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Re: My SW20 - Dandism-life

Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 6:22 pm
by JasonFriday13
There was a post about it somewhere, Mike is just being a troll about it now :D .

Re: My SW20 - Dandism-life

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 7:27 am
by justsomeguy
The Tomayto or Potayto sometimes called Timpat for short is a device used to monitor and maintain the headlight fluid level of Mid-engined cars used to keep their center of gravity constant and relative to the lateral flux capacitor found on the red powerband of the homogeneous accelerative curve of the flywheel to prevent the inertia of the front-wheel-drive system from damaging the yaw control of the rear-seat thermodynamics. Damaging the Tomayato or Timpat has caused the sudden onset of loss of direction and a unavoidable tendency to mid-steer, which is distinctly different to oversteer or understeer... this can get quite complicated so I'm including a picture to complete the rest of the thousand words.

Tomayto/Potayto or Timpat in short:
Image

Re: My SW20 - Dandism-life

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 8:51 am
by Benckj
Timpat of course, I should have known. Better check mine out and make its up to spec.

Re: My SW20 - Dandism-life

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2015 8:29 pm
by Swampy
Haven't given the car a wash in a while and have left it hardparked for a bit as I've been really sick lately. Caked in dirt and new chips on the paint appear all the time. :( But anyways expect some exciting updates in the future cos I've secured a steady stream of semi substantial revenue. :D

Besides trying to sort out my leak issue I had planned on getting together all the coolant change stuff and assessing whether or not I need new brake pads for my WOF in Nov. I hear a bit of squeaking from the front but what doesn't make noise on my car. Is measuring brake pads as simple as removing the wheel and whipping out a tape measure?

I don't really want to fiddle round with Calipers/brakes til I'm more 'able' in that dept. I was planning on purchasing a pair of EBC Yellows and having my mechanic replace the fronts with them if they needed changing, in keeping with the street car/occasional track event car thing.

I have this week and Labour Weekend to flush and change the coolant, but because I last researched this when I was not sick I have kind of had to start again. Good news is that my service hoses are intact.

I assume that nut is where all the radiator slime will come out? My rad definitely is munted looking. I've always dreamt of having a new one and painting it black with some 'TRD' stencil over the front. Cos I can't have a front mount intercooler.
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Heater core bleeder hose must go somewhere round here when cover is removed?
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Does this thing need to be removed to attach bleeder hose to the top of the radiator?
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Re: My SW20 - Dandism-life

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2015 8:37 pm
by GDII
What nut are you talking about? You need to remove that plastic cover behind your spare wheel. There's a large white screw on your heater lines. Check the BGB. Then your radiator has a bung on the bottom and a bleeder on top. You have to take off the plastic cover between your lights in your last photo.

Brake pads, no point spending heaps on track pads when you can still get good ones for cheaper.

Your damaged radiator is actually your A/C radiator. I bet if you took out your actual engine coolant radiator it will be mint. The A/C radiator takes all the damage from stones and birds.

Re: My SW20 - Dandism-life

Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2015 8:41 pm
by Swampy
I was wrong about the nut - referring to the one next to the tow hook. You were right - The radiator behind the A/C radiator looked much better :idea:

Anyways guys tomorrow I'll be flushing the coolant and dropping new stuff in. I've gone through 40 something mentions of 'coolant' on here and looked it up in the BGB. I can say I'm more confused than confident :oops: but I'll go by the BGB with the assistance of this guide http://www.mr2oc.co.uk/know-your-2-know ... bartid=161 :idea: Problem is I only have a window of 4-5hrs to use my driveway then I have to vacate the area so I may have to drive about for a tiny distance before resuming. Would driving round with a system full of water in the worst case scenario be very bad? I assume the other scenario would be that it'd be fresh coolant but not fully bled.

Went and got 10L of Nulon green pre-mix (33%) from Repco and 2L of special water along with Tectaloy Corrosion inhibitor which strangely says at the back "Avoid mixing with other coolants as this may affect coolant performance" I assume they mean use it with Tectaloy coolant.. :? I went with 2L of deionised water just to top up to make it 12L and didn't get any rad flush cos I didn't want to go too far over budget. :( I'll be back to get some more coolant to top up later. *FYI Repco are having a sale til Labour day monday*

Thoughts?

