View Full Version : Always something/When you least need it
Locked up the gun shop this eavening and headed to the DaHoooley.
Look down by the curb and see a puddle of nice fresh green antifreeze :eek:
Run over to check this anomaly out right quick :confused:
Get the hood up and run my hand down and around the area under the coolant fill tank.
OH SH** Frank its dripping from the hose that connects the tank to the lower radiator hose.
Hmmmmmm :(
Get to checking and the braided heat wrap that shields the hose from the turbo and it is covering the squeez type hose clamp, that is not where it is supposed to be.
The clamp is out away from the area behind the little bump on the tank outlet and has started to leak.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOK Quick, ran back into the gun shop and snagged a pair of channel lock pliers and with a little finesse managed to coax the clamp back to where it is supposed to be. :)
Oh yeeeeeessssssssssss all better. Seems that most of the puddle at the curb was rain water and very little actual coolant had leaked out.
Real glad that it was daylight out and I saw the leak.
Not real sure, but I am going to point the finger at myself on this one.
Not often I overlook such things, but I think that during the refurbishing of the engine bay,I had been messing around with the heat wrap on the hose, and did not see that the clamp was not where it should be.
Luckily it was light out and I spotted the green in the gutter. :)
All is well now.
I seem to remember something about wanting to replace the clamp or whatever and ended up leaving it as it was.
I usually toss the old spring clamps and replace them with the stainless screw type units.
Ahhhh welll, Missy done screwed up this time. At least it was easy to fix.
Oh and not 105F and along side the road somewhere out in the sticks.
Missy
good catch...
Robyn BTW..did you put that crappy metal hose assembly back for the rear heater lines...the one that runs from the top of the motor, down the tunnel, hooks up on the bottom??
Hmmmm
Not sure which rig you are talking about.
DaHooooley does not have rear heat and the 94 Burb did but the lines went down the RH side under the body and outside the frame.
I never disturbed those when I had the engine out.
On DaHoooley I replaced the heater line that runs from the quick connect down the top of the manifold and connects to the heater core behind the turbo.
Most everything is as stock on this rig.
Missy
ok... the sub I has a set of hard tubes that run in the tranny tunnel and terminate under the front passenger seat...similar to the fuel lines..actually they are just like the oil cooler lines.
OK
I have only had one diesel Sub in the 95 vintage and never got that intimate with it.
That was back in the day when the PMD thing was raging and the dealer took care of it.
I traded that truck off in 97 and got a 95 with a 454 in it.
Sure wish we had that truck back now.
I ordered that truck from GM and it had every option you could get on a 95 Burb.
Even had the cool roof clearance lights that the DaHooolies come with.
Sadly during that time the electronics were still so new that none of us really had a clue yet.
Missy
UPDATE__UPDATE___UPDATE
Went out yesterday morning and the stinking hose on the coolant fill bottle was/had been dripping overnight.
Did not look like much but never the less a LEAK :(
OOOOOOOOOOK last eavening when we got home I smelled cooolant, so I took a peek at the connection on the coolant tank and sure enough it was leaking a little.
Figured that maybe I could slide the hose clamp back off the area and install a regular clamp in its place, sounded like a great idea, YUP :rolleyes:
The stinking clamp is in a place right close to the turbo and getting a proper grip on the beast is nearly impossible without removing the air filter assembly, AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRG :eek:
Wanted the issue resolved and RIGHT NOW.
Finally after fighting it for close to an hour I ran an air hose out and use the long nosed die grinder with a carbide ball bur and cut the clamp in two.
Slid a fresh stainless clamp into place and all better.:)
I would advise anyone who has this area apart and the coolant drained to replace that stinking clamp with a stainless screw type hose clamp.
Once antifreeze seeps though the area between the hose and the plastic outlet, you will likely never get the old spring clamp to do the job again.
Plus, with a stainless clamp you can get a screw driver in there and remove the thing if you needed to replace the hose or ??? and do this without having to remove the air filter assembly.
This is a nasty spot to get at, especially out on the road with limited tools..
Sits kicking her BUTT for not having replaced this clamp back when the engine was out. Dealing with this would have taken no more than 5 minutes MAX at that time. OHHHH and without all the stress, cussing and frying my right hand on the turbo.
Missy
Dont kill yourself..
I'm sitting herel ooking at my empty engine bay deciding what to fix and what to toss..
Motor mounts??? keepem or toss em ....I dunno
Hoses...jeez they look fine...
Starter...never an issue...but maybe...
Brake lines...couldnt be easier than now...they do look a little rusty
Battery cables???
