True "Cooling System" confessions

[dantye]

Maybe you have a better one:
I bought my '81 FI in 2009 as a non runner. I just assumed the coolant overflow/recovery tank was stained from age and didn't pay much attention to it except to check levels when refilling the system after projects. I installed the flush "T" crossover above the passenger side cam cover as many do, but have still had a devil of a time "burping" it and getting air bubbles out after projects. Yesterday I let it idle for a while in the driveway and suddenly coolant began spraying out of the top of the overflow/recovery tank, and the temp gauge went to max. Today, I removed the overflow tank and hose to clean it. Washing it out revealed about 2" of leaves, acorns, and deformed mouse fetuses in the bottom of the tank. I have driven this car over 2500 miles, but over time, coolant dissolved much of that organic matter into a thick black glue that clogged up the tank inlet. It would let coolant in, but would not let it out. Apparently the seller of the car had not kept a cap on the tank until he was ready to sell it! If you are restoring one from long term storage, check it - it's a simple "first thing to fix." (If you don't think that opening is big enough for a mouse, think again.)

[4uall]

holy crap! (see what I did there?) How/what did you clean it/with?

[dantye]

holy crap! (see what I did there?) How/what did you clean it/with?

First blasted out what I could with a garden hose, then soaked it in just about every cleaner I could find, and VERY hot water in a slop sink that happens to be right next to my water heater. Also threw some strips of terry toweling into it and gave it a good shaking. I used those Super long pipe-cleaners you get at the Wal-Mart Crafts Dept to clean the tar-like stuff out the inlet/outlet tube - soaked the pipe-cleaners with HD detergent and just kept poking away and rinsing it out.

[124JOE]

use used coffie grounds to clean it out
all thou you had quite a mess there

[narfire]

I put a couple of tbls of auto dishwasher soap and hot water with an overnight soak. Good shake and good to go. A week later I put Marks steel coolant tank on though.
Chris

[Landhawk]

That's crazy. The car I'm about to pick up tomorrow has been sitting for awhile, saw what looked like some areas where mice had chewed on the seat cushions when I looked at it.... I'll be sure to check out the overflow tank....

Also this may sound stupid, but I was planning to set some traps in the car once I get it to catch any mice that might still be calling it home

[dantye]

That's crazy. The car I'm about to pick up tomorrow has been sitting for awhile, saw what looked like some areas where mice had chewed on the seat cushions when I looked at it.... I'll be sure to check out the overflow tank....

Also this may sound stupid, but I was planning to set some traps in the car once I get it to catch any mice that might still be calling it home

Any live mice will probably be gone before you get the car home. Just clean out all the lower and outer trunk areas, take the cowl off - mice got in there on mine, just above the heater core. They also sometimes get into the air box on FI models. Most important is to see if they chewed on any wires - I was lucky with that, and also that they did not get into the seats.

[RRoller123]

Speaking of mice chewing stuff ( a little off topic here I admit) a plumber friend of mine recently told me that he has stopped using PEX because the mice chew it and he has had multiple calls for leak repairs, all inside walls of course. Uh oh....