She's dead

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rt9
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She's dead

Post by rt9 »

Well guys,,, it's finally happened. I knew this day would come eventually.
I pulled into my neighborhood on the way home from work. There were a couple really load screeches and then a violent shutter,, then no power. Along with this came that wonderful smell of coolant. Coolant everywhere. (I was feeling really NASCAR at that point)

Originally I thought, okay, blown hose. No problem-o.

Opened the hood and everything is covered in oil and coolant. Yikes.

Looks like its all coming from the top area of the water pump.

Luckily a nice older gentlemen was driving by when I stopped and pulled me to my driveway. Whew that was lucky!

So any suggestion on where to start this process?? Water pump? Engine?

Rick
DanHall
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Re: She's dead

Post by DanHall »

I am certainly not the best mechanic here but I would start with heads and head gaskets and see whats going on in there. You will be able to check a lot of other things along the way.
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rt9
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Re: She's dead

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After getting her in the garage, I checked the oil. Clean, looks great. I gotta go out of town this weekend but will try and get into the water pump area first. Thats where I'm seeing the oil.

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Kinder
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Re: She's dead

Post by Kinder »

Hmmm, oil in the area of the water pump is usually coming from the front of the intake manifold.
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rt9
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Re: She's dead

Post by rt9 »

Thats kinda what im thinking too. Going to first remove belt to isolate if this is just a WP issue. See if she'll start and if still noisey. Then tear into it from the front. Should be interesting.Image

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rt9
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Re: She's dead

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Hard to get a good photo of the area. But oil has collected all around the top of the WP

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Rox Crusher
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Re: She's dead

Post by Rox Crusher »

You indicated that it lost power after screeching and shuddering.........

leaky intake or blown water pump usually wouldn't cause that

what about the coolant loss, where was it coming from (don't really see any on top of water pump)

Does it turn over but not start ?

Maybe the distributor gear is taking some time off ?
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rt9
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Re: She's dead

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Couldn't really find a definitive source for the coolant leak, no busted hoses, etc. Not sure at all, but its definitely gone. Dip stick not showing any in the oil, so thats a plus at this point.

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Re: She's dead

Post by akaFrankCastle »

rt9 wrote:Couldn't really find a definitive source for the coolant leak, no busted hoses, etc. Not sure at all, but its definitely gone. Dip stick not showing any in the oil, so thats a plus at this point.

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Loosen the drain plug on the oil pan and see what seeps out. Coolant should settle in the bottom of the pan, under the oil. Dipstick likely won't show coolant in the pan.

If all looks good in the pan, check the radiator and see what's floating on the top of the coolant. If there is oil in the cooling system you'll see it floating on the top.

Pull your plugs and rotate the motor over by hand with a breaker bar. Listen for any odd sounds.

Pull your belts and spin the water pump by hand, listening for odd sounds.

Pull your thermostat and check condition.

Screeching and squealing are not good under any circumstances. And a sudden loss of power followed by a fountain of whipped Dino latte under the hood does not bode well.
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rt9
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Re: She's dead

Post by rt9 »

Thanks Zac. I'll try and get to it tonight.

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rt9
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Re: She's dead

Post by rt9 »

Early estimates are front bearing in WP. I'd guess 3/8" run out. Lol

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rt9
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Re: She's dead

Post by rt9 »

So, I took Zach's advice and checked the oil. No watery goo was found. Whew thats good.

Next we checked compression. All 8 cylindars are between 90-100 psi. So that looks ok.

We installed a WH water pump, thermostat, and new housing with sensor port. Bolted it all up last night and finished this afternoon.

I think she's all good now. But I would like to change from the expansion tank radiator to a newer style in the future.

Cruzin at the rodeo tonight!

Rick

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