superhawk996

I had the same reaction so I used my special powers and put gearbrake into my search bar. It detects any time you're slowing down without using the brakes and lights the brake light for you. When coming to a stop in traffic I tap the front brake lever a couple times before I need the brakes to help draw attention. I see this device as gimicky, but whatever floats one's boat.

Do you have a model # on them or a name I can search, curious about them. That's interesting; he was talking about a BMW, then a NOS XX, now a lift.....lotto would make some sense. Or maybe he's been saving up all these years and decided to say fuck it to retirement money.

If nobody can ID it for you you'll have to pull it off and see if it has two inlets and which one flows in what position, blow through them while turning the valve, or add some gas to test which position does what. It appears to have a P on the left which would be the prime position, allows flow with the engine off and no vacuum signal. If it's not a vacuum controlled valve then that's likely an R and should answer your question.

Yea, that's a bitch. The suggested rubber may do it. Or just a flat piece of rubber or maybe carpet under them. If it's really slick you could use a piece of rope, carpet, strap, or something under the ramp that's long enough to reach the back tires, or front tires if you're trying to back a front wheel drive car up them. Beware that anything narrow or flexible you put under the ramps might create a high spot of load on them. Probably a non-issue if you'r'e not loading them heavily, but do consider that. Another option is a piece of wood or pipe or something from the front of each ramp to a wall, or drill a hole in the concrete (if not post tensioned) and drop in a bolt as a stopper. The wood ramps I made work on concrete because they're stepped instead of a ramp so there's a small climb, then another so there's less push on them plus they have more traction surface to hold them in place. You can just use pieces of wood without nailing them together and stack as many as you need for the desired altitude. I nailed mine together because I carry them in my van for mobile service and wanted the convenience of one piece 'ramps'. Other than really low cars I find that two 2x6 is generally enough, but I'm thin & flexible. When I need a little more I put a 4x6 past them as a third bump up. For anything that doesn't require tire removal ramps are way better than a jack. In cases of low cars I sometimes use the wood ramps to gain space for getting a jack under a control arm or other front lift point instead of lifting by the body/frame.

Exactly. I just can't imagine he's working on cars enough, and probably shouldn't be working on cars enough, to justify a lift. A lift for me would be somewhat a waste too because I don't do well in that position of looking upward and working with my hands overhead, neck & shoulders unhappy. It would be great for brake jobs and some other stuff, but I've been doing that stuff on the ground for so long that I don't even think about it. I've been a mechanic all my life and only used a lift for the first few months of it. After that I've been mobile except for one shop that didn't have lifts because we only worked on big trucks, International truck dealership. I owned a drive on Rotary 2 post alignment lift for a while that I got dirt cheap at walmart, they were getting a bunch of new equipment and I bought all the old stuff; lift, tire mounters and balancers, freon recovery machines, etc. Truck loads of stuff and it was under $1000 for all, I made a killing reselling it. It was pretty much an ideal lift, drive on convenience with F&R rolling lifts to do tire stuff. Never installed it, but probably would have if I had a good spot to do it without having to pour a pad. Being a drive-on it would have allowed me to use a creeper for under car stuff if I didn't wanna stand under it. There are super tall jack stands, I own 4. I don't use them to get a car super high, I use them on stuff that's super lifted and need a tall stand to reach the frame. Ramps are great for a lot of stuff and they're what I usually use for oil changes, exhaust work, etc. When I just need a few extra inches I use my home-made ramps, couple pieces of 2X6 that are nailed together; they get used more than my real ramps or jacks.

Even an ounce of well water will completely wreck the whole system! JK. Your description of what you did didn't cover flushing out the cleaner, but if you did all's good. I drain my systems whenever the coolant looks shitty, usually only when I buy something neglected, then never again. So far so good.

I've been using a HF aluminum jack, the smallest one they sell which I think is 1.5 ton rated, for a few years now. Having to lift a floor jack in/out of the van multiple times a day I wanted something light. I've done all the stuff you're not supposed to do; over load it, lift on uneven ground, lift on dirt & rocks, etc. When the load is too heavy I stand on the handle. I bent it a little lifting a loaded 1ton work truck on a gravel driveway, jack sunk a bit on one side which tweaked it, but it still works. I recently replaced it with the newer version of the same jack that has the rapid pump feature, it's a little heavier but much nicer to use. I've put a Chinese automotive jack stand, guessing 3 ton rated, to the test with a semi tractor. After setting it on the jacks and shaking the truck around I lifted it again and dropped it on the stands, nothing happened. But go buy some Snap-on 100 ton rated stuff because you'll need it for that massive prius you might lift a couple times a decade. As for lifts: 2 post require thick concrete and special anchors and the posts often get in the way of opening the car doors, 4 post take up more space. Most are 220v. and require a high ceiling; height of the car body plus whatever height you want underneath. There's the smaller ones that lay flat on the ground, picture a motorcycle lift but wider, no installation and cheaper but don't lift as high as a normal lift. Then there's the old school in-ground lift; no concrete requirement and it can be recessed so it's out of the way, they can be had for nothing used but installation is a bitch. There's another type that'll lift one end or side of a car, basically a jack with a cross bar on it, heavy but portable and available in powered and manual. If you buy a real garage type lift it'll be a stupid waste of money, but if you want it and can afford it enjoy it. Don't bother checking with the law about installing it at your residence, installation requirements like clearance from a living space etc., nor whether your insurance co. will be ok with it so I can get it from you cheap later.

