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Originally Posted by CirrusSR22  All that prep, and finally we can start working on the cooling system itself. That's what I tore this thing apart for, right?? Here's the coolant connector that's attached to the side of the engine block.  I removed the two bolts and three coolant hoses that are connected to it, then gently pulled it away from the block. SNAP! I think it was in a weakend state, because it gave way with very little effort. Here's a little carnage. It left the O-ring and some plastic in the block.   Time for the back of the head connector. Hard to take any pictures of it becuase it's so tight back there. This is a shot after the new one was in. Wow is this thing a b!tch. You need an open ended wrench for the top bolt, and a socket/rachet for the lower bolt. Sorry, I forgot the size. Getting the hose clamps off is really hard as well. That required a tiny 6 mm open ended wrench. Removing the cabin filter cover is pretty much required for this. It gave me a little more working room. My connector was still very study. I smacked it against the concrete a few times and jumped on it once. It didn't break.  |
When I replaced my coolant pipe I was able to cut the hoses and like you, use a gear wrench on the top bolt and a small ratchet for the lower bolt. I didn't disassemble the intake (yet...I hope that one doesn't go anytime soon!)
I was able to attach the new hoses to the pipe and then squeeze my hand behind the block (there was some blood) I started the top bolt from above. I then jacked the car up, crawled under it and could use my left had to start and tighten the lower bolt "relatively" easy. Carefully tightening the lower bolt the fitting slowly went in, the new o-ring is very tight. After the lower bolt was almost all the way in I went back up to the top and could tighten it without cross threading it. I then went back below and finished tightening the lower bolt. I replaced all the hoses that come off the coolant pipe.
Good Times!
I'm NOT looking forward to the "plastic" pipe beneath the intake!! Thanks in advance for the help!