nathan.chase Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 Hi I am planning on a road trip from California to BC canada this summer and I am thinking about getting the car up to snuff. I would like your suggestions. apart from oil,filter,plugs what would you change or at least carry with you. I haven't changed the waterpump, fuel pump, fuel filter since I have had the vehicle (10k and 9months). I was planning on road tires I have been losing some water but I can't tell where. it could be from the waterpump area but the pump doesn't show any signs of weakness. I was also thinking of some undercoating around the wheel wells to quiet her down a little. Lastly, the sound of the road cutts out the mid range of my music does anyone have ideas on combating this issue? thanks kindly, Nathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 OK before you go on a long trip, you need to really go over the fropnt end of the car. If it has an unknown history, you are prbbly looking at timing belt water pump seals tensioner/idlers. If this is the 87 with 230K and working in multiples of 60K, in 10 k you are due for a belt. Assume the worst and do it now. Dont take a long trip on any car (especially to the hinter lands) with a mysterious loss of fluid and not knowing where its going. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom63050 Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 apart from oil,filter,plugs what would you change or at least carry with you. I haven't changed the waterpump, fuel pump, fuel filter since I have had the vehicle (10k and 9months). I have been losing some water but I can't tell where. it could be from the waterpump area but the pump doesn't show any signs of weakness. If it's a carbed car, change the fuel filter AND CARRY A SPARE!!! This has saved my butt on carbed cars more times than I want to think about. Ten minutes down time vs. God knows how long to get it taken care of. In my experience, carbed fuel filters last about 10K. Toss a can of fuel system/combustion chamber cleaner in the gas tank, on general principles. Water loss could well be the o-ring on the metal pipe that goes into the water pump, from the driver-side radiator hose. Get a new o-ring, lube it with oil/grease, put it on. (I've heard you can lube it with coolant, but that didn't work for me.) Since you've drained the coolant to replace the o-ring, get a new thermostat from the dealer along with the gasket. Might as well put on new coolant hoses while you're at it. Second the idea of new timing belts, along with all tensioners, if you don't know their age. And carry spare belts, at least for peace of mind. Basic rule of living: prevention always beats cure. That is multiplied on a long trip. Be sure to take a well-stocked tool kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan.chase Posted April 28, 2007 Author Share Posted April 28, 2007 Thanks for the ideas, It is fuel injected, I am thinking of getting some cold burning plugs to keep from knocking when she gets hot and running long hours. I can further advance the triming too if I do this. I just replaced the timing belts but not the tensioner or pulleys. it is easy once the covers are off. I could see coolant coming from the pump area when I was working there but I couldn't tell if it was leaking from the shaft or not. if it was does that mean the pump is shot or what? also the fan is really loud when I am running the car around 3000 rpm's I was thinking of doing an upgrade to remove the fan attached to the engine and install a second electric fan. Has anyone do this before and how did they wire this? It is high pitched whine, could it be something else like the alternator or something? anyways thanks for the help everyone, talk to you soon. -nate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 yes waterpump shaft is shot or what. Replace it. The loud fan can be because of a missing or damaged blade. I dont remeber if the fan or timing belt runs the water pump. Ir the fan does a bad pump will make it noisey. Fans roar. High pitched is a bearing, water pump, alt, idler etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 Water pump should be replaced with the T belts as a matter of course. It doesnt matter if it is a leak in the gasket, or the shaft, it will be leaking out the shaft soon enough. just change it, itll need it soon enough. AT LEAST buy and carry a spare; if you have left the belt covers off, then worst case scenario, changing it on the side of the road wont be TOO difficult.. just make sure you ALSO have some method of tensioning the timing belt as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 you should be ok if you drive your car everyday and stay within your normal driving habit. 