[Public-List] Report back on bleeding the cooling system: Universal M3-20B diesel

[Randy Katz via Public-List]

Greetings,

In the end, I was able to bleed my cooling system after removing, servicing
(by Seattle Radiator--$126), and replacing the heat exchanger. (What a hell
of a task THAT was! An insane four hours getting the thing back in place
and getting the 2 short bolts in their holes while lying across the top of
the engine working with smoke and mirrors--well, a mirror, anyway--)

*One tip that may be of use to others with this engine*: I eliminated the
potential for at least one major air bubble by removing the petcock on top
of the thermostat housing (unscrewing it),  pouring coolant mix in through
the small hole, and replacing the petcock.

The usual method is to run the engine and bleed off by leaving the coolant
cap off and by opening the petcock. However, on the advice of others, and
by my observations, I suspect that the petcock actually allowed air inside
the system instead of expelling it.

Since my temp gauge went kaput, I tested water temp by leaving the coolant
cap off and measuring water temp through the opening using a digital
thermometer. At normal operating temp, this showed me that the engine was
NOT in fact overheating, as my faulty water temp gauge indicated.

I bought a new heat temp gauge for $26 and it verified the steady temp.

I had no overheating issues at all on the 12 hr. motoring trip back to
Bellingham from Everett. The heat exchanger being cleaned out (for the
first time since the engine was new 1300 hrs. ago) resulted in a little
lower running temps. Nice!

Regards to All,

Randy Katz
Simple Gifts #249
Bellingham/Seattle

--
從我的 iPad 傳送