Water Valve Replacement

[SaxMan]

The water valve to the heater core in Baby Blue sprung a leak out of the spigot (screw) portion of the valve. It doesn't matter if I have the valve open or closed, it still leaks. As a temporary fix, I put some sealant around the spigot. It's a very inelegant fix, but it is an effective one. I do have a new valve ready to go. Is this a situation where I'm going to have to drain off the antifreeze to make the fix, or is this something I can do with the antifreeze still in? I imagine I'm going to make a bit of a mess, which I don't mind. Dropping half the coolant on the ground, though, is probably not what I'd want.

Right now, as long as my temporary fix holds, I'm content just to drive the car and wait until winter when I'll do another round of heavy maintenance on the car where I'll be changing out the antifreeze anyway.

 

[smaceng]

You don't need to drain all the antifreeze, but you should drain enough to empty the heater to avoid a mess.

 

[nomad]

With summer coming and hot weather you don't want to risk accidentally losing coolant and overheating your engine. I think I would cure the problem ASAP. Should be a drain valve on your front radiator cross over tube and on the block that are easy to get a couple of gallons out of.

 

[BlueMax]

Not a very good I Idea!! Reason, coolant systems are pressurize for a purpose? If you have a leak your system is not pressurized, we all know what that means water boils at 212*F

 

[Trevor Jessie]

For jobs like this I prefer to siphon the antifreeze. Seems like less mess. Be sure the tap is open when you remove the antifreeze.

 

[SaxMan]

Well, I guess that kind of settles it. I'll move it up the priority and just deal with the antifreeze issues. I'll get out the siphon to reduce some of the mess.

 

[SaxMan]

Yikes! I took Baby Blue out for a drive today...about 40 miles in mid 70s temperatures. The temperature gauge remained between "C" and "N" the whole time. When I got home, I stopped the car and less than five minutes later steam started coming out from under the left side hood and antifreeze was dumping on the ground. I popped the hood and looked high and low for where it came from, but other than somewhere on the left side, I couldn't find any leaks. All the hoses appear to be intact. I opened up the radiator cap after the car cooled off somewhat...no pressure was released. However, there was no leakage around the water valve, either. It may have been a case where I just didn't have the radiator cap tightened up properly?

Either way, I am DEFINITELY replacing the water valve in the next couple of days, but curious what caused the boil over.

 

[nomad]

I believe you have the cross flow rad and you need to fill it through the brass plug plus top up the overflow tank the standard radiator cap is on. If you have a system leak its possible to lose coolant without it seeming to go down in the overflow tank.

 

[SaxMan]

I believe you have the cross flow rad and you need to fill it through the brass plug plus top up the overflow tank the standard radiator cap is on. If you have a system leak its possible to lose coolant without it seeming to go down in the overflow tank.

That's what was happening. Thank you for pointing this out. When I pulled the brass plug this morning there wasn't much coolant in the radiator. I refilled the radiator and overflow tank and took Baby Blue out for a quick test drive to get her up to operating temperature. When I got home and popped the hood, the problem revealed itself: Leak from the lower left radiator hose (the one that also hooks up to the heater core return). The hose clamp was tight, so it looks like a failing hose. At this point, I figure if I'm going to have to siphon off the coolant to replace one hose, I might was well take the opportunity to replace them all.

 

[SaxMan]

I went out to the auto parts store, picked myself up a proper siphon and a couple more gallons of antifreeze. I then ordered all new hoses and associated hardware. Tonight, I was in the garage draining off the coolant and taking all the old hoses off. While I was at it, I went ahead and pulled the oil breather hoses to the carbs. I was planning on doing that already, but having the radiator hoses out of the way made that task a lot easier. Maybe I didn't have to replace every hose, but at least now I'll know exactly how old each hose is.

 

[drooartz]

If you don't know the ages, then replacing all the hoses is a good idea -- cheap insurance against failure. Do the fan belt while you've got all the hoses out as well if you don't know how old it is.

 

[jlaird]

Good Plan

 

[SaxMan]

Is there any trick to getting the hoses to go on easily? It was a wrestling match with the elbow hose and attaching the lower hose to the water pump. So far, I've been unsuccessful getting the lower hose to attach to the radiator. . I tried putting a wedge in the hose to open it up a bit. The radiator side is a bit out of round as well.

 

[JPSmit]

Soften the ends in boiling water and, if necessary hair spray or KY jelly (really)

 

[SaxMan]

Soften the ends in boiling water and, if necessary hair spray or KY jelly (really)

I can only picture the expression on my wife's face when I tell her "Honey, I'm going out to the garage to work on the car, and I'm going to need the KY" :highly_amused:

Thank you. I should have remembered the hairspray one...that's what I use to put bicycle grips on metal handlebars.

 

[SaxMan]

All hoses replaced. One or two hiccups. First one was I couldn't find the gasket for the water valve that I had ordered and spent about 30 minutes turning the garage upside down to find it. Second hiccup was when I fired the car up, the generator light was illuminated even at 1500 rpms. I popped the hood to see that it and the fan weren't spinning. I had routed the fan belt behind the water pump pulley instead of on it. Took me a bit to redo...those belts do not go on easy! With that done, the only squawk was a little leakage from the water valve hose to the heater core. I just needed to tighten up the clamps.

The big difference, though, was the replacement of the oil breather hoses. Whenever we'd go for a ride, we'd end up smelling like oil. I always figured this was due to the Spridgets' chassis self-lubricating system. However, with the oil breather hoses all replaced, the oil smell is immensely reduced.

 

[SaxMan]

Took the car out for a longer ride this afternoon, and found antifreeze dripping away when I finished the right. I think where the lower hose hooks up to the engine block may need to be cranked down, but the way the antifreeze trailed down had me wondering if my water pump is heading south. In my experience with water pumps, when they go bad it's usually more like a waterfall than a bunch of drips. I guess I'll retighten the hose that looks like it was leaking and take the car out again.

 

[jlaird]

you will know for sure when the water pump starts to go.

 

[JPSmit]

Water pump weeps when it is starting to go - under the pulley in the bottom center.

 

[SaxMan]

Water pump weeps when it is starting to go - under the pulley in the bottom center.

That sure looks like it. ****.

Is it even possible that coolant from the lower hose could be dripping down the block and exiting at that point?