smelt240
Active member
OK,here is a tutorial.It isn't reall very Some may find it amusing,Im interested to see how many others have had this type of fun.I think it will be more useful than most Haynes manuals.
Step 1. Buy WRX with mileage in excess of 200k. (important)
2. (Ill skip ahead to the good part-) Drink some whiskey between 6 and 8pm.Stay up later than normal wathcing TV.
3 Get up for work next day,not feeling all that great. Attempt to drive to work. No heat-AGAIN.Figure air bubble has re-surfaced,plan to add coolant upon arrival at work. *Make sure to overheat car a few minutes later up road.
4 Call Wife. Tell her car is overheated up the road.Let car cool.Head home as fast as possible,shut car off and coast to intersection. Restart,turn corner,repeat until home. on the way,call and tell wife to start her car,so she can take me to work.
5 Get to work 1 minute late (7:01am) Forget it was supposed to be bad weather. Realize work will be at least 26 hours straight,plowing rt 126 from Monmouth to Lewiston.
6 Plow/salt road all day/night,go home at 8 am next day.(Call Greasemonkey during the plowing to verify how much of a job thermostat is,find out he is down south somewhere at a rally, LOOKING AT A DAMN PALM TREE, WATCHING RALLY CARS RACE BY!!! make sure to tell him how much he sucks. Sneak to NAPA in Farmingdale during storm to get thermostat)
7 Try to sleep. No luck. Drink Sam Adams. Sleep an hour.Put on grubby work clothes with holes in them(important).
8 Go out to garage (snowy driveway),Find somewhat dry sheet of plywood,ramps etc.
9 Start taking radiator hoses off. Lean on bumper, fill large hole in knee of pants with snow,(down inside boots also.) Throw screwdriver out in the snow.
10 Go in,find mechanics coveralls.Put those on,the go back outside,to look for screwdriver. Notice neighbor looking out window, laughing at attempt to find tools.
11 Make sure to think you might need to pull the radiator out,while doing that,be sure to break both bolts that hold the radiator brackets to the support.Realize then that only the fan might need to come out.Wonder where your ez-outs are.
12 Attempt to pop catch can off from fan,break mounting tab on that.
13 Pull lower radiator hose off,Actually catch 99% of antifreeze in pan? doesn't seem right. Have all snow from Driver's side of bumper fall in face/ear/eye while sliding out from under car.
14 Fight with fan plug,attempt to remove part of inner fender to reach plug easier,break all the clips on that.Stick hand through side of fender after clips are broken off,easily unplug after breaking plug retaining clip.Pull fan out.
15 Ratchet actually will reach upper thermostat housing bolt with Driver's side fan removed. Huh. Figure head will snap off upper housing bolt. Comes out easy. Huh.
16 Remove old thermostat.Put new one in. Surprise! Wont fit. Nearly have coronary. Calm down,try again,use the housing to evenly squash seal into place. Lose feeling in fingers trying to turn slippery antifreeze covered 3" extension bar for 10 minutes.Drop extension/socket in the pan you are using to catch coolant. (2 or 3 times for best results)
17 Forget to attach coolant overflow hardline bracket when re-installing fan to radiator. Unbolt fan,then put together properly.
18 Zip tie catch can to fan housing. Go back inside to get a second zip tie when first one is a half inch short of reaching.
19 Fill coolant,squeeze lines,fill again,repeat several times.Make sure to overflow top coolant tank,and spill coolant all over the place while squuezing upper radiator hose.
20 Run car with heat on waiting for major coolant spraying everywhere disaster. None. Huh
21 Examine exhaust for the expected sweet smell clouds of white. Not there. Huh. Figure it must be going into the oil. Check oil for coolant goo. None. Huh....
22 Wait for car to come up to temperature. Look for leaks. Let cool. Top off coolant again,squeeze lines,repeat.
23 Test drive car easily to get system fully pressurized No,instead,get bored with that in 10 seconds,take car down slush covered side road sideways,blow donuts in the first intersection,do some 45mph 3rd gear slushy drifts in intersection near house.
24 Try to see any coolant leaks with 400 gallons of brown slush water dripping out from under everywhere.
25 Let car cool,check for leaks again.Go to junkyard get inner fender clips-re-install those so inner fender stops making racket while driving.Start laughing at fact that car seems to be OK,and have another Sammy A.
26 Call Wife. Tell her car is fixed,and I will be needing a ride to Gritty's in Auburn when she gets out of work.
27 The end. For this week. Car just turned 260,000 miles during the test drive. Waiting for the next fun filled repair. This one was almost enjoyable comapred to some Ive done outside in the winter.