Anyway at least I know now where everything is located
Put the phone under the car to locate the drain valve. Bingo. Will have to remove plastic!
Put the phone under the car to locate the drain valve. Bingo. Will have to remove plastic!
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Gonna be a challenge making this thing move! :P
Gonna be a challenge making this thing move! :P
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Factory service hose still attached to heater bleeder valve :)
Factory service hose still attached to heater bleeder valve :)
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Inside the rad cap... yuck!
Inside the rad cap... yuck!
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Re: My SW20 - Dandism-life

Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2015 9:10 pm
by GDII
Don't worry about removing the plastic under the radiator, just hook up that bleeder hose to the bottom and run it into a container. Not too much comes out the radiator. There are 2 drain bolts under the middle of the car. Put CRC on the bolts that hold the large plastic covers on out you could snap them from rust.

Driving it with water in it just to move it off your driveway will be OK. Just run it only as required. That guide looks useful too.

It's good to have at these things. Only way to learn is by doing, or at least that's how I've been doing it.

Good luck and enjoy.

Re: My SW20 - Dandism-life

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 5:23 pm
by Swampy
Hey guys,

My neighbour has given me a hand with changing the coolant. He came up with the idea of removing the pipes and flushing water through these. We got all the gunk off albeit in a messy yet effective way, but a lot of water stayed behind so when we went to add coolant, it wouldn't work cos the system was full of water which needed dropping! :idea: We're gonna use his compressor to blow all the water out but I need a little help to find the thermostat so we can be sure it doesn't get blown off. BGB says right by the oil filter for the 3sgte, can anyone confirm for the 3sge please?

Re: My SW20 - Dandism-life

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 6:16 pm
by GDII
The thermostat is right at the end of the big rubber hose by the oil filter.


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I wouldn't use an air compressor. To get water out of the block remove the small rubber hose of the back of the engine. Very hard to get at when it's in the car. It could also be blocked so not much help if it is. If you are looking at the engine from the left side of the car it is on the right rear of the engine.

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Re: My SW20 - Dandism-life

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 7:20 pm
by Swampy
Cheers for that! The system is currently bleeding as I type. So far so good, but I've made a problem by pulling the heater bleed valve too far off causing hot coolant to go everywhere. It's currently collecting in the frunk. Hopefully it doesn't mess anything up. And is it normal for the heater valve pipes to leak coolant slowly? Mine is :D As is my radiator valve but that's slower. Also my heater core pipes have a bit of rust in them as felt when I squeezed them. I'll refrain from doing so.

Re: My SW20 - Dandism-life

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 7:56 pm
by Logan
Swampy wrote:Cheers for that! The system is currently bleeding as I type. So far so good, but I've made a problem by pulling the heater bleed valve too far off causing hot coolant to go everywhere. It's currently collecting in the frunk. Hopefully it doesn't mess anything up. And is it normal for the heater valve pipes to leak coolant slowly? Mine is :D As is my radiator valve but that's slower. Also my heater core pipes have a bit of rust in them as felt when I squeezed them. I'll refrain from doing so.
You can pop the drain plug at the bottom of the frunk to drain the coolant out (Right where the spare usually touches the bottom).
If your coolant hoses are leaking you should pull them off, investigate to make sure the pipes underneath aren't rusted away, check the hose for damage and make sure the clamps are still good.
If your radiator bleed valve is slowly leaking you might need to replace the o-ring on it. I had the same issue and the part is about 20c from your local ripco. Just take the plug in with the old o-ring so you get the right size replacement.

