dieselgus
12-24-2013, 10:11 AM
Well, not a normal item, and generally not needed in at least 40 states. But if you happen to live in Canada or anywhere else where it tends to get freeze and break stuff cold at night in the winter (like colder than -20F/C), and your 3G just happens to not have a block heater (like mine because it was never installed because it has never left the relative comfort of the lower mainland of BC until I got ahold of it), then this little write up is just the ticket!
Parts needed:
- Phillips/Temro part #3100023
- Gallon or two of your favourite antifreeze already mixed up in the correct ratio
Tools:
- Usual 10mm, 12mm, 13mm, and 14mm sockets and wrenches
- Fairly long punch and hammer
- good set of vice grips
- good set of prybars
- bourbon
- some tywraps
- 24mm open end wrench
- Jack and stands
- penetrating oil
First thing first, jack car up, drain rad and block. Because you are knocking out one of the freeze plugs in the block, you need to drain the block. Now, you may get lucky with the next part. Pull the pressure line off the power steering pump and tywrap it up and out of your way. Put a cap or piece of shop towel on the hole on the pump to keep shite out of there and to keep a little fluid from dribbling out into your eyes when you are under the car (stuff burns, btw. Had pinkeye for two days after. Fuck sakes). Unplug your 02 sensors, then grab the 24mm wrench and peel the EGR tube out of the manifold, then gently bend it out of the way a little. Now you can see the prize easily, the frost plug on the side of the block, nearest to the distributor end of the block. The reason you want to put it there is that if it gives out, or leaks, etc, it is still relatively easy to tend to.
Now, you take the punch, knock the frost plug in on one side, and start working away at it with the vice grips to peel it out of there. You may get lucky and it will come of there decently. Congratulations! Try not to gall up or score the hole as it will leak and be a general pain in the arse. If you were not lucky with the removal, proceed onward to the next bit.
Probably be easiest to take off the exhaust manifold for easy access and working room. So, go under the car, soak down the flange fasteners, go have a couple smokes while they do their thing. If you are lucky, all 4 14mm nuts will come right off. If you are unlucky (as I was), you will get three off and the 4th one will strip out. Pour a bourbon, have another smoke, and plot removal of the last fastener using whatever means you have at your disposal (mine ended up being long carbide burr on die grinder to carve away at it, then air chisel to split it off. There was much cursing. It is never the out in the open and easy to get to fasteners that shit the bed. Mr. Murphy will remind you of that).
So once you get the frost plug freed, clean up the surface with a scotch brite, blow it off. Grab the element, lube the oring, orient the element to the 9pm position, and slide it in, tighten the retaining fastener, plug in the cable and route along to beside the passenger headlight. Fill coolant back up, reassemble whatever you removed, start car and look for leaks, bleed coolant, have another bourbon and a smoke and call it done.
I will have to grab some pictures at some point. When I was installing mine taking pics was the last thing on my mind due to it being 9pm on a friday night when I started on it and getting done with it after a 12 hour work day was the priority.
Parts needed:
- Phillips/Temro part #3100023
- Gallon or two of your favourite antifreeze already mixed up in the correct ratio
Tools:
- Usual 10mm, 12mm, 13mm, and 14mm sockets and wrenches
- Fairly long punch and hammer
- good set of vice grips
- good set of prybars
- bourbon
- some tywraps
- 24mm open end wrench
- Jack and stands
- penetrating oil
First thing first, jack car up, drain rad and block. Because you are knocking out one of the freeze plugs in the block, you need to drain the block. Now, you may get lucky with the next part. Pull the pressure line off the power steering pump and tywrap it up and out of your way. Put a cap or piece of shop towel on the hole on the pump to keep shite out of there and to keep a little fluid from dribbling out into your eyes when you are under the car (stuff burns, btw. Had pinkeye for two days after. Fuck sakes). Unplug your 02 sensors, then grab the 24mm wrench and peel the EGR tube out of the manifold, then gently bend it out of the way a little. Now you can see the prize easily, the frost plug on the side of the block, nearest to the distributor end of the block. The reason you want to put it there is that if it gives out, or leaks, etc, it is still relatively easy to tend to.
Now, you take the punch, knock the frost plug in on one side, and start working away at it with the vice grips to peel it out of there. You may get lucky and it will come of there decently. Congratulations! Try not to gall up or score the hole as it will leak and be a general pain in the arse. If you were not lucky with the removal, proceed onward to the next bit.
Probably be easiest to take off the exhaust manifold for easy access and working room. So, go under the car, soak down the flange fasteners, go have a couple smokes while they do their thing. If you are lucky, all 4 14mm nuts will come right off. If you are unlucky (as I was), you will get three off and the 4th one will strip out. Pour a bourbon, have another smoke, and plot removal of the last fastener using whatever means you have at your disposal (mine ended up being long carbide burr on die grinder to carve away at it, then air chisel to split it off. There was much cursing. It is never the out in the open and easy to get to fasteners that shit the bed. Mr. Murphy will remind you of that).
So once you get the frost plug freed, clean up the surface with a scotch brite, blow it off. Grab the element, lube the oring, orient the element to the 9pm position, and slide it in, tighten the retaining fastener, plug in the cable and route along to beside the passenger headlight. Fill coolant back up, reassemble whatever you removed, start car and look for leaks, bleed coolant, have another bourbon and a smoke and call it done.
I will have to grab some pictures at some point. When I was installing mine taking pics was the last thing on my mind due to it being 9pm on a friday night when I started on it and getting done with it after a 12 hour work day was the priority.