Air Silencer out but

[fturner]

Well, all went well with pulling the silencer out, which I was done in about a 1/2 hour (btw noticed a bit more gettup and go ;) ), but here's the gotcha.....

There was alot of antifreeze around the air filter box on the outside atthe bottom and running down the frame, so of course I went a hunting. Coolent level was good, checked all the hoses etc and no leaks there, in fact bone dry, the core looked great and I checked the overflow container and didn't notice any leaks.

Then I happened to move the coolant level sensor in the overflow and man did it wobble around, and you could see coolant getting squished out of the foam seal. It felt really loose.... is this normal? or is there a way for me to tighten it down. I think when the car is acclerated hard or cornered hard that coolant may be sloshing out of here, but who knows.

Also, thanks to these forums, I got rid of the flashing firm ride light :) . Just WD-40'd the pin at the top of the shock, loosened it up and all was fine.

Frit

[SeanMatteson]

Well, all went well with pulling the silencer out, which I was done in about a 1/2 hour (btw noticed a bit more gettup and go ;) )

This is great to hear! ...Feels good to have your very first performance enhancing mod done, doesn't it?! Be very careful though, as this is how the sickness starts. ;) It can be a slippery downward slope from here.

...but here's the gotcha.....

There was alot of antifreeze around the air filter box on the outside atthe bottom and running down the frame, so of course I went a hunting. Coolent level was good, checked all the hoses etc and no leaks there, in fact bone dry, the core looked great and I checked the overflow container and didn't notice any leaks.

Then I happened to move the coolant level sensor in the overflow and man did it wobble around, and you could see coolant getting squished out of the foam seal. It felt really loose.... is this normal? or is there a way for me to tighten it down. I think when the car is acclerated hard or cornered hard that coolant may be sloshing out of here, but who knows.

Is the coolant level too high in the overflow tank? You really should pay attention to the 'full cold' and 'full hot' levels which are marked on the front side of the tank. Make sure your coolant isn't too high based on those markings. If the overflow tank is up close to full when the engine is cold, it will overflow as the engine heats up, and the first place it will start to come out is from around the sensor or the cap. Now, if the levels are as they are supposed to be, then you can most likely rule out the concept of coolant sloshing around under heavy acceleration or cornering being the culprit.

Now, I don't want to scare you, Frit, but these cars are notorious for head gasket failure. There are many cases where people experienced purcolation into the overflow tank which would result in coolant being blown out the cap or from around the sensor.

Head gasket failure is often misdiagnosed... I mean that many an SC'er have thought their HG's were shot, but found it was something else much less serious. So, don't fret, Frit. ;) There have been countless threads concerning HG failure on these forums, and if you do a search, I'm guessing you can spend the better part of the next week learning about the problem and what is involved in fixing it, should you determine that your HG's have failed.

...And please, don't think that if your HG's are failing that it's the end of the line for your SC. Many if not most of us have gone through the experience of being bitten by the 'HG Monster', and we're still around (and so are our SC's!). My HG's failed after owning the car less than six months. That was about three years ago, and without doing a total bottom end rebuild, my car is still running strong today.

Also, thanks to these forums, I got rid of the flashing firm ride light :) . Just WD-40'd the pin at the top of the shock, loosened it up and all was fine.

Again, another good reason why these forums are wonderful to have available to us! I'm not sure which forum you obtained that information from, but I encourage you to spend the $15 USD and join the SCCoA. This will make the 'Members Only' section of forums available to you, and there really is a wealth of information therein, albeit somewhat more technical in nature.

Regards,

Sean

[fturner]

Hey Sean,

I think the bug is starting to bite a little :eek: as I'm thinking of what I can do for the exhaust now (slip fall ouch!)

As far as the coolant goes, I'm leaning toward the overflow being too full. I'm going to check again next weekend to see if there's any coolant there, as I did clean everything up before I put it back together again. I'm Keeping my fingers crossed thats all it was ;).

I did a trip into Brampton today (first long trip on the highway) and everything ran great, and there was times I did push up a wee bit :rolleyes:. I checked all the fluid levels after the trip and everything is where its suppose to be.

I've already payed the membership fees and just waiting on the confirmation :) .

Frit