well boogie is being a handful...got a fuel line issue taken care of and took her out for a drive...got half way into the drive and the engine shut down on me...with steam coming out of the overflow tube and what looked like steam coming out of the valve cover....though nothing looked loose or out of place...well i had it towed home and went out and topped off the radiator and cranked it over...and the water pump spat all the fluid out...at least i found out...the engine cranks over fine so i think it shut down before any major damage was caused but its lookin like its time to replace the entire cooling system...any recommendations?

 

Sounds like you need a new water pump... They're not that expensive. They're kind of a pain in the butt to put in because you have to take out the radiator but read your Mini Manual and see what it says. Little tip: Take the grill off. It makes it easier to get to the lower radiator hose.

 

Minor pita job. Get busy, boogie has a party Thursday night!

New pump, new hoses, new clamps, backflush radiator while its out.

 

what is an effective way to backflush the radiator? also is there a good cleaner to clean out the gunk in the cooling system?

 

hard to get to? what do you mean? I don't have access problems...


sorry

Prestone actually makes a nice little kit with a joiner you splice into a heater hose allowing connection of a garden hose you can use for a nice back flush. Add to that their radiator cleaner and I've had good luck.. 'course if you're going to be pulling the rad' anyway to get a new water pump in there you can simply use a hose on the rad' ... but that didn't get the engine passages, heater core or hoses.

Any decent auto part store should have the kit - a few dollars
http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com...55.html?ref=42

 

When I did mine the water came out of the block with a brown tint for at least 30 minutes. I did not use any kind of chemical cleaner though. Just emptied and flushed the coolant into a bucket, then let the water flow through until it came out clean. I used the lower radiator hose to flush the coolant into a bucket.

 

well that was fun...i gutted the entire coolant system out...the water came out a rust brown but i kept flushing water through till it came out clean...though ive run into a snag...i have a stud on the thermostat housing that is seized and will not come free at all and all of my attempts will not free it so i think its gonna have to be cut or im gonna have to cut the housing...the studs are gonna have to be replaced anyways as whoever replaced it the last time really did a number on the threads...im suprised the nuts even went on

 

Sounds like a mechanics nightmare. You might just want to have a machine shop take the nuts off and replace the studs before you break the stud off at the face and really cause a problem. You could screw up the mating surface by trying to cut the housing off. I have found that destructively removing a part never works out in your favor.

 

thats why i sprayed some pb bolt breaker on it...see if i can get some penetration into the corosion and see if it comes loose plus i also used a pick to scrape away the old gasket and some of the crap at the top to see if some leverage with a chisel with the bevel pointed up will knock it loose...

 

heat it with a propane torch

 

i didnt even think bout that option...

 

To flush the radiator with it still on the car, just get one of these things - a Prestone radiator flush it.



It costs $5 and hooks right up to a garden hose. You run the car while flushing, so you can engage the water pump, the heater valve and everything else that has water flowing across it. Best of all, when you're done, you just screw on a cap on the T-valve and you're all set until the next time.

 

wow ... where did I hear of that b4?

http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com...55.html?ref=42


sorry

 

Awww, come on man... I've never had an original thought. I just recycle good tips that other people give me. Everyone knows that.

 

well this is great...got the entire coolant system replaced...and after sweating about my body weight in water and wearing myself out....i do in fact have a blown head gasket...as i was watching the coolant system run i saw it bubbling out between the head and the block....

 

See my advice on your SSM post about the party tonight.

 

well after trying the trick that john(minimad) showed me...it still sprayed coolant so its gonna be trailered up to a shop to be repaired and while they have it apart gonna do the stage 1 kit plus a HiF38 carb as well

 

well here is an update...boogie is up and running!
my brother and i went up to the shop doing the work (DJ's Mini's) and they got her up and going...the gasket blew and no warping of the head detected...he suspects the gasket was changed once before but wasnt tightened down after 600 miles...but he got the Hif carb/stage 1 kit/seat bracket extenders/head gasket/fuel filter done but his lift is down so he couldnt get the rc40 exhaust on so i should have her back monday