If you didn't open the drain(s) on the block or water flush it a few times you left cleaner in there.

Ford list: Mustangs: '73 notchback(current), 2 '84 SVOs, 95 Cobra, 95 GT convert, 80-something cheapo 4banger. Trucks: '88 E-350(current), 99 F-350(current), 80 F-250, 88 F-250, 89ish Ranger 4.0, '88 & '89 Broncos. Explorers: 91, 96, and 98(current). GF has an '02. And 2 Ford powered boats. Extremely likely that there are others not coming to mind. I've owned many brands: Nissan, Toyota, Datsun, Honda, Porsche, Volvo, Jaguar, Mazda, Jeep, Dodge, and very likely others. Not one Chevy that I can think of even just to flip. Not that I hate Chevy, just never had one appeal and drop into my lap. Vehicles I still think about and wish I still had: '78 or any other year CVCC Civic with manual choke, Datsun B210, Mustang SVO, Porsche 928, Jaguar S-Type R --somewhat in order of wish level.

Safe for all metals, rubber, plastic, gasket materials, sealants, etc. at 200+ degrees and won't froth up by the impeller? If so then have at it if you wish, but that residue isn't an issue. Was the thermostat stuck open? Edit: if you're gonna use that stuff I'd leave the thermostat out and install it after flushing, the flushing will be faster and safer.

I hope it's a diesel or they lied to you before robbing you.

And someone said something about not using a rebuilt pump, only new. Unless you're buying new OEM you're probably getting a Chinese pump vs. a used OE casting with new internals. While I've had some castings with damaged threads or other problems that went undetected by the rebuilder, the castings are overall better than new Chinese stuff. I've also seen where the new pumps have stamped metal impellers and the OE and rebuilt used a cast impeller. No way for me to know which flows better, but I trust the OE engineers more than a thoughtless penny pinching Chink to design an impeller. Rebuilds are starting to fade away tho, turns out that a whole new part from China costs less than paying an American worker to replace the internals in an existing casting.

Somehow I guessed it was a 3.0, almost scary. I don't see how it's cheaper to test it off the car since there's more work involved, it also won't test the system. So if you find there's no radiator leaks you still need to find the leak which means a system pressure test. If that shop can test a loose radiator they can test it in the car and it's less work, stop guessing and just call them if you don't think so. Most parts stores have loaner testers, get one and do it yourself. Test it cold, if nothing then do a hot test, but cold will generally find more leaks than hot. "the shop specializes in radiators and fixed your XX radiator"....you mean the one that was still leaking and had to be replaced??? Yea. While a plastic/aluminum radiator can leak in the metal part, I've only found one that did and it had an obvious manufacturing fuck up. I've only replaced about 50 radiators tho so I'm sure yours will be the exception. If it has sprung a leak in the metal section I would not have it repaired, I'd replace it. If it's old enough that the metal perforated the plastic end cap or seal is gonna go away soon and require replacement anyway. Test & repair, guessing $40ish and no guarantee it won't leak somewhere else. New rad for $60ish with warrantee. As for the pump, unless the coolant was allowed to turn to rust it's very unlikely to have an impeller problem. Look under the pump and you'll find a weep hole, if it's wet or has trails indicating that it has leaked your pump seal has gone. Being parked a long time it's possible it slowly leaked and may not leak again now that it's being used, but it's probably an indication that it'll go out soon. Also wiggle the fan to check for loose pump bearings and worn fan clutch. No reason to replace the sender unless it's not working right; if it was indicating cold and the no heat also indicates cold coolant it seems there's no reason to suspect it's bad. The rad cap is probably bad since you had no pressure, but if the coolant was low when you were checking then the cap may be fine. As for your Amsoil protection, the head gaskets would probably blow before anything oil related would be damaged no matter what kind of oil you're running. I don't think it has a code option for overheat, probably only the too cold one. Without a therm in cold weather it'll stay quite cold, I've seen a few and they wouldn't get to 140 in So.Cal. cold. Did you do a cold flow check to see if it's stuck open? The recovery bottle can't be trusted on a car that has been parked a long time. In normal use, assuming the hose isn't leaking or plugged up, it'll be reliable.

