I figured Sunday would be a short, easy day. Boy was I wrong. I started with replacing the fuel filter. Easy. I just took a bit of a gasoline shower on my left arm. Then I installed the air intake. Then, 5 quarts of oil, 4.5 quarts of transmission fluid, and two gallons of coolant and I was ready to hook up the battery and give it a crank. No keys! I had accidentally taken the set of keys home in my pocket weeks ago and never brought them back. I ran home and got the keys.
I cranked it up. It took a few attempts since the fuel rail and filter were empty. It cranked up and had a lifter knocking. After a little bit it started pumping up and quieting down. I glanced under the car and then checked the dash for any warning lights. Then I spotted a rapidly forming lake of oil under the front left corner of the car. Great.
I shut the car off and set about cleaning up the mess on the floor and under the hood. It was the upper oil cooler hose where it connects to the radiator that was leaking. I pulled the air intake and got some wrenches on the fittings. They were tight, but the line wasn't. Strange. I futzed around with it for probably a half hour before I came to the conclusion there was something wrong with either the flare or the flare nut on that upper oil cooler hose. I couldn't visibly see anything wrong with it. I took the brass adapter fitting out of the radiator and I could get a spare piece of 3/8 hard line to tighten up in it but I could not get that oil cooler line to tighten up. So, I cut that flare off, threw the flare nut away and out came the Mastercool hydraulic flaring tool.....
Put everything back together and check the oil. Bottom of the safe zone. Ok to idle. Crank it up. Oil leak fixed. I let it start warming up. I'm keeping an eye on it but I'm putting up tools. I have the cap off the coolant tank and am waiting for the thermostat to open. The next thing I know the temperature starts climbing and the coolant tank contents start roiling. I quickly put the cap on and after the temp climbed some more, I shut it down. I decided to let it cool and finish putting up tools. I go back and check on it, and the tank looks empty. I feel the lower hose and it's hot. Ok, the thermostat has opened. I must have overcome an air pocket. I pull the cap, put about a half gallon of coolant into it and crank it back up. I decide to install the battery hold down. When I bought the car, it had none. I had the plastic block in my spares but had to source the correct bolt online. Before I can get the hold down installed the coolant tank gets away from me and boils over making a big mess under the hood and on the ground. I'm pretty pissed at this point.
I get it cut off and get the cap back on the tank. I clean up the mess on the floor and, as best I can, under the hood. I've been opening the bleader screw on the water outlet the whole time but getting nothing but coolant since putting the first two gallons in. I'm frustrated. It's 3 o'clock by now. I put a big fan in front of it, roll the door down and then go to lunch. After eating, I go on a vain search for a quart of Valvoline conventional 5W-30 oil. There is none to be had. Valvoline has rebranded the product and now it is "Daily Protection Synthetic Blend." I grudgingly settled for a quart of that.
I go back. I top up the oil and coolant. I crank up the car with the cap off and turn on the A/C. I start getting the car off the stands. I catch the level in the bottle get high and put the cap on just in time to avoid another mess. There is some roiling in the bottle but the thermostat is open and the car is maintaining its temperature. I torque the wheels, install the front hubcaps and adjust the tire pressures. I check the transmission fluid and add a bit less than half a quart.
Then I took the car for a 50 mile drive. It mostly seems the same. The idle in gear with the A/C running seems very smooth though. The idle in park or neutral doesn't seem as smooth as it should be.
If I let the car shift into overdrive and then the torque converter locks up at relatively low speed, like 48 MPH there is a feeling like misfire that I don't remember from before all this work. If you roll into the throttle while experiencing this, it gets worse until the converter unlocks. The car runs right otherwise.
I used AC Delco Rapidfire spark plugs for this tuneup. I gapped them at 0.060", which is Delco's recommendation. The sticker on the core support says to gap them to 0.050" though. I've read some recommendations online to gap them at 0.045". I'm wondering if what I'm describing as misfire when the torque converter is locked at low speed is caused by having the plugs gapped too wide?
I'm also smelling a fuel smell. I can't find any evidence of a fuel leak. I smell it strongest at the Driver's rear of the car. I can't smell it under the hood. Yesterday, when I was stopped at traffic lights I thought I could smell it.I'm wondering if it is running rich and that's what I'm smelling.
