose. But I can't do this when back-flushing because no water will go up into the radiator if I pull off that hose - should I just leave everything else attached and then only remove the lower radiator hose at the very end of the process, so I can drain out the flush water prior to re-filling with 50/50 solution? Sorry for all the questions - I like to know 100% what I'm doing before I start taking parts off.

What's cool about that Preston kit is that it looks like it flushes out the entire water jacket and pump - not just the radiator. Even the Hayne's system (flushing water straight down through the thermostat and into the pump) doesn't do that... That's awesome. Thanks so much for this suggestion.