As someone on loonie tunes would say...
So there I am filling my cooling system, one jug at a time, through a filter since I am reusing the old coolant. Every jug I look under and check for leaks. After about 3 gallons I see a drip at the back of the engine. I figure the air compressor line didn't get tightened or something. It's the copper cross-over line behind the engine that connects both sides to the big line towards the heater core up front. At some point there was a hose rubbing against it and it's rubbed through. Pin hole leak. Great. If there is a thing that is going to be hard to get off, it's that tube. I may decide to try to cut it and slip on a hose and a couple of hose clamps. Oh well.
Oil pressure gauge on the dash is pinned at negative as soon as I turn the power on. Any guesses what would make it do that? I don't have a clue.
Brian
If the hole is from wear you could soft patch it.
what is a soft patch? I'm very interested...
Brian
I would be tempted to sodder it or even some JB weld type stuff. I used some of the stuff that comes in a syrenge on my ac lines on my truck. Its been holding for 4 or 5 months now.
The same thing had happened to it. They rubbed together untill it had a pin hole.
Good Luck
Eric
The oil pressure gauge is most likely a bad ground at the gauge. If it was working OK before you started on the engine work, then possible a miswire at the engine? Could you possibly be applying voltage at the sender lead or is it not connected at all. Grounding the sender lead should peg the gauge.
Len, do you mean grounded lead equals gauge pinned at maximum? So open lead would equal gauge pinned at minimum?
Brian
I drained all the coolant out again. It's a tube that is almost impossible to get on or off with the transmission installed let alone with the engine installed in the bus. I have a high power soldering iron, I may try that. I can see the hole, so I can get to it, if I clean it really well and use an acid flux it may take. If I tried a torch in there I would burn the whole thing down... It's under and behind the power steering pump, the old pressure line from the pump to the filter quick connect must have been rubbing on it.
Brian
Actually, on further review, I'm not sure. Typical oil pressure gauges like VDO are either 10 - 180 ohms (low to high) or 240 - 33.5 ohms.
Most vehicles I have worked on, grounding the sender would peg the gauge, but I don't know about MCI.
http://www.marinetex.com/marinetexepoxyputty.html (http://www.marinetex.com/marinetexepoxyputty.html)
I have used it in many places we used to use it on derby cars between heats to fix radiators, manifolds water pumps thermostat housings etc.
Great stuff put it on and forget about it!
;D BK ;D
The basic soft patch is a piece of gasket material and a hose clamp. The next basic is gasket material, sheet metal, then hose clamps.
An epoxy repair covered by a soft patch might work well.
Try something like this. http://www.lowes.com/pd_301812-34146-AV301812_0__?productId=3223497&Ntt=pipe+clamp&pl=1¤tURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dpipe%2Bclamp&facetInfo= (http://www.lowes.com/pd_301812-34146-AV301812_0__?productId=3223497&Ntt=pipe+clamp&pl=1¤tURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dpipe%2Bclamp&facetInfo=) we use them at work all the time.
Quote from: Busted Knuckle on September 02, 2011, 12:58:01 PM
http://www.marinetex.com/marinetexepoxyputty.html (http://www.marinetex.com/marinetexepoxyputty.html)
I have used it in many places we used to use it on derby cars between heats to fix radiators, manifolds water pumps thermostat housings etc.
Great stuff put it on and forget about it!
;D BK ;D
Im a big fan of using the quick set bondo on the radiators! Glad that Im not the only one using derby remedies on here. lol
Eric
The patch with a hose clamp sounds like the second best idea after replacing it. Unlike epoxy, JB weld, and the like, the patch and clamp would likely only develop a slow leak (drip) over time, where as epoxy could simply come off and your back to square one. Soldering may work if its a real small leak and you have good access.
You basically have a new engine with a heck of a lot of time, money and effort put in, this is not the motor to mickey mouse. If its at all possible, repacing the line would be the ideal.
Paul if he cleans it thoroughly Marine-Tex ain't coming off!
And if he wanted to be sure of that just go all the way around it as an layer to make a "sleeve" out of it.
OH yeah I didn't think of it before but a *Gates-"Power Grip" would work well here too!
;D BK ;D
Read the fine print....heat and most epoxy don't mix.
Well I've used Marine-Tex on wet hot intake manifolds with the t-stat housing broke off in between heats and gone back out and won the feature with it! Then after checking it over ran it the next night and several weeks after until I actually pulled the engine and replaced it because it'd had a knock in it from day one but the harder we ran it, the better it ran. Then I sold it to a "newbie" who ran it for the remainder of the season after replacing the intake and slapping a set of bearings in it! (and when I say he "slapped in a set of bearings I mean slapped in no mic'ing no plastigage just bought a set of .010 over bearings slapped 'em in put the engine in and went racing!)
;D BK ;D
Quote from: Busted Knuckle on September 02, 2011, 10:53:40 PM
Paul if he cleans it thoroughly Marine-Tex ain't coming off!
Im not arguing that it might not work, ive used Marine Tex myself, I had a bunch around for years and used it on occasion. It does work. Its just that after being around airplanes a while I learned you just bite the bullet and fix things properly. Not saying his Bus is in any way simular to an airplane, just saying that you would not be fixing a leak like his on an airplane any other way than either replacing the line, or having it welded. And aside from those two fixes, I feel the soft patch is the second best option. It cannot come off or fall off, and so the most that would occur would be only a minor leak. Epoxy, even Marine Tex, has the potential to completely fail, only then you might have epoxy stuck to the pipe you have to clean off, and if the area is not easily accessable youll be pulling the line anyway.
Pulling the line at home, in your own shop, using all your own tools, will be light years better than changing it out 500 miles from home.
Agreed!
;D BK ;D
This is only the coolant system. If yours is like mine, there are already rubber connections with hose clamps that work for years. I would be prone to make a patch out some hose with the same ID as the lines OD by slitting it so it fits over the hole and several inches on each side. I would use a generous amount of silicone and clamp it down over the hole and on each side. The only downside is that when archaeologists discover it in the future, they will say that you sometimes used shortcuts.
Quote from: Busted Knuckle on September 02, 2011, 11:17:22 PM
Well I've used Marine-Tex on wet hot intake manifolds with the t-stat housing broke off in between heats and gone back out and won the feature with it! Then after checking it over ran it the next night and several weeks after until I actually pulled the engine and replaced it because it'd had a knock in it from day one but the harder we ran it, the better it ran. Then I sold it to a "newbie" who ran it for the remainder of the season after replacing the intake and slapping a set of bearings in it! (and when I say he "slapped in a set of bearings I mean slapped in no mic'ing no plastigage just bought a set of .010 over bearings slapped 'em in put the engine in and went racing!)
;D BK ;D
I think I bought a used car from that kid LOL
Well, job done! If my MCI is like other MCI's. the coolant hard line that was the problem is the 1" hard copper tube that runs in a U-shape around the back of the engine, has a bracket bolted to the transmission, has a connection to the main 1.5" line to the heater core, and has two bosses that feed off to the coolant filter and the compressor head. Not a trivial tube!
I got a little air powered autobody saw in past all the mess, managed to cut the tube where it was pin-holed, put a section of hose over both ends and reinstalled it. So far it's working fine. Hose is clamped with hose clamps and should be no problem long term.
Brian
YA!
;D BK ;D
by the way was that well job is done, or job done well?
had to ask!