The Hooptie Report Number 1 (of many to come)

denverpilot

denverpilot

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The blend door servo on the Subaru stuck in defrost on one of the coldest mornings of the year. Was fine to clear the windshield until I wanted heat on my toes. LOL.

I think I’ll just start a Hooptie Report series of posts for the automotive adventures. Hahaha.

God help me, I’m seriously considering selling the Dodge this spring and hunting for a vehicle that will be nowhere near as reliable as the Cummins on the used market. But that’ll be Hooptie Report Number 20 by then, so... we’ll hold off on that.

The Dodge needs some cosmetic work and I definitely won’t get around to that until March/April timeframe.

Anyway already know my free time schedule won’t let me work on the blend door until mid February, so ... I’m driving the Yukon on cold days. ;)

Yukon has a coolant leak somewhere and I can’t find it, but I know it’s not going into the oil, and no sign it’s a head gasket.

I can just smell it outside but not in (not a heater core unless it’s the one in the rear, and I don’t see any signs of that, either), and doesn’t appear to be the water pump either, but it’s been cold and I don’t want to look real hard. It takes a lot of driving before I need to add any.

Could even be a crack in the reserve bottle, but I don’t see evidence of a mess that big anywhere. This seems to be “pinhole” somewhere.

Maybe the radiator. Maybe a hose. Dunno yet. It isn’t showing itself.

But that’s probably fodder for Hooptie Report Number 2.
 
The coolant leak will reveal itself in spectacular fashion when at least two conditions are met: temperature is less than 20 below, you are greater than 10 miles from home or destination, you are already 15 minutes late, you are being followed by a pack of bikers who hate the smell of antifreeze.
 
asicer said:
VW Type I (aka "Bug"). No coolant to leak. If the engine blows, 4 bolts and 15 minutes to replace it.
Click to expand...

Yup. And in winter cold couldn't make enough heat to defrost that flat windshield, necessitating scraping it inside and out every third stop light. I was convinced they made the glass flat so the scraper worked better. :p
 
Check the end caps on the radiator. My 99 would go thru coolant like crazy...you could smell it, but no visible signs of it leaking. Got very luck one day and just happened to look at the correct angle and see coolant in the trough under the radiator. Finally found the spot on the tank seam that was leaking under pressure. Leak was tiny... it would take about 6 hours of running at temp to lose about 2 gallons of coolant.
 
“My hooptie rollin', tailpipe draggin'/ heat don't work, and my girl keeps nagging.'”
 
My Nissan truck wanted nothing more than oil and the occasional spark plug for 14 years. Mrs. Steingar's Tercel needed nothing for 14 years. So far her Honda Fit has needed nothing since 2009.

My convertible is a much different story, however.
 
Be sure you are not smelling the ethanol in the exhaust of the cold engine, smells similar to glycol and seems to hang around on cold mornings.
 
No coolant but untold number of carbon monoxide poisoning’s in VW Bugs. Most owners did not have panel mounted CO detectors.
 
If it is a 5.7 Vortec truck the most likely place it is leaking is at the intake gasket. They usually fail at the rear of the engine. Crawl under the truck and shine a flashlight up the back of the engine, it will probably be wet where the intake seals to the heads. I had to replace two of them on my old truck and did 2 more for other buddies.
 
Loved my '86 S10 Blazer. Up until the intake manifold gasket blew, filling the crankcase with coolant. Bye bye engine. Then the only replacement clutch master cylinder that could be sourced was some off-brand with a folding push rod so they could put it in a smaller box. Of course the clamp couldn't be tightened enough to prevent it from buckling. I was able to jury rig the old original solid rod in place fortunately.
 
You know that 6 months after selling the CTD, you'll start shopping for a towable RV again ...
 
I had a 1973 VW van. Called it "Arlo". The kids and I loved it.
I don't think there was any technology in it newer than 1941.
Example: The voltage regulator was a vibrating metal reed. You adjusted the voltage output by adjusting the frequency of the reed.
It could barely make heat in the winter, and you had to watch the temperature closely in the summer.
I fitted a couple of 12 volt fans on either side of the engine to facilitate cooling. Worked great.
I had to work on it, weekly, to keep it running. Always something needed replacing.
My wife finally said "ENOUGH" and made me get rid of it.
I see the exact same van is selling for $98,000.00 in Hemmings.
sigh........
 
Shepherd said:
I had a 1973 VW van. Called it "Arlo". The kids and I loved it.
I don't think there was any technology in it newer than 1941.
Example: The voltage regulator was a vibrating metal reed. You adjusted the voltage output by adjusting the frequency of the reed.
It could barely make heat in the winter, and you had to watch the temperature closely in the summer.
I fitted a couple of 12 volt fans on either side of the engine to facilitate cooling. Worked great.
I had to work on it, weekly, to keep it running. Always something needed replacing.
My wife finally said "ENOUGH" and made me get rid of it.
I see the exact same van is selling for $98,000.00 in Hemmings.
sigh........
Click to expand...

Some of the most memorable vehicles I have owned needed almost daily work to keep them going. Lots of personality. Like the '47 chevy 5 window pickup that would stop running at the worst possible moments, like when the light just turned green, or how the right door would fly open on left turns only at certain intersections and not others, or how the horn would occasionally go off by itself at 3am.....

My vehicles now just keep going. I do not have the personal attachment to them that I had with some other vehicles. Of course now that I am older I do not mind not having to work an a vehicle for two hours just so it will make it to Walmart and back....
 
had a corvair spider convertible,air cooled engine. you couldn't get heat in the winter. blower looked like it came out of a boat,as a bilge blower. the colder it got the less effective the heater/defroster.the defroster would give you two half dollar sized holes on the windshield.
 
I drive an "87 S-10 every day. I'd drive it anywhere. Had to replace a master cylinder on it, but that's about it. Even the A/C still works!
 
KRyan said:
I drive an "87 S-10 every day. I'd drive it anywhere. Had to replace a master cylinder on it, but that's about it. Even the A/C still works!
Click to expand...

Thanks. You just reminded me that I'm overdue for my annual check on whether there are any Sy/Ty's for sale.
 
asicer said:
VW Type I (aka "Bug"). No coolant to leak. If the engine blows, 4 bolts and 15 minutes to replace it.
Click to expand...

Love that. I've got a lot of experience with Type IVs (I've owned a couple of 914s). Big fun to balance the whole engine/transaxle/exhaust system on a floor jack and lower it out of the car!! Luckily, those magnesium-case 901 transaxles are real featherweights. Also cool how you can take the whole gear stack out without removing the engine/trans housing assembly from the car...just unbolt the rear mounts and lower slightly.




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