Coolant Flush and Replace from Hell Complete!
Well, the coolant flush and replace that was supposed to take me 1 day took 3 days in 100+ heat! A lot of the issues were my own inexperience. A few things I would advise to newbies...
1. Try to find a level spot to work on. The street in front of your house on a hill is not the best spot.
2. Try and do it on a weekday. No, Autozone and O'Reilly's do not carry all the appropriate hose sizes you will most likely need. I was lucky in that I was able to piece meal some hoses together and able to cut a formed 4' hose and just use the right angle section to replace mine. It would have been much better had Fleetpride been open!
3. When replacing your thermostats (mine had two) make sure they are fixed in the small recessed hole. Mine was very difficult to see since the fan, radiator, belts, etc are all in the way. I ended up taking apart and putting back together the thermostat/water housing 3 times before I got it right. The first time was because I didn't realize there was a recess to fit the thermostats into and the thermostat edges cut the gasket and prevented the housing from seating completely. The second time was because one of the thermostats fell out of the recess as I was putting the housing back on (see #1). Third time was a charm as the CAT mechanic I spoke to when picking up my 3rd gasket suggested I use a very small amount of vaseline to suction the thermostat in place due to the incline. Worked like a charm!
4. DO NOT leave your flashlight resting between two belt pulleys, forget it, then start your engine. I was lucky because the AC condenser is not belted right now or I might have been paying for some huge repairs! Instead, only one pulley was spinning so the only damage done was to my flashlight (see attached pic).
After this experience, I'm wondering if I should leave the belts to the experts given the limited space to work between the belts and rear fan/radiator.
Topic: Coolant Flush and Replace from Hell Complete!