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Yes, it finally ran clear after thermocure and a very thorough flush with the garden hose and then flushes with a shopping cart full of gallon jugs of distilled water. Fill it, run it, drain it, repeat with distilled water three or four times to ensure no chemicals or garden hose water remain.
Congrats Greg!!!! I’m getting drunk tonight in celebration of the end of your baseline filibuster!! I’m so damn happy!!Done With Cooling System Overhaul...
I think that this may conclude most of the baselining topics I've set out to address. I only had a small amount of irritating BS to deal with today wrapping up. That sweet little petcock bolt doohickey that replaces the very boring, yet functional brass drain plug and can be aquired Wit's End? The one that @FMC80 cautioned against using because it leaks? The one that has been rock solid this who'll process and has not leaked once after over 5 drain and fills? Well just in case you are curious it leaked once I put my final fill of coolant in. I was more than a little pissed. It comes from Toyota or Wits with some greenish thread sealant pre-applied. You slip a deep 14mm socket over it and use every extension you own to put it in and torque it up to the FSM spec of 20somthing foot pounds. No problem. The issue is if you seat the petcock bolt, which is 10mm, too tight and it binds a bit and you suddenly are releasing the whole valve. This destroys the thread sealant and when you "hope for the best" and put it back it and fill it up with your coolant it leaks. If you tighten it 1/8-1/4 turn it leaks worse. Then you panic and think you've f***ed up the BPT threads or whatever they are because the plug is not tapered. The lesson here is listen to @FMC80, I know that seems crazy, but I learned my lesson.
Anyhow I drained the block, then put the old plug in and refilled, brought it up to temp, burped etc, topped of the expansion tank and called it good.
Because you won't believe me: View attachment 2929798
I then felt I owed it to the Cruiser to wash it after many many weeks of neglect. So that's a wrap on cooling system.
Further good news is that I've plowed through 1/2 a tank of gas and I cant find any oil leaking from my oil pump cover or my front main seal. As you may remember the PO smeared some FIPG on the bottom of the timing cover below the main seal. No leaks are detected. So im feeling great about that. Previously I could nearly watch it drip when the engine was idling.
Additional good news, my low idle seems better. I keep resetting the ECU (rewiring the driving lights with a real harness connected to the headlights) so its hard to know how it will shake out, but it seems to be steady at about 600-625 rpm. This is a vast improvement over the pre work idle that was 400-450rpm. I'll never know if it was the myriad of vacuum leaks or the filthy fuel injectors.
I have a few more small tasks to do before I'm totally done. I have a new Passenger Mirror to fix the jury rigged situation I've had going on since 2018 (my micro paracord fix is bombproof), I have new plastic barriers for my door panels to install as well. Hopefully this reduces some moisture inside the rig.
So I'm heading to the store in my rig to buy some beer. Eventually I'll update the first page with my list of things accomplished.
Next up: Re-gearing and Lockers.
Thank you sir. Happy to have had the support. Im gonna write to Joey. The cock block really is a disaster waiting to happen…so to speak. Waste of time and money. It’s a nifty idea, but it can’t hang with my real world use.
It’s a slightly different thread from what I’ve read. The brass drain plug is tapered, and when it seats it blocks the passage, the valves one doesn’t seat when cranked in. I think that the treads leaked because the sealant failed. The sealant failed because I’m trying to open the valve I loosened the whole drain plug, which then forced me to remove it. I could have tried a water pump gasket sealer, but my confidence was broken.
It never occurred to me that the block drain facilities needed improvement. I thought that Toyota made my life pretty damn easy as it is.
Well I’d usually say once every 1-2 years, but I’m apparently special. I’m over it. I did like the idea of not creating a poison station for my neighbor’s pets or my pup, but I’ll manage.
Thanks MMG! Glad to be on to the next things. Enjoy your beverage!
ARB air lockers were first. They came out some 30 years ago. I’ve run them in my 80‘s and a trailer queen rock rig I had prior to owning 80’s. These units wouldn’t still be on the market and as popular as they are if their design was flawed.
That’s a good moral. I’ve been reading about air lockers for a longtime, but I’ve never been in a position to own any. Had an elocker on a 02 Tacoma that I foolishly sold to make way for kids and car seats.
