So, weeks before my FIRST EVER expedition in the 80 it blows the head gasket. And the radiator tank. (I use "expedition" loosely - It's just 3 days of 4x4 camping less than 200 miles away but it's a big deal to me.)
So, without time to order Doug's DVD, and without time to mail-order parts from Dan I jump into this with the FSM and overpriced parts from the local dealer. And a new radiator I've had waiting in the wings for a few months.
First, my question:
While cleaning up the deck surface of the block a disconcerting amount of gasket and engine block toe-jam probably fell into the water jacket despite my efforts to keep it away. I do not want flakes of gasket scab, coolant crust, and other nasty bodagetey crap clogging up my new radiator. Advice on an effective flush method before I bolt up the radiator?
Here's my HG repair tidbit for other idiots like myself. I had some bolts that wouldn't torque right. They just felt wrong. Resistance would increase then flatten out. But it felt different from when you over-torque a fastener to failure. I had mic-ed them all and they were within tolerance for re-use. Turns out I over-lubed them and they were acting like a piston in a cylinder. I pulled them, blew the excess oil off the threads, and re-torqued. They torqued beautifully the second time. Except for the farthest one back on the passenger side. Even after I had cleaned the oil off after the first go I pulled it the second time and it was covered in oil. Oil had pooled in the hole because oil puddles around that bolt. I feel very lucky I didn't hydrolock and break the block. Well, I assume I didn't break the block because I would expect I would have heard it.
So I made a tool. I stuffed a piece of closed-cell foam against the end of the shop-vac and made a small extended tip with brake-line. Duct-taped it up and vacuumed out the bolt hole. Then I washed it down with brake-clean and vacuumed it out again. When I re-torqued for the 3rd freaking time everything went perfectly with very even torquing of all bolts. Learn from my failings and vacuum out your bolt holes and don't over-lube your bolts.
So, without time to order Doug's DVD, and without time to mail-order parts from Dan I jump into this with the FSM and overpriced parts from the local dealer. And a new radiator I've had waiting in the wings for a few months.
First, my question:
While cleaning up the deck surface of the block a disconcerting amount of gasket and engine block toe-jam probably fell into the water jacket despite my efforts to keep it away. I do not want flakes of gasket scab, coolant crust, and other nasty bodagetey crap clogging up my new radiator. Advice on an effective flush method before I bolt up the radiator?
Here's my HG repair tidbit for other idiots like myself. I had some bolts that wouldn't torque right. They just felt wrong. Resistance would increase then flatten out. But it felt different from when you over-torque a fastener to failure. I had mic-ed them all and they were within tolerance for re-use. Turns out I over-lubed them and they were acting like a piston in a cylinder. I pulled them, blew the excess oil off the threads, and re-torqued. They torqued beautifully the second time. Except for the farthest one back on the passenger side. Even after I had cleaned the oil off after the first go I pulled it the second time and it was covered in oil. Oil had pooled in the hole because oil puddles around that bolt. I feel very lucky I didn't hydrolock and break the block. Well, I assume I didn't break the block because I would expect I would have heard it.
So I made a tool. I stuffed a piece of closed-cell foam against the end of the shop-vac and made a small extended tip with brake-line. Duct-taped it up and vacuumed out the bolt hole. Then I washed it down with brake-clean and vacuumed it out again. When I re-torqued for the 3rd freaking time everything went perfectly with very even torquing of all bolts. Learn from my failings and vacuum out your bolt holes and don't over-lube your bolts.
