Don

I've got 3 or 4 of those free HF units, I've tried one of those with the same results going from the alt bracket to ground part of the test.
I've already tried pulling the fuses out of the fuse panel one at a time, no change in the voltage readings from the alt bracket to battery ground.
If I have the time, I'm thinking I'm going to start taking thing apart this weekend starting at that fuse junction behind the battery. Everything I've tried (to me) seems to indicate a dead short and with that much juice I haven't noticed one fuse big enough to handle that much without blowing except for the one on the signal converter for the speedometer and I've pulled that one too to insure it wasn't the cause.

I keep coming back to it's got to be under the hood, going to ground and before any fuses. The only one I can think of that matches that description is the battery to starter or battery to that wire junction behind the battery.

Thing is, I don't smell anything, don't see anything obviously wrong, nothing.

I'll see what this weekend brings.

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Black meter lead to the positive battery cable, red lead to the the positive post on the battery. Negative battery cable hooked up to the battery. Meter on the 10A setting, red lead in the 10A dc spot on the meter and the black to common.
Reading: varied from 19.7 - 19.9 but I was having trouble holding them absolutely tight and not moving. Kind of sounded like there was a thunk through the radio speaker (inside the car somewhere) each time I pressed the lead to the battery post. Everything was closed up including the windows so can't be absolutely sure.

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That tool came in today, so I had to try one quick just to see if it a $5 piece of junk or not. It worked.
It's basically a 1/4 drive extension with a slot in the end you put the strap through
[URL=http://s162.photobucket.com/user/hcbph/media/Corvette/Heat%20Shield/IM002035_zpskz5pyvl7.jpg.html][/URL]
The worm clamp was still on the pipe only because I wanted to insure the strap tool worked first before removing the worm clamp.
I put the strap on by hand, trimmed the excess strap to about 1 1/2" (there's no directions so it was a guess on my part) and about 1/4" from the end I put a 90 degree bend in the strap, going up (it'll make sense in a minute). I then slipped the tool over the strap before the bend and started turning it so the tool was under the strap connection while tightening.
[URL=http://s162.photobucket.com/user/hcbph/media/Corvette/Heat%20Shield/IM002037_zpsbwmbp3dr.jpg.html][/URL]
My logic was that it would tighten the strap and not slip over the top and at the same time wind the extra strap into a little ball.
Once you're done, you have a little loop of the excess strap nicely wound against whatever the strap is holding
[URL=http://s162.photobucket.com/user/hcbph/media/Corvette/Heat%20Shield/IM002038_zpsq6ghgaaf.jpg.html][/URL]
Long as you start the winding straight and insure it doesn't slip sideways while winding, IMO it does a pretty good job. If you do it right, there's not sharp edges to cut yourself on, a bonus.

That's it for now, more to do but that will wait till after I find and fix my electrical problem.

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According to that webpage, I was doing it right, but it doesn't tell how to interpret the readings.

With the meter dial set to the 10A setting under amps, the red cable plugged into the 10A DC plug port, meter ground wire plugged into common port on the meter I get a reading of 19.xx where the decimal floats a little between .04 and maybe .85 when going from the alternator bracket to the negative post on the battery (it's a side mount but I don't know what else to call it) and the negative battery cable disconnected. I can't find anything that tells what those meter readings mean, I'm guessing based on the value and the amount of arcing I get when touching the meter lead to the alternator bracket, it's the 19 amps but don't know if that's right or not.

Car Ground cable disconnected completely from the battery, positive car battery cable hooked up to the battery and the meter negative lead touching the negative battery post. I get one heck of an arc when touching the red meter lead to the alternator bracket engine. I also got a single ding at times like if you open the door with the engine off and the key in the ignition or the lights were still on as soon as you touch the alternator bracket with the meter positive lead.

I just checked again, if I go against the upper A arm on the drivers side front, I get 17.xx, I also get arcing if i touch the frame but not off the firewall. Now this may or may not be accurate. I'm partially deaf and at least one time I think I hear something run (like an electrical motor) for 3 or 4 seconds. Reminded me of the sound when the radio antenna extends but fairly sure it was near the firewall and the antenna did not extend.

I was thinking on this more later last night. I would think if it's actually getting 19 amps through whatever is shorting, if it was one of those hot wires off the junction the fusible link would blow. At least I thought they all had one but haven't checked it out yet to confirm. About the only thing I can think of that isn't likely fused in some way is the main positive battery cable from the battery to the starter. Especially where it goes between the motor and firewall, that would be a good place to have worn insulation and not be visible.

Does that make sense?

Still planning on doing the methodical removal from the junction first but suspecting that may be what I find. Especially if they're all off, I plan to pull the other end of that main cable off the starter and see if it's still electrically hot. Not looking forward to it, but I would think the positive battery cable would be easier to get to, assuming I can get under the car.

Just some thoughts.

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That's kind of what it's looking like. I pulled the fuse out of the Dakota adapter for the speedometer converter, kind of hoping that's where it's at. Other than the fuse disintegrating in my hand, wasn't the cause.

Going to have to start pulling wires off that junction (first thing I plan to try) and see if I can identify which one of them is the culprit, assuming one is the root cause.

On the question of the lighter weight battery disconnect, yes I'm planning on using it once I have this issue fixed until such time as I can get the cables to replace it with that Summit cutoff I already have.

Unfortunately I don't think I'll have time to get back to it before this weekend :-(

I'll keep you posted.

