Re: IML: Smoke on Dash equals Heater Coil leak

["clark.thomas" <clark.thomas@xxxxxxx>]

>This is really a long topic, but I want to add my own
experience with cooling systems and Imperials. And also
offer some practical advice about maintaining the cooling
system on these( or any other) cars.

I now own two- one is a 1966 Crown that had the typical
radiator -filled- with- reddish- soup when I first got the
car about 5 years ago and this mandated a trip to our
closest shop which just happened to be owned by two guys
that had been in the radiator business for many years. I
also have a 1962 LeBaron ( which I am in the selling mode
now) and it , too had the same glorious mixture in the
radiator.

Both of them are now clean-and-green and the one bit of
advice that has done more to get them that way and also keep
them that way was what they told me to do. Bill( the owner)
said go to the closest truck parts store and get a water
filter system that is used on lots of commerical trucks and
you will never have a dirty rusty system again. I have done
that with both and he was absolutely correct.

The 1966 was a worse mess than the 1962 , and was so bad
then that he didn't even want to back flush the block( don't
know why). So I just put on the filter and drove it. The
filter is mounted on the heater intake hose between the
engine block and the temp valve on the firewall. So - as he
said- when the heater didn't heat any more , I'd just get
another filter and spin it on the system. Over about 3 or 4
months I kept looking at the slurry in the radiator and I
watched as it turned to a beautiful green color. The
tendency to over heat also went away. 


But the real clincher was just last year when I took the car
in for replacement of the timing chain. I was there right
after the water pump was removed( we also replaced other
stuff) and looked at the insides of the pump and the  block
and saw a perfectly clear cast iron wall with no accumulated
crud.

That was proof enough for me. From now on,any and all my
classic cars will have water filters. 

FWIW,

Clark Thomas 
Custodian for Moparius Maximus(AKA a 1966 Crown 4DRHT) &
 a 1962 LeBaron 4drht( unnamed as of now)




 --- ViaJoaquin@xxxxxxx wrote:
> > What kinds of "problems" have you seen it cause?
> 
> Several years ago, while driving from Napa, CA, to
> Knoxville, TN, in January (the "rest of the story" on
> this one is almost as long as the drive was!), the
> heater on a certain '81 Olds-muh-bilge gave out at
> about 10:00 at night in 20 degree weather.  And lemme
> tell ya, it gets pretty blasted cold in a car on the
> interstate under those conditions.
> 
> In a nutshell, this stuff (the powdery stuff that
> comes in a plastic tube) had congealed in a big wad
> right at the heater control valve, preventing any hot
> water from making it to the heater core.  The guy at
> the GM dealership in Albuquerque (really nice folks,
> by the way), showed me the plug of this stuff that he
> pulled out of the heater valve.
> 
> I've seen it plug heater cores and radiators in
> several other cars over the years.  And when I had the
> engine rebuilt on my '71 Imperial
> (http://www.imperialclub.com/Yr/1971/Scott/Engine/),
> the mechanic showed me what this stuff did in the
> water passages -- he said it was probably the dirtiest
> engine block he had ever seen, courtesy of radiator
> stop leak.  The machine shop actually had a hard time
> getting this crap out of the block, which says a lot.
> 
> And do NOT use this in a '71-'73 Imperial with
> AutoTemp II.  It will kill the AutoTemp servo in short
> order.
> 
> Again, most cooling system fixes are among the easiest
> and cheapest repairs that can be done on these old
> cars.  Removing the heater core on a '66 Imperial (the
> original car in question) takes about 15 minutes. 
> Having it fixed at a radiator shop will likely be
> under $50.  The radiator shop I use in Chattanooga,
> TN, will boil and rod out Imperial radiators for $55,
> and it only takes about half an hour to remove or
> replace one.
> 
> In short, if you have an Imperial that you like and
> want to preserve, why try to take a shortcut like this
> stuff, when FIXING the actual problem is relatively
> cheap and easy?
> 
> Elijah
> 
> =====
> http://www.imperialclub.com/~imperial71/
> http://www.imperialclub.com/~imperial71/bookshelf.htm
> 1965 Imperial LeBaron
> 1967 Chrysler Newport Custom Sedan
> 1970 Imperial LeBaron
> 1971 Imperial LeBaron
> 
> 
>         
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