leaky radiator hose diagnosis please

[billschroeder5842]

Okay.... I'm going on in! No shop for me!

I started the project and am following the FSM with a bit of common sense improvise. I decided that if I pace myself, I SHOULD have it done by next weekend with a couple of hours a night. It will give me the satisfaction of doing it plus, it allows me to clean cracks and crevices and such. Its that "nobody does it like you do thing..."

First glitch... I have the upper radiator shroud/support all loose, but the bottom mounting bracket on the passenger side is getting hung up on the AC lines and there does not seem to be enough "give" to work around it.

Now, I can't believe that I have to disconnect the AC lines and the oil cooler lines? Stupid engineering! The FSM manual said nothing. What am I over looking?

Any tips?

[Dynomite]

Originally Posted by billschroeder5842

Okay.... I'm going on in! No shop for me!

I started the project and am following the FSM with a bit of common sense improvise. I decided that if I pace myself, I SHOULD have it done by next weekend with a couple of hours a night. It will give me the satisfaction of doing it plus, it allows me to clean cracks and crevices and such. Its that "nobody does it like you do thing..."

First glitch... I have the upper radiator shroud/support all loose, but the bottom mounting bracket on the passenger side is getting hung up on the AC lines and there does not seem to be enough "give" to work around it.

Now, I can't believe that I have to disconnect the AC lines and the oil cooler lines? Stupid engineering! The FSM manual said nothing. What am I over looking?

Any tips?

Yes disconnect oil cooler flange one bolt on oil cooler .....hardly any oil will come out if not run for couple hours.....then raise drivers side clear and high....with drivers side clear and high bend flange past AC lines.....then off

[billschroeder5842]

Originally Posted by mike100

The other tip for all C4's is to trim the tab of the shroud where all the a/c and oil cooler lines converge. Then it lifts off without so much prying and bracket removal. Tip #2 is to cuss and cry removing the 6 tiny sheet metal screws that connect the shroud duct near the air inlet way down where they are hard to reach. when you put it back together, reverse the speed nut clips and screw the screws from the inside of the front air inlet rather than the original way where you reach them from the engine bay. I got away with using 4 out of 6 screws and can take them out in a couple of minutes.

Thanks- I've completely embraced the "cussing portion" as I'm a Navy man and my 26 years of service (still in the reserve!) have given me a colorful vocabulary.

The six little screws did not give me much difficultly AFTER I removed the coolant container and the Air pump. PITA. I will reverse the screws for assembly.

AS mentioned earlier, I did remove the oil cooler and was able to get the shroud off but I cracked the casing and broke on of the mounts.

Yes, I will do a bit of triming on the Shroud. I'm not fighting that one on the way together.

I'm now removing hoses. 1/3 of the way done, so tomorrow finish the hose removal and start the cleaning of all the parts, radiators fins... etc. The previous owner allowed the oil cooler to leak for what appear to be YEARS. Lots of oil cleaning on the passenger side.

My Navy vocabulary will be fully exercised over the next few days.

Then I need to fin

[RussMcB]

Sounds like you're doing a pretty good job tackling it. I remember it was a tougher job than I expected. I recommend not having a deadline (like next weekend), and work on it until it starts to get frustrating, and take a break.

I didn't notice earlier - Are you installing an aftermarket radiator? If yes be prepared for a little extra work. IIRC, the inlet and/or outlet of my afternarket rad was bigger than the hoses I bought, and it took some effort to get them on. Getting the fan and shrouds back in place were tough, too. I think I dropped the lower (PS?) cooler to have more room. Tight spaces.

Good luck. You'll have good peace of mind when it's done.

[billschroeder5842]

Originally Posted by RussMcB

I recommend not having a deadline (like next weekend), and work on it until it starts to get frustrating, and take a break.

I didn't notice earlier - Are you installing an aftermarket radiator? If yes be prepared for a little extra work. IIRC, the inlet and/or outlet of my afternarket rad was bigger than the hoses I bought, and it took some effort to get them on. Getting the fan and shrouds back in place were tough, too. I think I dropped the lower (PS?) cooler to have more room. Tight spaces.

Good luck. You'll have good peace of mind when it's done.

No radiator decisions yet, I'm not that far, but I need to have that figured out in the next day or so-- hoses from Jerry's arrive on Wednesday!