The oil pressure gauge on many of them is an idiot light with a needle, the "sender" being just an on/off switch. While the temp gauges may not be 'calibrated' I've never had one that didn't show a logical indication of temp. A gallon low is scary, but not necessarily damaging; I've seen worse.

So I believe that narrows it down to a 2.3, 3.0, or 4.0. The most common is the 2.3; gutless, but economical & reliable and very easy to work on. The 3.0, to me, is a worthless "upgrade" that just consumes more gas for little more power. The 4.0 in that little truck is pretty peppy while being not much more thirsty or hard to work on than the 3.0. So let's think a moment..........I'll guess he has the 3.0.

It took my mind a moment to visualize what you were talking about, but once it did I've been doing it daily. Going on almost 2 months of repeating this exercise and my hands, arms, shoulders look & feel exactly the same as they did in October. Maybe I have to try actually assembling this contraption and using it rather than just visualizing it.

I may have fucked myself, but if need be I'll duck out and join the prayer group.

Dismount the radiator for a test; you just love doing things the hard way don't you....for fuck's fuckin sake why don't you just drive the truck to the shop?!? Easy thermostat check: with the radiator full, cap off, engine cool, start it and look. There should be no flowing water, if the thermostat is open there should be noticeable flow/movement of the water. If the thermostat is working the heater hoses should start to warm up shortly after start up, water flows through the core regardless the thermostat position. If the therm. is bad the heater hoses will still warm up, but it'll take longer and they'll never get very hot since the water isn't getting hot. Since you're opening the system up I'd pull the heater hoses off and back flush the core with a garden hose, stuff tends to collect in them and back flushing should clear it up. If I knew what you were working on I could probably point the way to which hose is in/out, I'm much more capable with vehicles than mind reading. The thermostat doesn't need to open for there to be pressure in the system, it'll start pressurizing as the engine warms up, you probably just have a cap issue or a really big leak. Most Fords will have pressure just from the morning sun warming things. Not sure that it's only a Ford thing but I see it more often with Fords.....but I also have several of them at any given time. A smart guy looking for help would at least state the make of the truck, if not year, model, eng. size.

Time for a new expert.

There's also those devices that are just a light that changes colors to indicate voltage levels, google "motorcycle charging indicator" and you'll see some options. It gives less info and costs more, but is small and much more likely to get your attention if your charging system goes out. A voltmeter is nice but won't do anything for you 'till you read it.

Very cool, thanks. Never thought to search for stuff like that.

Heat speeds evaporation; run the motor briefly, it'll also help blow out any that could possibly be hiding in the pump. Probably overkill but it won't hurt.

Drain system removing plugs/hoses/thermostat as needed to assure a full drain. Use an air blower to help remove trapped water/coolant. Add prep fluid, run engine at least 10 minutes and drain/blow as before. Add Evans coolant purging and topping off as needed. Check Evans with a refractometer to verify less than 3% water content. Recheck level the first couple runs to assure that all air is out and coolant level has stabilized. Since you have about half the prep fluid left over you could drain & prep again for the fuck of it, that should assure no water is left in there. Poor man's water test, assuming you don't have a refractometer in the toolbox: put some coolant on a little piece of aluminum foil folded to make a small puddle. Heat with a cigarette lighter and see if it boils. I've done this to test the gear oil from boat outdrives to check for water. It takes very little time to heat the oil to where it's smoking, if there's water it starts to boil pretty quickly. Not knowing how Evan's reacts you can compare to a test using some from the bottle as a baseline. Assuming your system is the same size as the one in the manual photo above you only got about 2/3 drained which means you'd have about 1/3 prep fluid left when you go to coolant. Unless you figure out how to get that out I'd contact them to find out how much prep fluid is OK to leave in with the coolant, 1/3 capacity seems like a lot and maybe too much, but I know nothing about this stuff. Maybe try flushing with another round of coolant if you can't figure out how to get a full drain, but it really shouldn't be hard to get a pretty complete drain on this system. As for your fan operation, since it's seeing radiator temp and not the engine temp you see on the gauge the engine temp to fan on/off temp will vary depending on air temp and air speed if moving or the when the fan comes on.

Absolutely a useful tool, not bashing it's usefulness. I assume Calc is just a hobbyist/guy who plays with engines a bit (I don't keep up with who does what very well) and didn't want him thinking this is a magical tool or one that is 'needed' for the home tinkerer. He might know twice as much as I do about engines, not a clue. I've had several friends who 'had to have one' because of something they read from another ignorant gear-head. Some of them go to the extent to say things like "idiots use a compression gauge but a real mechanic uses a leak-down tester". If one is working on specialty engines and has specs or a good knowledge of what percentage of leakage is normal then the tool is somewhat indispensable for wear testing.

You made reference to this twice now, the tester doesn't tell you where the leak is, you have to use your ears or other methods to determine where it's leaking.