Step 1. Buy WRX with mileage in excess of 200k. (important)
2. (Ill skip ahead to the good part-) Drink some whiskey between 6 and 8pm.Stay up later than normal wathcing TV.
3 Get up for work next day,not feeling all that great. Attempt to drive to work. No heat-AGAIN.Figure air bubble has re-surfaced,plan to add coolant upon arrival at work. *Make sure to overheat car a few minutes later up road.
4 Call Wife. Tell her car is overheated up the road.Let car cool.Head home as fast as possible,shut car off and coast to intersection. Restart,turn corner,repeat until home. on the way,call and tell wife to start her car,so she can take me to work.
5 Get to work 1 minute late (7:01am) Forget it was supposed to be bad weather. Realize work will be at least 26 hours straight,plowing rt 126 from Monmouth to Lewiston.
6 Plow/salt road all day/night,go home at 8 am next day.(Call Greasemonkey during the plowing to verify how much of a job thermostat is,find out he is down south somewhere at a rally, LOOKING AT A DAMN PALM TREE, WATCHING RALLY CARS RACE BY!!! make sure to tell him how much he sucks. Sneak to NAPA in Farmingdale during storm to get thermostat)
7 Try to sleep. No luck. Drink Sam Adams. Sleep an hour.Put on grubby work clothes with holes in them(important).
8 Go out to garage (snowy driveway),Find somewhat dry sheet of plywood,ramps etc.
9 Start taking radiator hoses off. Lean on bumper, fill large hole in knee of pants with snow,(down inside boots also.) Throw screwdriver out in the snow.
10 Go in,find mechanics coveralls.Put those on,the go back outside,to look for screwdriver. Notice neighbor looking out window, laughing at attempt to find tools.
11 Make sure to think you might need to pull the radiator out,while doing that,be sure to break both bolts that hold the radiator brackets to the support.Realize then that only the fan might need to come out.Wonder where your ez-outs are.
12 Attempt to pop catch can off from fan,break mounting tab on that.
13 Pull lower radiator hose off,Actually catch 99% of antifreeze in pan? doesn't seem right. Have all snow from Driver's side of bumper fall in face/ear/eye while sliding out from under car.
14 Fight with fan plug,attempt to remove part of inner fender to reach plug easier,break all the clips on that.Stick hand through side of fender after clips are broken off,easily unplug after breaking plug retaining clip.Pull fan out.
15 Ratchet actually will reach upper thermostat housing bolt with Driver's side fan removed. Huh. Figure head will snap off upper housing bolt. Comes out easy. Huh.
16 Remove old thermostat.Put new one in. Surprise! Wont fit. Nearly have coronary. Calm down,try again,use the housing to evenly squash seal into place. Lose feeling in fingers trying to turn slippery antifreeze covered 3" extension bar for 10 minutes.Drop extension/socket in the pan you are using to catch coolant. (2 or 3 times for best results)
17 Forget to attach coolant overflow hardline bracket when re-installing fan to radiator. Unbolt fan,then put together properly.
18 Zip tie catch can to fan housing. Go back inside to get a second zip tie when first one is a half inch short of reaching.
19 Fill coolant,squeeze lines,fill again,repeat several times.Make sure to overflow top coolant tank,and spill coolant all over the place while squuezing upper radiator hose.
20 Run car with heat on waiting for major coolant spraying everywhere disaster. None. Huh
21 Examine exhaust for the expected sweet smell clouds of white. Not there. Huh. Figure it must be going into the oil. Check oil for coolant goo. None. Huh....
22 Wait for car to come up to temperature. Look for leaks. Let cool. Top off coolant again,squeeze lines,repeat.
23 Test drive car easily to get system fully pressurized No,instead,get bored with that in 10 seconds,take car down slush covered side road sideways,blow donuts in the first intersection,do some 45mph 3rd gear slushy drifts in intersection near house.
24 Try to see any coolant leaks with 400 gallons of brown slush water dripping out from under everywhere.
25 Let car cool,check for leaks again.Go to junkyard get inner fender clips-re-install those so inner fender stops making racket while driving.Start laughing at fact that car seems to be OK,and have another Sammy A.
26 Call Wife. Tell her car is fixed,and I will be needing a ride to Gritty's in Auburn when she gets out of work.
27 The end. For this week. Car just turned 260,000 miles during the test drive. Waiting for the next fun filled repair. This one was almost enjoyable comapred to some Ive done outside in the winter.
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