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sputtering at speed

I read on a couple of other posts on here that if you mix the original dexcool with something green and it turns it brown puddingish.
 


Have you done a compression test? I would have done that as soon as i found oil where it wasnt supposed to be.
 
its lim gasket time for you. you loosing coolant? little by little? before the external leak?

the leak is probably a coolant elbow. or the water pump, or a bad heater hose off the back of the alt bracket.


and how to flush the coolant.


remove the t stat, put the t stat housing back on, take the upper hose off the radiator, then push it down to the ground to a bucket or let it fly.


get your garden hose out, put it in the rad turn it on, then fire up the car, let it run till clear water pumps out the top hose.


then turn the hose off, run the car till no more water comes out the upper hose. then turn it off.


put your t stat back in, with new gasket, the upper hose back on.


now take 1 gallon of full strength green antifreeze, not the 50/50 crap. ( parts store cheap green is fine to use) dump the whole gallon in the radiator, fire up the car, fill the rad with hose water till its full. top as needed till its ready to be bled of air. it will burp and take coolant as the water in the block warms up the t stat opens up for a few seconds till cold coolant hits it and it shuts again.


now to bleed the air out, let it idle rad cap off till the fans turn on, (when the fans are on the temp is over 195 deg, the t stat is wide open) then open the bleeder screw on top the t stat housing a few turns till a steady stream of coolant comes out the hole, shut the screw, top off the rad. cap it.


done.
 
lim gasket, t stat??? I don't think I'm loosing coolant, at least not that I can tell. I found out about the issue after I removed the rad cap to do a coolant flush and can't find the damn petcock. LOL Then I read somewhere that there may not even be one. (hmmm, if not, I wonder what the hell was I trying to turn)
 
T stat means thermostat. its in the engine where the upper rad hose meets the engine, 2 bolts the t stat housing comes off, re move the thermostat and put the housing back on. follow the directions there. the engine will pump out the old coolant.
 


Oh, I forgot, I went to AZ yesterday and had my codes read. I have a 0304/0300, which are misfire codes that I already knew about. In fact, all my codes were ones that had threw in the past except P1518, P0134, p0102. I have a few C's but those are related to the ABS and brake sensor, which I already know I have a short in the wire that goes to the front right speed sensor. I'll replace that in a few weeks (tax time baby!). Any suggestions? I also need to know the best way to drain my coolant. I can't seem to find the petcock on this vehicle (or even if it has one) so I'll probably go the hose drain route but which hose.
 
LOL, Scotty D, uhh did I mention that I'm a semi-newbie? I could do all that in those links IF I had a garage (I'm in an apt complex) a second car and a couple of days. Also, it looked as if that engine had been removed which I couldn't do even if I had a garage. LOL I have removed one in the past but we talking 1985 when engines were a bit less complicated.
 
that was a blown engine he used as an example as to why it was dead, all that coolant under the upper intake killed that engine.

the engine stays in the car, its a 3 hour job if its your first time, its about a 100 bucks in parts to do it yourself. or up $600 at a shop.

this is how far it has to get torn down too. clean up the matting surfaces of the head, and the lim, new gaskets put the lim back on then the upper intake. the fuel rail, then the wire harness.

to plug them holes will cost you like 20 bucks for a tap and the plugs. for the piece of mind that it will never eat coolant again. or chance engine failure. its easy enough to do.

its just nuts and bolts, take pics along the way, bag your bolts, label the bag. its not hard.

and this can be done in your parking spot, if it takes you longer then a day shut the hood go home. parts into the trunk. i do 90% of my work in a public parking lot, im also stuck with apt living. it sucks, but it is what it is.

and im no kid, lol the cars from the 80's were worse then this is. it was the 60's and 70's that were cake to work on.

and if your stuck there always someone around here to help guide you through the job.


limjob3.jpg


limjob1.jpg


and back together, mine is super charged but its the same job.


limjob8-1.jpg
 
I think I could do this, my only thing is this is my only vehicle at this time. With one year old twins and a seven year old that has to go to school every day, I have to make sure I can get this done in one day.
 
This is my other thought, I think I need either a new water pump or PWR steering pump, maybe both. I think that's where my leak is coming from.
 


hows the oil look on your dip stick? is just oil? or is it a bit white or real dark and foamy, we call it milk shake. if its anything other then oil on the stick you wont have a car to drive those twins around in. if its just oil you should put this on your list of thing to do. its just a matter of time that it fails. they all do.

its a Saturday job. no reason for it take longer then 3 hours or so, even if your rusty at wrenching. or its your first time. all you need is a simple socket set and a torque wrench, they do the free rental at the parts stores for them. ( a lot of guys here dont even torque the bolts)
 
Oil looks fine. I'll check again in a few but last time I looked it was good. Can you give me a pic of where the petcock is on the GP or which hose to pull to do the coolant change?
 
dont bother with the drain thing, it will break anyways, or be clogged up.

how to flush the coolant.


remove the t stat, put the t stat housing back on, take the upper hose off the radiator, then push it down to the ground to a bucket or let it fly.


get your garden hose out, put it in the rad turn it on, then fire up the car, let it run till clear water pumps out the top hose.


then turn the hose off, run the car till no more water comes out the upper hose. then turn it off.


put your t stat back in, with new gasket, the upper hose back on.


now take 1 gallon of full strength green antifreeze, not the 50/50 crap. ( parts store cheap green is fine to use) dump the whole gallon in the radiator, fire up the car, fill the rad with hose water till its full. top as needed till its ready to be bled of air. it will burp and take coolant as the water in the block warms up the t stat opens up for a few seconds till cold coolant hits it and it shuts again.


now to bleed the air out, let it idle rad cap off till the fans turn on, (when the fans are on the temp is over 195 deg, the t stat is wide open) then open the bleeder screw on top the t stat housing a few turns till a steady stream of coolant comes out the hole, shut the screw, top off the rad. cap it.


done.
 
Hate to show my ignorance but can you post a pic of where the t stat is. I think I'm looking at the right thing but it will be just my luck that the car will explode. Then it will be ScottyD's fault. LOL
 
the last pic i posted, follow the upper rad hose to the engine. 2 bolts to get the housing off. the t stat sits under it.
 


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