When I shut down the Lotus-Renault in August, I forgot to check the antifreeze.
Hey, it was warm outside. I thought I was going to take the body off soon,
which requires draining the system (the radiator goes with the body). Other
car troubles intervened, of course, and I have not gotten a chance to proceed
with the Lotus.
Well, I will be taking off the body soon, but now it is getting cold. The
stuff looks green, but awfully clear. I checked it with a specific gravity
tester, and the freeze point was was off the scale (-12 degrees F.) to the warm
end. So I put some in the freezer with a small thermometer. The stuff is
frozen at 0 degrees F. Well, as has been noted before, you don't usually get
good car deals from people who know what they are doing. He should have been
running more glycol to protect it from boiling!
To hold me for the next few days, I have stuck a thermostat-equipped electric
heater where the rear trunk would be (if I had a rear trunk), and a drop-light
in the front end near the radiator. It will probably not get down to 10
degrees in the garage this week, but I want to be ready for -20 soon.
I hate to start the engine again, put all new coolant in and then drain it to
pull the body off. So I need advice.
What is the capacity of the system?
Can the system be drained?
The radiator should be emptiable by removing the lower hose, if there is no tap
on the bottom of the radiator.
The heater cores do not have any tubes going to them (Hawaii, remember?), so no
water will be trapped there.
I should be able to blow out the intake manifold. I will be taking that off
soon, as it blocks the body's upward progress.
Is there a tap on the engine block? Can the block be drained completely,
perhaps by a lower hose?
Can you blow the water pump?
Would having the bleeder on the water pump open at first draining, and the one
on the radiator closed, help? I am assuming the exitance of these bleeders, as
I have been told they exist.
What pitfalls am I overlooking here?
Phil Ethier, THE RIGHT LINE, 672 Orleans Street, Saint Paul, MN 55107-2676
h (612) 224-3105, w (612) 298-5324 phile@pwcs.stpaul.gov or uiucuxc!pwcs!phile
"The workingman's GT-40" - Colin Chapman
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Login name: phile In real life: Philip J Ethier
Phone: 298-5324
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