Coolant hose is not a "coolant" hose...

[Chamberpains]

Damn that underhood looks nice. Hell of job! Almost makes me want to go buy one... Then I slap myself smart again and say that if I learned anything from your posts it's that those trucks make money but bend every nerve in the process. I'd sooner stick my head in a fire ant hill to see what the queens cooking for dinner.

[Waterloo]

I thought of that too, looking for the queen, has to be more fun than this, and the story I could tell! LOL! And thanks, as this has been a labor of love. No shop would have done any of this for what I needed done. I know she can hold a vacuum, so the coolant system is now good, just hope the air compressor and power steering pump do not give me fits when I fire her up, hopefully tomorrow. Crossing fingers and toes.

[Magard]

Looks nice Waterloo. Every one can tell you take pride in your ride.

[Chamberpains]

Whats the purpose of vacuum testing the coolant system? All leaks occur under pressure. 5-7 psi should expose any leaks without hurting any old leave it alone pieces and parts (if you run a pressure free coolant system)

[Waterloo]

(03-28-2018 )Chamberpains Wrote:  Whats the purpose of vacuum testing the coolant system? All leaks occur under pressure. 5-7 psi should expose any leaks without hurting any old leave it alone pieces and parts (if you run a pressure free coolant system)

On these ProStars, due to the location of the heater core, you need to vacuum the entire cooling system down, 27psi in my case to refill. I use the Air Lift system, put the hose in the bucket, open the valve, and the coolant is sucked right up into the cooling system. This eliminates the chance of any air pockets in the system. Still have to go through the normal procedures of burping the motor at start up when it gets to temp and the thermostat opens. I do that with the petcock valve on top of the metal coolant line crossover, the one downstream of the thermostat.

Here is the Air Lift that I use. I had to get some longer hose to make it reach my bucket, I use 3/8 id rubber vacuum/fuel line. Works great and is extremely fast and efficient. Worth the money. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002S...UTF8&psc=1

For draining the system, I replaced the radiator petcock valve with a Compucheck fitting, you can see it in my photo of the passenger side, bottom of radiator. I have the female end too with a small valve on it along with enough hose to drain into a five gallon pail.

Both of these items makes changing out coolant a fast and clean job. Keeps the mess to a minimum, if any.

[Rawze]

Every truck that has come over here where coolant was drained got a hard vacuum on it to remove air before cranking it. I have seen lawsuit after lawsuit of shops that only fill coolant from the top and do not pull a vacuum on it, then the engine warped a liner a few miles down the road. Nothing to play with in a wet liner engine. Always pull a vacuum to remove all the air then top off.


- I use an old A/C vacuum pump and pull it down to 0 air completely just before that last couple gallons goes in. I have never had to burp one after at all and every drop that came out goes right back in.

[Waterloo]

Well, she fired right up! Compressor built air, no leaks, no knocks!

New batteries installed, called the new O'riley's auto parts store down the street, they had a 200 amp fuse and a holder, that issue solved, which was another adventure, wasted to much time on that. The new batteries and fuse is in! Cleaned all of the connections up, sanded and degreased, greased and installed. Took the batteries back to the dealer today too.

The power steering pump is working turning the gear box, which is good. Crawled under there to jack up the front end and took a look at the front brake pads... Time to replace.

The hits keep on coming. I called TA up the street, $339 to install new pads, cheaper than I can do it when time is figured in. Hell, it will take me all day running for parts, etc. Have an appointment for 1000 tomorrow for air dryer and brake job. Then come home and clean up my mess, take the compressor and air dryer cores back, pack the truck and go to work.

Vacation my ass. ;-)

[Hammerhead]

(03-28-2018 )Waterloo Wrote:  Well, she fired right up! Compressor built air, no leaks, no knocks!

New batteries installed, called the new O'riley's auto parts store down the street, they had a 200 amp fuse and a holder, that issue solved, which was another adventure, wasted to much time on that. The new batteries and fuse is in! Cleaned all of the connections up, sanded and degreased, greased and installed. Took the batteries back to the dealer today too.

The power steering pump is working turning the gear box, which is good. Crawled under there to jack up the front end and took a look at the front brake pads... Time to replace.

The hits keep on coming. I called TA up the street, $339 to install new pads, cheaper than I can do it when time is figured in. Hell, it will take me all day running for parts, etc. Have an appointment for 1000 tomorrow for air dryer and brake job. Then come home and clean up my mess, take the compressor and air dryer cores back, pack the truck and go to work.

Vacation my ass. ;-)

Sounds like a 5 Star Resort to me buddy! Roflmao

[dhirocz]

I guess I'm lucky about that. Ive had my coolant drained a number of times now, and it has always taken back in what I've pulled out. I guess it depends on the engine and truck combo?

I've pressure tested but never pulled a vacuum on the coolant system. Kinda neat...