Re: My SW20 - Dandism-life

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 8:39 pm
by Swampy
Logan wrote:You can pop the drain plug at the bottom of the frunk to drain the coolant out (Right where the spare usually touches the bottom).
If your coolant hoses are leaking you should pull them off, investigate to make sure the pipes underneath aren't rusted away, check the hose for damage and make sure the clamps are still good.
If your radiator bleed valve is slowly leaking you might need to replace the o-ring on it. I had the same issue and the part is about 20c from your local ripco. Just take the plug in with the old o-ring so you get the right size replacement.
We had taken that one off and got rid of most of the water in there. I think next time it would be good to get the middle pipes drained too like GDII advised :idea:

That's a very good idea! I know the hoses round my heating core aren't very good, but the ones by my engine are fine. I've never ordered hose before. Regarding clamps, apparently the snap-on variety aren't as good as the flathead screwdriver hose clamps. I know where to find them in mitre 10 though. I'll make a check list of all my coolant system hoses/clamps/o-rings that I suspect may need to change and then overhaul the system next coolant change. I don't have the money to re-do it right now :oops:

It's been a very educational night. I've learnt a lot about what is actually a complex system.

I do have one final question guys - How do you know when the system is completely bled? I stopped adding coolant and let all coolant drain right down and then closed the lines. We had done 10L of coolant premix. I then cleaned up and drove the car out. Last thing I want to do is cook my engine. :shock:

Re: My SW20 - Dandism-life

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 8:52 pm
by Logan
Swampy wrote:
Logan wrote:You can pop the drain plug at the bottom of the frunk to drain the coolant out (Right where the spare usually touches the bottom).
If your coolant hoses are leaking you should pull them off, investigate to make sure the pipes underneath aren't rusted away, check the hose for damage and make sure the clamps are still good.
If your radiator bleed valve is slowly leaking you might need to replace the o-ring on it. I had the same issue and the part is about 20c from your local ripco. Just take the plug in with the old o-ring so you get the right size replacement.
We had taken that one off and got rid of most of the water in there. I think next time it would be good to get the middle pipes drained too like GDII advised :idea:

That's a very good idea! I know the hoses round my heating core aren't very good, but the ones by my engine are fine. I've never ordered hose before. Regarding clamps, apparently the snap-on variety aren't as good as the flathead screwdriver hose clamps. I know where to find them in mitre 10 though. I'll make a check list of all my coolant system hoses/clamps/o-rings that I suspect may need to change and then overhaul the system next coolant change. I don't have the money to re-do it right now :oops:

It's been a very educational night. I've learnt a lot about what is actually a complex system.

I do have one final question guys - How do you know when the system is completely bled? I stopped adding coolant and let all coolant drain right down and then closed the lines. We had done 10L of coolant premix. I then cleaned up and drove the car out. Last thing I want to do is cook my engine. :shock:
I prefer the T-bolt clamps personally, but whatever works. You might have to redo it if it is constantly leaking as you said earlier?
Also 10l doesn't sound like enough, I was under the impression the SW took closer to 14L? (Could be wrong I have a terrible memory). The system is bled when the pipes in front are full up to the level of the cap in the back, and the rear doesn't bubble. Then you need to sit and let it go cold again, then double check the level. It's not a 15min process unfortunately. Check it every day after that for a few days to check if it needs a bit more.

Re: My SW20 - Dandism-life

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 9:06 pm
by Swampy
Logan wrote:I prefer the T-bolt clamps personally, but whatever works. You might have to redo it if it is constantly leaking as you said earlier?
Also 10l doesn't sound like enough, I was under the impression the SW took closer to 14L? (Could be wrong I have a terrible memory). The system is bled when the pipes in front are full up to the level of the cap in the back, and the rear doesn't bubble. Then you need to sit and let it go cold again, then double check the level. It's not a 15min process unfortunately. Check it every day after that for a few days to check if it needs a bit more.
It was leaking but it did stop after I stopped the bleed. I will keep an eye on this though and if it's leaking whilst I'm driving etc then I will have to. Yup you're right! :idea: I'll be adding more tomorrow and continuing the bleed over the long weekend. Thanks :)

Re: My SW20 - Dandism-life

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 9:08 pm
by GDII
SW20s take 14 dry but the block will still have coolant in it and so would the pipes under car if the drain plugs were never opened. I'm surprised you got 10 in if you just drained the radiator and took the thermostat out.