2 times i lost a belt were during hard acceleration on original belts. if the belts have been changed once before you would be ok as long as there are no leaks on the belts and the tension is proper from who did the repair typically i see originl belts go around 135-145,000 mi as i have seen in junkyard odo's and on my own vehicles the coolant loss could possibly be the water pump weep hole. if that leaks i would change the waterpump but worst case scenario is jb weld up the weep hole it would get you through a state. for precautionare measure i would o if i were you is just take off the belt covers before you go a nd if you have a problem it will be easier to fix. i wouldnt even deal with removing the crank pulley, just break off the covers around the crank pulley and remove the outers. its about impossible to get the crank pulley tourqe right with the motor in the car and hand tools. you dont want to have the crank pulley fall off! the water pump will lwey you know its bye-bye wen it leaks behind the pulley or the shaft is wobbling here is a motor with all the covers removed, outer and inner. the one behind the idler pulley remains here is the motor in the car. the pulleys are red, you can see the water pump Hi I am planning on a road trip from California to BC canada this summer and I am thinking about getting the car up to snuff. I would like your suggestions. apart from oil,filter,plugs what would you change or at least carry with you. I haven't changed the waterpump, fuel pump, fuel filter since I have had the vehicle (10k and 9months). I was planning on road tires I have been losing some water but I can't tell where. it could be from the waterpump area but the pump doesn't show any signs of weakness. I was also thinking of some undercoating around the wheel wells to quiet her down a little. Lastly, the sound of the road cutts out the mid range of my music does anyone have ideas on combating this issue? thanks kindly, Nathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 the coolant loss could possibly be the water pump weep hole. if that leaks i would change the waterpump but worst case scenario is jb weld up the weep hole it would get you through a state. It better be a small state, and in canada they dont have states. The weap hole is there to save the bearing. If you plug up the weep hoole, you will quickly loose the other water pump bearing (there are two in the body) then things get really ugly. Your much better off letting the weap hole leak and keeping track of coolant level. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 i had to do this one time as a result of excessive coolant los out the weep hole, it just poured out. but then again i had driven on the pump for too long. but jb weld plugged it up enough to get across another state and then change the water pump once i got one. i think this was in ohio thru west virginia It better be a small state, and in canada they dont have states. The weap hole is there to save the bearing. If you plug up the weep hoole, you will quickly loose the other water pump bearing (there are two in the body) then things get really ugly. Your much better off letting the weap hole leak and keeping track of coolant level. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan.chase Posted May 1, 2007 Author Share Posted May 1, 2007 alright, water pump it is sounds like. as for the pulley in the car. i replace the timing belts when in the car should I be concerned that I didn't get the bolt tight enough? also I am wondering if anyone thinks the fan is not the issue but that some other bearing is what is making the high pitched noise? what could it be? water pump, alternator? power steering pump? perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted May 1, 2007 Share Posted May 1, 2007 Quick way to find out, remove the drive belts and see if it goes away. Usually its the ALT or ac compressore clutch that makes noise. Can also be the drive belt tensioner (i dont remember if this has one or not) nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted May 1, 2007 Share Posted May 1, 2007 could also be timing belt tensioners or idlers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sube92 Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 I have an 87 also, and setting it up for endless trips. clutch fan from loyale is very nice, with its shroud (I made one) Take thermostat out and drill two 1/8th holes next to the air bleeder, one on either side. Position thermostat with said holes towards radiator.(The little valve that does absolutely nothing but aid in a delayed sticky thermostat and crazy coolant surges). After drilling this my intermittent weep hole leak stopped entirely, and my guage is 1/4 on the temp. A noisy rear end in any range is not good. Try repacking bearings with synthetic , retorque, but that is last cheap hope. I drove an 87 around with a hole in the wheel well and was quiet, because bearings were very good.It is a hoax about wheel wells and undercoating stopping noise. A content spin of anything, is a quiet spin even standing inches from it. New hubs are great with new bearings (60 bucks for a pair at rock auto) timing belts new if no record known... check tire ratings. Local trips on the thirteens do not reveal what 5 hours at 75mph does.. :-\ (I learned the hard way- on "90T" rated, those are nearly as good as it gets for a 13 inch rim. Bounced like basketball 700 miles from home.) other things: Exhaust pipe near the rear end is bad news too I wouldn't sweat minor oil leaks, the more the old sube runs, the less they leak it. Full spare, if going into no mans land, etc. Have a great trip. p.s. A gallon of coffee sized cup holder is always good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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