What did you work on today ?

[njsteve]

Burping the excess air out of the cooling system on the old 93 Viper after changing the 20 year old coolant. It is a week-long process since the thermostat and heater hoses are the highest point in the cooling system on the car. They are mounted at the rear of the engine block up against the firewall. You have to disconnect a heater line from the heater core and trickle in the coolant a 1/4 cup at a time til you get to the full 16 quarts. You then reconnect the line, start it and run it up to temperature and then shut it off to cool down to room temperature. Wait 24 hours and do it again. It's day 5 and I am finally finished.

Dodge fixed the problem for 1994 by added a remote coolant reservoir and redesigning the system.

[Too Many Projects]

Do you drill an 1/8" hole in the thermostat to help air travel to the highest place ? I, also, have an Air Lift tool to put the entire system in a vacuum and that then pulls the coolant in. Leaving the system under vacuum for an hour will reveal if there is a leak too, that can then be addressed without needing to drain the system again.

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by Too Many Projects

Do you drill an 1/8" hole in the thermostat to help air travel to the highest place ? I, also, have an Air Lift tool to put the entire system in a vacuum and that then pulls the coolant in. Leaving the system under vacuum for an hour will reveal if there is a leak too, that can then be addressed without needing to drain the system again.

Yup, I always do that with all my cars, to let the air bleed through. The Vipers have a unique multi-chamber thermostat housing with a multi position thermostat. The housing has various internal passages that direct or bypass the coolant to an outer perimeter metal tube system that returns it to the water pump if the temp isn't in the proper range - too cool or too hot. One of the heater hoses is connected to this bypass system and the other is connected to the housing. This is one of the reasons why it is so involved to bleed the air out.

That looks like an amazing tool. Wish I had shop air or an air compressor. I'm still working with 19th century hand tools. Maybe one day I'll get some 20th century tools now that it's the 21st century.

[napa68]

Originally Posted by Too Many Projects

Do you drill an 1/8" hole in the thermostat to help air travel to the highest place ? I, also, have an Air Lift tool to put the entire system in a vacuum and that then pulls the coolant in. Leaving the system under vacuum for an hour will reveal if there is a leak too, that can then be addressed without needing to drain the system again.

That is a tool most everyone on this site should have! I have one and use it constantly.

Tim