What I'm saying is that unless you are Bill Gates you have to put in a stop order ($$) at some point...you just chose to hold off on hose clamps and got bit.....no biggie!
jerry598
04-15-2010, 06:36
Had the same nightmare with the same connection on a cold winter nite in Missoula, MT. I had already replaced the spring clamp with a screw clamp, but pressure from a slow but sure undiscovered headgasket leak was causing the cooling system to leak from that connection first. Bought a 1/4 drive socket set, small enough to reach in there and tighten her up. Never leaked again.
Actually mine had nothing to do with the $$$$ at that point.
The hose was fine. The issue here was that after having the truck down all summer, I wanted to get the engine back in and running and just overlooked the stupid clamp.
Furthermore I spent an hour or two sitting in the engine bay right on top of that area doing some repairs to the wire "loom wrap" that had been damaged by a small fire at some time before I bought the truck.
The main harness as well as the wires that connect to the starter, front differential and the RH side glow plugs had been scorched.
Likely a blown injector return line that sprayed on the turbo.
I replaced the glow plug wires as well as some other stuff while in there.
The heat insulator was a tad shabby where it covers the hose in questions so I was right there.
Seems that I had removed the clamp "Slid it back on the hose" thinking that I would likely replace it but then did not.
That hose, the small bleeder hose from the bottle and the return heater hose were the only ones that I did not replace as they seemed fine.
I just plain screwed up and left that clamp loose (Off the connection)
A good rule of thumb though is to fix anything that is a bitch to get to with the engine in the hole.
Fuel feed lines, wiring, motor mounts and such are all such things that just make one cringe after the engine is in.
Real easy to drop a set of mounts on the frame with the engine sitting over in the garage. :)
Oil cooler lines are another thing that I hate to mess with in the truck.
If its burried after the engine is in, replace it now. If it easy to get to, you can always catch it up later.
Even a starter is not a real biggy to replace, other than it will quit when you really need it and not on a sunny afternoon in your driveway. :eek:
My issue was just plain and simple, I MISSED the fact that the clamp was not on the hose.
Not good to miss coolant hose clamps :o
Jerry
The head gasket issue can be a real bummer and can start to show troubles in little ways, such as you had.
Things that will need to be replaced will always be located where you can't get to them :mad:
Missy
I feel your pain. In Feb, I replaced the P/S pump as part of the program of PMS for the hydroboost system. On this trip, merging onto I-287 from I-78 (central NJ), I lost power steering, power brakes, etc. Pulled over, put it into "park", and so was immobilized.
The "new" Saginaw P/S pump sheared its shaft - with visible evidence that there was a metallurgical flaw in the billet from which the shaft was machined :mad:.
phantom309
04-17-2010, 16:56
I feel your pain. In Feb, I replaced the P/S pump as part of the program of PMS for the hydroboost system. On this trip, merging onto I-287 from I-78 (central NJ), I lost power steering, power brakes, etc. Pulled over, put it into "park", and so was immobilized.
The "new" Saginaw P/S pump sheared its shaft - with visible evidence that there was a metallurgical flaw in the billet from which the shaft was machined :mad:.
Two schools of thought,. "preventive maintenance" "let sleeping dogs lie"
somewhere in the middle is a quagmire of should have,. could have., would have,.
Nick
PM is a good thing and you can't be worrying that the new part is going to fail just as soon as you put it on.
My rule of thumb is sort of like this.
If its an electronic part, its only a matter of time before it quits and then it will at a very inoportune time.
If the thing say "Remanufactured" its anybodies guess if it will even work when you bolt it on.
If it says "Made in China" it may be fine and then it may not.
Power steering pumps are usually fairly trouble free.
I have seen these things run 200K and never a whimper from them.
It was just your turn in the barrel me thinks.
When it comes to reman stuff, its mostly junk.
I will not buy any reman starters, alternators or such stuff from the parts houses.
I use a local auto electric shop that doesm a real good job.
They use top quality parts to do the rebuilding.
The parts house stuff is generally a jumbled up mess of stuff that sort of fits and maybe will work.
Many reman items are a mixture of "Good used" parts that have been cleaned up and a few new parts.
Bought a starter once and the only new part was the drive unit, all the rest of it was used, even the brushes.
It had been cleaned up, the drive installed and given a coat of paint.
Over the dirt in places, Ohhhh and of course the tag was painted over too.
Ohhh and dont forget the fact that the reman alternator you just bought probably wont have the right pulley on it :eek:
Local NAPA store does not even stock reman stuff now. Everything is all new and made over seas.
The stuff that autozone sells I have found is in most cases pretty good.
They back it with a lifetime warranty.
Took back a set of brake pads from the Explorer that were just worn out.
25K miles (about right for the new metalics)
The fellow tossed them in the trash and gave me a brand new set at no charge.
Secret is keeping your reciept and even the box is nice.
I have had real good luck with their lifetime warranty stuff.
They also offer "Good grade" and "Best grade" parts in many cases.
Dont beat yourself up too much on this one, SH** happens.
Missy
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