mickster

Open the windows and sunroof, turn the heat all the way up and fan speed all the way up. DO NOT put on the AC.

This will dump some of the engine heat into the cabin (and out the windows) on the way to get it repaired and keep your engine temperature down.

Make sure you have a lot of dry rags in case you need to open the radiator to refill.

Good luck!

sanjay28

Thank you all so much for the great tips. I will order the parts and start working on it tomorrow. I'll try to take as many pictures as possible and post them as I go along.

Nicole

Hi Sanjay: I'm not that mechanically savvy, either, but replacing the expansion tank and all coolant lines in its vincity was more a matter of patience than expertise.

You can do this, but I would highly recommend going with a new tank and doing all the rubber lines and heater valve at the same time - there is just too much time involved to go back-in and do it again next time something fails.

Make sure you remember exactly how each line was routed when you do it.

Here are some of my old threads:

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...an-ordeal.html
https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...ed-advice.html
https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...lant-loss.html

Mrmerlin

Ahh yes as Nicole said replace the short hose and the heater control valve under the air cleaner as well as any other lines that are suspect

Nicole

Given the age of the car, I'd do them all, just to be sure. You did all of them, too, didn't you?

Bill Ball

Lucky he lived to talk about it. 5 oz is a lethal dose for an adult. Ethylene glycol is a very interesting compound. In itself it is non-toxic and sweet tasting, but it is metabolized through several steps to oxalic acid and that precipitates in the kidney tubules killing you with acute renal failure. The enzyme that metabolizes EG is alcohol dehydrogenase, the enzyme that metabolizes alcohol. So, the treatment for EG ingestion is to get the patient drunk - seriously drunk with intrvenous alcohol maintained at a level that effectively occupies all the alcohol dehydrogenase for several days, so the EG does not get metabolized and is excreted harmlessly in the urine unchanged. I was invoved in the treatment of one case in the hospital and never forgot it. The guy lived. My recollection is that he and his buddies were making cocktials with Sterno (methanol) and antifreeze. Fortunately methanol has the same basic metabolic pathway and treatment. Almost as interesting as the treatment of potassium cyanide ingestion - that patient lived too; most don't.

Anyway, yes, EG is a nasty poison for pets. A spill needs to be heavily diluted or mopped up. The "safe" coolants are propylene glycol based, which does not produce a toxic metabolite, but still is rather toxic to dogs and cats, despite claims it is "pet" safe. So, it needs to be kept away from pets and mopped up if spilled too.

OK, sorry for the biochem review. Back to our regular wrenching talk.

sanjay28

Thanks Nicole, i'll plan to do as you recommend.

I exchanged PMs with Rob and the expansion tank should be on its way to me soon and I'll order the other items.

While I am waiting for the new parts to arrive, I'll go ahead and start removeing the old with lots of pics so I can make sure to put it all back together correctly.

Thanks again everyone.

Nicole

I would not do it that way - remove and replace things individually when possible - that way it's much easier to get them routed correctly.

One thing that might make loosening hose clamps a bit easier is to get screwdrivers of different lengths, or even one with a flexible section.

Best of luck!

sanjay28

Good point, thanks.

AO

There is a blind bolt that holds the coolant tank in place. If you are going to replace the tank, I would vote for breaking it at the point and foregoing that bolt upon re-installation. Good luck.

Mrmerlin

sorry but forgot to add now is the time to replace the filler spout for the washer tanks, since the nuts that hold it on are the same as the tank remove the metal collar first so it wont rust and wash its deposits into your cleaned out washer tank, also remove the metal collar from the tank

sanjay28

Got it, thanks.