Throttle Plate Opened

[cutchaguy]

Lo and behold, it is small wonder why coolant was leaking out...there was so much crud in there that there was no place for it to go.



One of the nuts holding the cover on came out with the bolt as it was rusted on solidly. I'm definitely getting a lot of tubing and hose clamps and am replacing all the rubber, starting with the cooling system. The big hoses are on order, but I didn't get smaller ones....one more trip (out of what I suspect will be the first of a million) to Knects or NAPA or AutoZone. :p

[mbouse]

ewww....

[pope]

Looks like peanut butter and limeaid. uuuummmmm good

[Foster48x]

Mmmm...Yummy!
Are you going to replace it? or just bypass it?

I read on another forum, I think a Jeep Forum (they seem to have the same issues with Throttle Plates) that a guy instead of bypassing the throttle plate took some small diameter brass tubing, bent it into an "S" shape and attached it to the top of the throttle. Kinda like a mini radiator without the heat disapation. I sealed the leaks on mine but if it ever goes to the crapper I think I'll try it.

Just thought I'd mention it in case you cant find a replacement and wanted to keep it functional.

Rick

[htchevyii]

Yuck! What's the radiator look like?

[cutchaguy]

Radiator looks good on the outside.

I'm not a big car guy and am just scratching the surface, but it did run well and the transmission felt good. My feeling is that this is what you get when you don't take your vehicle in for basic, periodic service and maintenance.

My wife and I said that I should start a diary/blog of my thoughts as I go about fixing this car up to drive and what my experiences are, documenting it with photos along the way. You will love what I saw when I looked at the fuel filter.

[So Cal Mark]

I'd also suggest looking INSIDE the radiator. There's a good chance the water pump impeller looks just like the throttle heater

[cutchaguy]

Here is a non-car guy question: Would you try draining and flushing the system first or drain, inspect radiator, fix/replace if necessary, reattach, and then flush?

My initial thought would be to flush first to get as much of the crud out of the hoses and maybe out first so it doesn't end up in a clean, new part.

Also, where do you flush out your system? Get as much coolant and take to disposal place and then the rest goes down a drain?

[racydave]

Yes. Coolant is water soluable. I would flush it with plenty of water while the engine is runnin and warm, then use a flush agent, and drive for a few miles, or run for awhile. The rad may need further attention? Its easy to develope a air pocket, as long as the heater blows warm its not a issue. Look up the procedure for burping the baby!

[cutchaguy]

Stick a hose in the radiator? I remember seeing something about a kit. My father-in-law did tell me about burping it. The new manual is going to get a workout tonight!!!

[So Cal Mark]

old coolant shouldn't be dumped into the water supply, and it's illegal everywhere I know of. Look it up, one gal of coolant can contaminate thousands of gallons of good water. Drain the coolant first into a container, then flush the system.

[cutchaguy]

I talked to my brother, a chemical engineer at Exxon. Basically, if it goes into a drain outside the house, that's really bad. If a little gets into a drain inside the house, it's not great, but water treatment plants can take care of the spillover.

After cleaning the cover, I discovered a nice 1/8" by 1/4" hole in said cover. Because of all of the debris and clogged inlet/outlet, only a little coolant actually got in there and would seep out onto the hot engine. I am fortunate to have a replacement with only some mild dirt and an aged gasket. Took my Dremel tool with a brass wire brush and cleaned out the Throttle plate area and make sure all baked on/caked on crud was removed from the area and the new cover.

Before I can replace the new cover with newly made gasket, I have some more questions:

1. One of the 4 threaded posts that the cover slips onto before being secured by the nut came out of the engine. The nut is securely rusted onto it. I can just go to Lowe's/Home Depot, find something similar, cut it to length, and put it in place of the original, no?
2. Anyone know the exact size I need or do I trust the stores can match it? (I do have another nut and the non-rusted part of the bolt/post can be my guide, I think.)
3. Should I use some sort of product to make sure it doesn't come out again or should I screw it in, tighten it down, cut off the head and round over the top so the nut can easily be put on?

My goal is to reconnect the hoses, top off the coolant now that I have a new, non-porous overflow tank, and get it to the nearest radiator shop to drain, flush, and inspect. Then, have them top off with only water so I can get it home where I can replace the hoses when they arrive from Vick's (via Italy) and not worry about coolant spills in the process. I'm also thinking that I should just go ahead and order a new heater core/gasket and replace that as well as a preventive measure.

Does/can air in the coolant lines create a condition where the car won't start unless it sits for several hours? Before cracking the throttle plate open, I took it to get a fill up and after a whole mile to the station, it wouldn't restart. Waited 4 plus hours, it started fine. Did it again the next day where I started it, went a mile, and after stopping it wouldn't restart. Kind of important to know for getting it to the radiator shop.

[rlux4]

Not starting when it's hot is obviously temperature related, and even though there is an air temperature sensor in the air flow meter, it shouldn't cause the engine not to start if it's bad. The most critical sensor in our FI system is the coolant temperature sensor. If it's bad it will cause this problem. You can check this by testing the unit's resitance through the temperature range, at 14° the resitance should be 7,000-12,000 ohms; at 68°, 2,000-3,000 ohms; and at 176°, 250-400 ohms. An easier test is to put a resistor in the temp. sensor connector in the range of 300 ohms and it would mimic the sensor at normal operating temperature. If the car starts, you have a bad sensor. It could be something else, but this is the first thing I would suspect.
If you don't have it yet, you should add this diagnostic manual to your library:
http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/fits/index.html#ljetguide
Ron