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

[Steve W.]

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.