Almost at the turning point
Sep. 22nd, 2006 14:32![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillI just took the valve cover off -- I've never gotten inside an engine block before.
A new socket was ordered and received, and while it doesn't fit securely on the impact wrench (no click) it did the job. We loosened the main drive pulley and pulled the water pump totally off. Then I spent some time with a container of sovent, a screwdriver blade, and a brush, washing the front of the engine. It wasn't just cosmetic -- with the amount of soot and grease I chipped off, I feel much more secure about the odds of an engine fire. It was that bad.
We pulled the thermostat and put it in boiling water to make sure it opens and closes properly, then put the casing back together and ran hot water through the cooling system for almost ten minutes. I can still see a little sludge in places, but it's not bad. More worrying to me is the way the thermostat housing and the water pump fittings keep flaking away every time we mess with the hoses... my dad's talking about going at them with a steel brush, then building them up again with JB Weld. I really hope there's enough good metal for it to stick to. Aluminum parts don't always age well.
We got a universal hose to replace the burst one for the radiator (I did mention that the burst was a likely culprit for the solid coolant nastiness, right?) since Alfa hoses are not exactly easy to find. This one should work pretty well, and we'll note down the part number for later. He's gone off to get a gasket for the thermostat housing, too, though we're going to give in and just use silicone seal in place of the rather rare water pump gasket.
As for the rest, everything seems okay. We need to have a look at the valves and the oil filter, then start reassembling things. The JB Weld will slow us down a little, though if we get that applied today we should be ready to sand it down and get moving again tomorrow. Then it's just a question of how well the fuel injection is running (we know it runs, but not how smoothly). That's all I can think of that will need doing -- though I fully expect my dad to come up with something more. Ah, yes, the brakes, which we'll look at when we get to the back wheel bearings...
We're crossing over the hump now, and it should be pretty much downhill from here. Much more involved than I had ever expected, but not impossible.
A new socket was ordered and received, and while it doesn't fit securely on the impact wrench (no click) it did the job. We loosened the main drive pulley and pulled the water pump totally off. Then I spent some time with a container of sovent, a screwdriver blade, and a brush, washing the front of the engine. It wasn't just cosmetic -- with the amount of soot and grease I chipped off, I feel much more secure about the odds of an engine fire. It was that bad.
We pulled the thermostat and put it in boiling water to make sure it opens and closes properly, then put the casing back together and ran hot water through the cooling system for almost ten minutes. I can still see a little sludge in places, but it's not bad. More worrying to me is the way the thermostat housing and the water pump fittings keep flaking away every time we mess with the hoses... my dad's talking about going at them with a steel brush, then building them up again with JB Weld. I really hope there's enough good metal for it to stick to. Aluminum parts don't always age well.
We got a universal hose to replace the burst one for the radiator (I did mention that the burst was a likely culprit for the solid coolant nastiness, right?) since Alfa hoses are not exactly easy to find. This one should work pretty well, and we'll note down the part number for later. He's gone off to get a gasket for the thermostat housing, too, though we're going to give in and just use silicone seal in place of the rather rare water pump gasket.
As for the rest, everything seems okay. We need to have a look at the valves and the oil filter, then start reassembling things. The JB Weld will slow us down a little, though if we get that applied today we should be ready to sand it down and get moving again tomorrow. Then it's just a question of how well the fuel injection is running (we know it runs, but not how smoothly). That's all I can think of that will need doing -- though I fully expect my dad to come up with something more. Ah, yes, the brakes, which we'll look at when we get to the back wheel bearings...
We're crossing over the hump now, and it should be pretty much downhill from here. Much more involved than I had ever expected, but not impossible.
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Date: 2006-09-22 23:09 (UTC)(couldn't resist)