Ruby's Thread

[sonomabimmers]

Well, we swapped the hoses to no avail, and reading online, most people were saying the flow direction through the heater core does matter; it goes it and out regardless. We think it may be the heater control valve, which we'll trouble shoot Tuesday. He said he doesn't need the heater in his E30 and that I could have it if that was the problem. We shall see! But in the meantime...research, research, and more research.

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On this I would definitely say bleed the system like 1000 times and use a pressure bleeder. After I did some cooling work on it it took me three days of trying to bleed it by myself before I took it to my friend shop and had him pressure bleed it and it was still very hard to get the pocket of air out right by the thermostat that design leaves it open to a pocket of air there. My two pennies.


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[Levy3Poop]

On this I would definitely say bleed the system like 1000 times and use a pressure bleeder. After I did some cooling work on it it took me three days of trying to bleed it by myself before I took it to my friend shop and had him pressure bleed it and it was still very hard to get the pocket of air out right by the thermostat that design leaves it open to a pocket of air there. My two pennies.


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THANK YOU! That's so good to hear that it could just be the need of a pressure bleed. Dave said he'll pick one up before Tuesday because he needs one for one of his e46s anyways. Is there a specific pressure bleeder required for Ruby, or just a generic one from Amazon/AutoZone?

[sonomabimmers]

Naw get one that sucks all the air out of the system first like you were damn near see your coolant hoses go flat and then fill it up through that it's the air is out. But really any pressure bleeder will work if you look at the thermostat it's got that design with the two houses go up to it like the two sides of a triangle and that shit leaves a bubble every fucking time it just needs pressure to push through that shit


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[sonomabimmers]

I can't seem to edit that last post I did it with voice text so there is a whole lot of errors but I think you can get the picture.


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[Levy3Poop]

I can't seem to edit that last post I did it with voice text so there is a whole lot of errors but I think you can get the picture.


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Okay, so generic pressure bleed kit, basically collapse the hoses, fill 'er up, and suck it through?

[sonomabimmers]

You got it it just needs to get past that stupid thermostat if that's what's happening that's what happened to me sounds like it.


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[Das Delfin]

It does matter what order the hoses are attached to the heater core

Add a 50-50 mixture of coolant and water into the radiator until it reaches the cold line. Turn the key so the car is on, but the engine is not running. Put the heat on full hot. The valve should open and the fluid will empty from the expansion tank. Add some more.

Take the bleed screw out. It is right next to the expansion radiator tank opening. Turn the engine on. With the car running and the heat still at full hot and the fan on full blast, keep adding coolant until it starts to run out of the radiator bubble free. It's very important to add coolant as slow as possible so as to avoid air bubbles.

Close bleed screw. Allow engine to cool. Add more coolant to the reservoir if necessary.

[Levy3Poop]

It does matter what order the hoses are attached to the heater core

Add a 50-50 mixture of coolant and water into the radiator until it reaches the cold line. Turn the key so the car is on, but the engine is not running. Put the heat on full hot. The valve should open and the fluid will empty from the expansion tank. Add some more.

Take the bleed screw out. It is right next to the expansion radiator tank opening. Turn the engine on. With the car running and the heat still at full hot and the fan on full blast, keep adding coolant until it starts to run out of the radiator bubble free. It's very important to add coolant as slow as possible so as to avoid air bubbles.

Close bleed screw. Allow engine to cool. Add more coolant to the reservoir if necessary.

While I was down there today, I did try turning the heater on full blast (it's been on full blast since we got the new engine in, so every time it was turned on, the heater was too. Turning the heater on without the engine didn't yeild any results. We've also been using the bleed screw next to the fill hole. I'll try to fill it slower next time though. I didn't know going too fast could make bubbles that get trapped.

Can you send a pic of your heater core hoses and point out which one goes where? I just wanna make sure we have it right since you're saying the hose position matters.

[Levy3Poop]

You got it it just needs to get past that stupid thermostat if that's what's happening that's what happened to me sounds like it.


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Cool beans. Think this one will work?

https://www.amazon.com/Mityvac-MV4560-Radiator-Cooling-Pressure/dp/B003V9L05G

Or do I need one of the ones that's friggin' $150?

[sonomabimmers]

I would get the expensive one imo


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[Levy3Poop]

WOO! We finally got Ruby running right and finally out of Dave's driveway! He said he disconnected the passenger side radiator hose, then started jacking it up, and heard the massive air bubble that was in the cooling system relieve itself, and the heater started working again!

I was so stoked that Lindsay and I went down and got her back as soon as we could. We got down there, and I drove her around the neighborhood a little to make sure the temperature was stable and not over heating. The temp never rose a needle width above half, so we took her home!

The battery was dead because someone (probably me) forgot to ground the alternator. The battery I had has a warranty on it still, so Dave gave me his battery and I'll get it back to him when I bring him the camo valve cover as well.

Dave sent me that first picture from last week when we were working on the car together and goofing around a little. She's a keeper for sure [emoji1]

I was organizing all the repair junk I had in Ruby, and Lindsay had to watch her Calves (Cleveland girls love them calves!) So she brought her laptop out. Also, my buddy Brian gave Ruby a flower as a recovery gift.

I'm so glad to have her back, and to give Dave his damn driveway space back!

[Levy3Poop]

Today we went to harbor freight and got a low profile 3 ton jack, some 3 ton jack stands, wheel chocks for the rear, a sander, some sand paper, and some sanding masks.

I didn't put the skid plate back on at Dave's cause I just wanted to get Ruby back home, and I was feeling paranoid rolling around with a naked oil pan. Ben from Red46.com was super polite and helpful, told me the bolt sizes for the skid plate since mine got lost during the swap, so I got some new ones at Lowe's yesterday.

Lindsay came out to help me put the skid plate on, which turned out to be a huuuuge help! We were under the car together, and she held the skid plate up while I got the steering rack bolt secure on the passenger side, then I held it up and she got the driver side steering rack bolt secure, then we got the front one done together. Whoever drilled the holes for the front of the skid plate sure did a butcher of a job. Only one bolt lines up with a hole, and the other holes for the bracket don't line up with the piece of the car the holes are drilled in. That explains why the skid plate only had one bolt on the front [emoji14]

Anyways, I also picked up some gold spray paint (Rust-Oleum Pure Gold paint and primer in one) for the anti roll bar. I've been wanting to paint it gold for a while, so I sanded as much of the back paint off as I could, and I'm spraying it now. I'll post pics of the painting progress later.

[Levy3Poop]

One coat of 5 passes done so far here. I'll probably do 3 coats on each side, and try to get the rounded sides of the anti roll bar a little each time

[Levy3Poop]

Here's the back side after one layer. I included the close up so you can see the color, and a close up of the weld to show that the black pain that was there after the sanding seems to be mostly covered up after the first coat of a few passes.

I had to find a way to paint the bottom side because details like that bug me. I put a bunch of layers of painter's tape on the box it's leaning against, which stacked up higher in the middle and reduced the contact patch. I used a bucket of spackling to hold it in place at the bottom for that same reason, and the spackling is dense, so it keeps it from sliding away. Just a little tip for anyone wanting to paint their anti roll bar!

[Levy3Poop]

Don't listen to what I said about leaning it to minimize contact with freshly painted metal. The paint peeled, and I had to fashion these little stands from a coat hanger to hold it off the ground via the bolt holes.

I think the paint part is done. Just need to clear coat it and the anti roll bar will be all done!