Xratty cooling system questions

So, I dragged the xratty into the garage to have a good look through the cooling system. It's been leaking out of the radiator, so I was going to drop in the aluminum radiator/intercooler.

The deeper I dig the worse this cooling system looks. The hoses are all newish, but the metal hoses are rotten. I've never seen so much scale in an engine! For example: the water pump outlet is at least 25% blocked by nasty chunky rusty stuff! A real mess. No way I get this thing totally clean without pulling the motor I think...I'm not up for that yet. Also, this thing has so many cooling hoses it's ridiculous.

Soooo...I want to simplify alot. Basic plan is to delete the valve to the heater core at least. I'd like to keep the stock pressure tank thing.

Does anyone have a diagram of a simplified cooling system that works? I've seen threads on the merit of deleting the turbo cooling, the intake manifold cooling etc. I don't know about that, but am all ears if people have solved this effectively before me (JV? Mothra? Grant?).

You can try and flush out as much gunk as you can. Just run a garden hose in a few of the coolant ports until it comes out clean somewhere else, take out the thermostat. Then get some radiator flush cleaner stuff from your local car parts place, pour that in (set up the hoses so it doesnt come out) and let it sit for 10 min or so. Next, flush with the garden hose again. Do that for the block, radiator, and heater core. Might not be perfect, but probably better than before and easier than pulling the motor. Refill first with your desired amount of antifreeze, then top off with water. There will be some water in the passages from when you flushed it, which is why you dont fill with 50/50 (or whatever your desired ratio is), it'll end up diluted.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/17/2008 02:57PM by Carl S.

Yea, it's really nasty, but the radiator will be brand new, and so it's just the block and heater core really. I'll try that...should get it alot better than it is now anyway!

frumby Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yea, it's really nasty, but the radiator will be
> brand new, and so it's just the block and heater
> core really. I'll try that...should get it alot
> better than it is now anyway!


JUST!!!!!! the block and head??!!!! where diya stink all that slimey sheet comes from?
HOT FLUSH! and REVERSE HOT FLUSH before new rad goes in.
Didya buy the fancy schmanzy alloy combo thing off Ebay?

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Yep...sure did. It's a pretty sweet looking set for the price. Intercooler is just huge...maybe too big?

No idea why it's so nasty. It's not so slimy as it is like huge chunks of rust caked on. I'm guessing the previous owner let it sit for a long while, but no way to really know for sure.

Any tips on the best way to hot flush?

Whatever you do, make SURE you flush the heater core separately from the rest of the cooling system, like it says in the shop manual, or you will clog the core. BTDT.

---

Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

I put a 3/8NPT temp sender in the lower intake manifold and eliminated the oil cooler and associated lines.
Below is a map of what I've done looking from the front, ie. moved the expansion tank to the driver's side.
The hose to and from the heater core/dual tubes is 5/8". The radiator hoses are 32 mm, except the water pump outlet I have, which is 1 1/2". The radiator had a M22 bung, but I welded on an AN-16 fitting since I have a bunch of AN-16 hoses from the Furniture Row Nascar team. I'm using Samco Superflex 32 mm hoses, a 90 degree hose connecting the swirl pot to the radiator, and a reducer off the waterpump from 1.5" to 1.25" and an aluminum nipple to connect to the superflex to go to the lower part of radiator.
The aluminum ebay radiator doesn't work real well with genuine Cossie 2WD intercooler in my opinion, because there is about a 3/4 to 1" gap between them, so I have to build a mount to support the top of the radiator, which is okay though because it can also support the top of my oil coolers. Did you get the big fucking intercooler (RS500 style) that blocks part of the radiator and mounts where the AC condenser went, or is it the one that mounts on the top? I ask because there's little problems with both in my opinion as well. The big fucker uses the ac condenser mounting points and takes up the space that seems so logical for the oil cooler and p/s cooler. The other one has a 90 pointed in the wrong direction on the intercooler outlet. If you use a serpentine conversion with a 90 degree rotated upper, you need an immediate 90 degree turn upwards to get up to the throttle body.
John's 606 mounts put the engine mount to the frame rails instead of the crossmember, which has multiple benefits, but the big one comes in the ability to drop the whole front suspension without touching the engine. I went with Chuck Warren's motor mounts, which seem quite good for me for now. In the future and on the next car, I'll do JVAB style, which will hopefully be regular items by then. Paddy had a set but I think John Cassidy snatched them up.

---

Grant Hughes

fiasco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Whatever you do, make SURE you flush the heater
> core separately from the rest of the cooling
> system, like it says in the shop manual, or you
> will clog the core. BTDT.

Listen to the boy, he's where you need a heater and the "Sooooper High Efficiency heater element" which packs in a shitload more rows in a small package means the ID of the cores are TINY and will clog is you have nasty dandruff and happen to be combing your hair while the cap is off.

Back flush back flush back flush. I've hooked up a garden hose to the house hot water heater and cranked it up.
>
>
> Andrew Steere, 1973
> Lyndeborough, NH
> KB1PJY

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

So I spent some time yesterday trying to find a water pump that works on these cars that would have a 32 mm outlet to match everything else instead of a 40 mm outlet, with no success though. I'm fucking broke again (damn married life and financially supporting two people) so am going to try to figure out a junkyard solution or reuse the old hose with a 32mm nipple to connect to the radiator. Trying to get this piece of shit running and driving by next months first event (just a rallycross) but want to follow it with a solid month of testing before the first real event in May. Of course, I'll still have the crappy tranny, rubbing brakes, blown tie rods, and welded rear diff with poopoo final drive ratio to contend with, but I'm trying to sort those things out too.

But, got my new gas bottle yesterday and installed a 220 outlet in the driveway. The downstairs hot water outlet to the washer machine is about ten feet away from the car and through a kitty door accessible so going to flush some hot water through the cooling system on Saturday. Probably do that after I'm finished welding though. Started making the braided AN-10 lines too last night for the oil cooler. Got the fittings to connect the power steering cooler. The thunderbird remote PS pump seems to work okay with 87-88 Mustang power steering mount, and the 92-94 Ranger alternator/mount. Ending up with a dual serpentine setup for the moment, but I have the single serpentine water pump and crank pulleys too, and a simple bracket could move the alternator back the appropriate amount to run everything on a single serpentine belt. Also may draw up some CAD stuff for the belts to get some lighter weight parts made since nothing currently exists for the serpentine setups. Not sure on what PS Reservoir/bottle I'm going to use. Probably whichever one I find that looks easy to mount in the spot I've reserved (behind driver's headlight, next to remote oil filter) and has a 3/8" return line and a 5/8" outlet since that's what I'm working with elsewhere. There was a Isuzu Trooper that looked like it had a super amount of volume and the right sizes at the junkyard last week. The Audi ones had huge volume, but what appeared to be about a 1" diameter feed line. I have an aluminum one with AN-10 and AN-6 fittings already, but I want one that I can see into. I will know more by weekend and will take some pictures hopefully.

---

Grant Hughes