It is tough for me NOT to have a schedule; it is the Navy in me:

Today- Prep, organize, disassemble, pull shroud, fans and whine on boards begging for help and sympathy.
Monday- disassemble hoses and start cleaning. More whining but with snarky tone. Order Radiator, cringing at price.
Tuesday- More, endless, mind numbing cleaning. Less complaining in proportion to beer consumed.
Wednesday- Finish cleaning, assembly prep and begin on hoses assembly. Slowly. Glacial pace. Debate on hose clamps on if to use factory or worm clamps. Worms clamps will probably win.
Thursday- More assembly. Finish hoses, thermostat install and shroud trimming. Possible fan install?
Friday- Install new radiator, attach final hoses and thermostat. Fill up with new fluids and pour new antifreeze too.
Saturday- Bolt up nonsense and fix everything I broke. Double check and feign shock at how much I missed. Apologize to wife for being "emotionally unavailable" all week, but really not mean it.
Sunday- Pray for the benevolent Gods of FSM process and Fire her up. Happy dance and take her for a ride.

See? What could possibly go wrong? This looks good on paper and Mr Murphy is on board with this plan.

[mike100]

Well, you're gonna make that cars yours. The same thing happened to me when I put a low mileage car back into regular service- lots of small stuff broke.

[DRM500RUBYZR-1]

Originally Posted by billschroeder5842

No radiator decisions yet, I'm not that far, but I need to have that figured out in the next day or so-- hoses from Jerry's arrive on Wednesday!

It is tough for me NOT to have a schedule; it is the Navy in me:

Today- Prep, organize, disassemble, pull shroud, fans and whine on boards begging for help and sympathy.
Monday- disassemble hoses and start cleaning. More whining but with snarky tone. Order Radiator, cringing at price.
Tuesday- More, endless, mind numbing cleaning. Less complaining in proportion to beer consumed.
Wednesday- Finish cleaning, assembly prep and begin on hoses assembly. Slowly. Glacial pace. Debate on hose clamps on if to use factory or worm clamps. Worms clamps will probably win.
Thursday- More assembly. Finish hoses, thermostat install and shroud trimming. Possible fan install?
Friday- Install new radiator, attach final hoses and thermostat. Fill up with new fluids and pour new antifreeze too.
Saturday- Bolt up nonsense and fix everything I broke. Double check and feign shock at how much I missed. Apologize to wife for being "emotionally unavailable" all week, but really not mean it.
Sunday- Pray for the benevolent Gods of FSM process and Fire her up. Happy dance and take her for a ride.

See? What could possibly go wrong? This looks good on paper and Mr Murphy is on board with this plan.

You need to do it differently!!!!!!

Experience tells me that far more consumption of beer than simply on Tuesday is in order so as to properly complete this task.


Marty

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Originally Posted by RussMcB

I bought a Stant coolant system pressure tester decades ago and it has been my best tool investment ever, I can't tell you how many times I've used it and it always helps.







Craig, thanks for this suggestion. Looks like I might have a new favorite tool. :-)

Russ,
You're welcome and thanks for the reminder about the Stant tester. I had one way, way back and not sure where it went. I will order one of these and add to the tool box. With the camera you will be amazed with what you can find; especially under the motor on the frame and in cavities and leaks in weird places.


Sent from my iPhone using ZR-1 Net Registry

[billschroeder5842]

**UPDATE**

And a question...

I'm on target my self imposed schedule so far: shrouds off, radiator out, hoses off and F-Bombs a flying. So far it has been pretty straight forward with the exception of the lower radiator hose; it is just damn difficult to get a hand on.

I started cleaning yesterday and got reasonably far. I'm fixing the after effect from a leaky oil cooler hose that the previous owner left unattended for YEARS. More cleaning tonight and then should be ready for re install.

Mr Murphy may intervene with my parts deliver schedule. I'm expect hose today and radiator tomorrow. We will see as this mouse has best laid plans that could go wrong...

I replaced the cooling hose set up a couple of months ago and it has been great- good fitment and no leaks! I did remove the system to take the radiator out as the shroud was bumping into it.

Questions:

Can I can reuse the current "O" ring rubber gaskets or are they shot after one use? If I can reuse, I'll take them out, clean, put a dab of lithium grease (to hold them in place for installation) and re install.

If I need to replace, are these rings a pretty stock item that I can pick up at a hardware store?

Second... can anyone give me tips on ease of installation of the lower radiator hose? It is super tight and I have a feeling I'll get stuck?

Third, any best practices on filling the radiator/hoses so I don't have air lock? Also, any recommendations on radiator fluid? I think I have the generic green stuff.

BTW... I am getting full supervision from Kaiser and Panzer my faithful car buddies.

Thanks!!!!

[RussMcB]

Originally Posted by billschroeder5842

Can I can reuse the current "O" ring rubber gaskets or are they shot after one use?

I reused mine without issues.