So, it's back together and it has benefited from a lot of work and new parts but there is more work to be done. It's not quite right yet. I need to get the scanner on it and will probably regap the plugs. I'll also work on curing the seeping oil at the oil level sensor.
That's it for now friends. As always, thanks for the interest and the feedback.
Jared
I cranked it up. It took a few attempts since the fuel rail and filter were empty. It cranked up and had a lifter knocking. After a little bit it started pumping up and quieting down. I glanced under the car and then checked the dash for any warning lights. Then I spotted a rapidly forming lake of oil under the front left corner of the car. Great.
I shut the car off and set about cleaning up the mess on the floor and under the hood. It was the upper oil cooler hose where it connects to the radiator that was leaking. I pulled the air intake and got some wrenches on the fittings. They were tight, but the line wasn't. Strange. I futzed around with it for probably a half hour before I came to the conclusion there was something wrong with either the flare or the flare nut on that upper oil cooler hose. I couldn't visibly see anything wrong with it. I took the brass adapter fitting out of the radiator and I could get a spare piece of 3/8 hard line to tighten up in it but I could not get that oil cooler line to tighten up. So, I cut that flare off, threw the flare nut away and out came the Mastercool hydraulic flaring tool.....
Put everything back together and check the oil. Bottom of the safe zone. Ok to idle. Crank it up. Oil leak fixed. I let it start warming up. I'm keeping an eye on it but I'm putting up tools. I have the cap off the coolant tank and am waiting for the thermostat to open. The next thing I know the temperature starts climbing and the coolant tank contents start roiling. I quickly put the cap on and after the temp climbed some more, I shut it down. I decided to let it cool and finish putting up tools. I go back and check on it, and the tank looks empty. I feel the lower hose and it's hot. Ok, the thermostat has opened. I must have overcome an air pocket. I pull the cap, put about a half gallon of coolant into it and crank it back up. I decide to install the battery hold down. When I bought the car, it had none. I had the plastic block in my spares but had to source the correct bolt online. Before I can get the hold down installed the coolant tank gets away from me and boils over making a big mess under the hood and on the ground. I'm pretty pissed at this point.
I get it cut off and get the cap back on the tank. I clean up the mess on the floor and, as best I can, under the hood. I've been opening the bleader screw on the water outlet the whole time but getting nothing but coolant since putting the first two gallons in. I'm frustrated. It's 3 o'clock by now. I put a big fan in front of it, roll the door down and then go to lunch. After eating, I go on a vain search for a quart of Valvoline conventional 5W-30 oil. There is none to be had. Valvoline has rebranded the product and now it is "Daily Protection Synthetic Blend." I grudgingly settled for a quart of that.
I go back. I top up the oil and coolant. I crank up the car with the cap off and turn on the A/C. I start getting the car off the stands. I catch the level in the bottle get high and put the cap on just in time to avoid another mess. There is some roiling in the bottle but the thermostat is open and the car is maintaining its temperature. I torque the wheels, install the front hubcaps and adjust the tire pressures. I check the transmission fluid and add a bit less than half a quart.
Then I took the car for a 50 mile drive. It mostly seems the same. The idle in gear with the A/C running seems very smooth though. The idle in park or neutral doesn't seem as smooth as it should be.
If I let the car shift into overdrive and then the torque converter locks up at relatively low speed, like 48 MPH there is a feeling like misfire that I don't remember from before all this work. If you roll into the throttle while experiencing this, it gets worse until the converter unlocks. The car runs right otherwise.
I used AC Delco Rapidfire spark plugs for this tuneup. I gapped them at 0.060", which is Delco's recommendation. The sticker on the core support says to gap them to 0.050" though. I've read some recommendations online to gap them at 0.045". I'm wondering if what I'm describing as misfire when the torque converter is locked at low speed is caused by having the plugs gapped too wide?
I'm also smelling a fuel smell. I can't find any evidence of a fuel leak. I smell it strongest at the Driver's rear of the car. I can't smell it under the hood. Yesterday, when I was stopped at traffic lights I thought I could smell it.I'm wondering if it is running rich and that's what I'm smelling.
So, it's back together and it has benefited from a lot of work and new parts but there is more work to be done. It's not quite right yet. I need to get the scanner on it and will probably regap the plugs. I'll also work on curing the seeping oil at the oil level sensor.
That's it for now friends. As always, thanks for the interest and the feedback.
Jared
