[AT] HELP I'm stumped. truck problems, overheating

charlie hill charliehill at embarqmail.com
Mon Aug 31 14:49:38 PDT 2015


Thanks Steve, that makes sense.

If there is a bleed point on my truck I haven't seen it but I think
I have the problem solved.  I've given it every opportunity to
heat up for about 200 miles and some sitting and idling with the
AC on in 90 deg. temps and the temp is staying just below the 200 deg.
mark just like it always has until this recent t-stat problem.
I'm going to go ahead and flush the system, replace the hoses and fix that
minor weeping on the t-stat housing in the next few days.

One thing I found interesting on the old thermostat (which was the factory
original piece) is that it has a small bypass hole in it with a little metal 
plug
that acts like a leaky check valve but apparently it wasn't enough to 
prevent
my problem.  Funny thing is, when I took that t-stat out and put it in a pot 
of
water and heated it up, it opened just like it was supposed to and when I 
turned
the heat off it closed just like it should too.  Strange.

Charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: Steve W.
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2015 5:20 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] HELP I'm stumped. truck problems, overheating

charlie hill wrote:
> Thanks Steve,   I believe you are exactly right and luckily
> I think I got it out but I'll keep close watch on it for a while.
> How do you go about vacuum filling them?
>
> Charlie

Most of the pressure tank vehicles have a fitting somewhere that you
loosen/remove to get the air out of the system while filling. Others you
use just the cap on the surge tank. I have adapters that I've bought or
made to fit those places.
For the vacuum pump you can use just about any type pump that will pull
a good vacuum, you don't need a perfect vacuum, 20" is the common spec.

On the adapters I have a T fitting and 2 valves. One is a simple one way
valve on the vacuum side, the other is a ball valve. The vac. side goes
to the hose from the pump, the other side has a hose that goes into a 5
gallon bucket that I mix/store the coolant in.

Adapter goes on, vac. pump hooks up. Draw a 20-25" vac. Shut off pump
and let it set for 10 minutes, check vac. gauge. If it held to the point
you stopped the pump, then you open the ball valve to pull the coolant
in. I have 5 gallon buckets of Dex-Cool, Conventional, Toyota specific,
and Chrysler specific coolant setting on the rack.

On most vehicles the entire process takes about 30 minutes and you don't
need to worry about air pockets or leaks. Oh if you do discover that you
have a leak, draw the vac. back down. Then use a bottle of water with a
small hole in the cap to "spray" the water around potential leaks. When
it finds one it will be sucked into the leak and make a nice loud HISS.

For folks who only have a couple vehicles it is EASY to make the
adapters from an old cap. Don't have an old cap? Buy a new one, install
it on the vehicle and now you have an old cap !!! For a pump you have a
few options, air powered venturi, electric, or hand pump. I have 4
different ones. 2 electric gear type, one battery/ac that was the old
suction pump on our rescue and a couple of the hand pumps.

-- 
Steve W.
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