Paul

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Joel

The Dakota Digital converter that's used to change the transmission signal from the Tremec so it works with the OEM speedometer has 2 leads for power, one fused hot and one ground.
The way it was wired up to power initially was they put a crimp-on eyelet on the ground wire and had that between the negative battery cable and the battery. The positive was slightly different, it had a crimp on eyelet on the positive wire but they replaced the bolt on the positive battery cable with one that has a stud bolt on it and hooked it up there. I moved the ground wire to a bolt on the firewall and moved the positive wire to that power stud that's between the battery and the firewall. I'm thinking of eventually putting a switched relay on the positive wire but that's down the road.

I'm trying to attach a picture of the positive battery connector (after removal of that wire) if it works to show what I'm talking about.

I assume there is a ground strap from the firewall to the frame already as there are those grounds to the inside of the kick panel areas inside the cab already, but looking at the ground straps are another one of those things on the list to do down the road.

hope that makes sense.

Paul

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I'll have to try that out, but may be the 2d on the list to do.

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I don't think it's 19 volts, 13 volts 19 amps based on the meter readings if I'm reading the meter right.

I have to agree. This one is only rated at 100 amp and is a little clumky to operate, the one I plan to replace it with I bought last year is good to 250 amps and has a rotary handle to make or break the connection. I was looking into the cables I'd need to mount it once I'm ready to do it along with how I want to mount it.

Thing is, I've already tested with all the fuses pulled from the main panel (1 at a time), there's still current present if you check from the engine brackets, TPI etc to the battery negative post with the negative cable unhooked. Firewall still shows nothing if check from the firewall to the negative battery post with the negative cable unhooked.

Remember in all the testing I did, the negative battery was unhooked, I touched either the alternator bracket or the TPI runner with the red lead to the voltmeter and the negative to the negative post on the battery, positive cable hooked up with all electrical off. I was not touching any wiring, only the physical engine parts then the firewall.

Thinking through this, the short has to be under the hood before it ever gets to the fuse panel. I'm thinking my next step is to remove the wires from that electrical junction behind the battery one at a time and see if it drops. If it does, I then at least know which wire to target and trace.

Does that make sense to anyone other than me?

Appreciate all the ideas, keep them coming.

Paul

PS, here's the the switch I was putting back on for along with the one I plan to replace it with. The blue piece is a plastic tab I made to fit under the bolt when the battery is disconnected. You can snug the bolt down but it won't complete the circuit till it's removed.
[URL=http://s162.photobucket.com/user/hcbph/media/Corvette/Misc/IM002029_zpsvflwyhbz.jpg.html][/URL]

The transmission was done before I bought the car in 2013. All the dash and electrical seems to work ok as does the tranny. The only thing I've had any issues with is the ABS light occassionally comes on which I haven't addressed yet and the interior light relay is out.

Yes I pulled the fuses in the main fuse panel one at a time, then checking the engine to the negative battery point. I showed voltage still present every time.

Am I interpreting the DVOM readings correctly? I would think that if there was a direct to ground short, I'd see something. Thinking on this later, is it possible to have something like the alternator short internally where the engine is electrically hot yet everything still works? With the cables hooked up but not starting the car, I didn't find any that got hot.
I can touch the positive lead of voltmeter to the alternator bracket, TPI, cruise control cable, etc and the negative to the battery post (with the positive cable only connected) and show current flowing. Either I didn't find a good spot or not but didn't get any indication of current from the firewall to battery.

That juice has to be coming from somewhere, but where to start looking?

I know enough about a DVOM to be dangerous, so I'm looking for some help to determine if I'm on the right path or not.

Here's the background. I replaced the battery in my 86 because the one I had in it was a leftover from the kids car, under size and looks to be almost 5 years old and run down pretty much dead. Put it in last saturday, I'd put a charger on it at 2 amps and green light came on indicating it was fully charged. Car started and ran. Went out sunday and everything was dead. I thought maybe I had the charger on the wrong scale and it wasn't actually charged, so I charged it all sunday unhooked from the car. The charger has an automatic cutoff and disconnected when it showed fully charged. Car started and ran fine. IIRC the dash voltmeter showed 13.2v while driving it around saturday.

Here's where the help is needed. I've cleaned up the ground on the drivers side kickpanel, moved a power lead for the speedometer converter from a battery lug to that junction block behind the battery. While I was doing that, I checked all the wiring I could get to for any bare spots etc, didn't find any but covered a couple anyway. I also put some heat sleeves on the plug wires.

Tonight I was putting a temporary battery cutoff on the battery negative cable where it hooks up to the battery (positive cable was hooked up) and touched the wrench to metal strip on the panel you remove to take out the battery while putting the adapter on the negative lug on the battery and got arcing. The negative cable had yet to be connected to the cutoff, it was not touching anything at that time.

With the battery cable disconnected, I noticed I had voltage on the engine. With the voltmeter shown, turn the switch counter clockwise to 20, show 13 (volts I assume) with doors closed etc, nothing on going from the alternator bracket to the negative battery terminal with the cable disconnected. I pulled every fuse in the main fuse panel one at a time, always got 13v check each one at a time.
Switching to the amp setting, every one from 200u to 200m showed nothing. If i moved the meter cable to the 10A DC plug and switched to the white 10A setting, I got a 19.x. Touched the negative on the battery and definitely got an arc when I touched the alternator bracket.

Is that saying I've got 19 amps going through the car with everything off? I can't get under the car right now but to me logically it seems most likely something directly off the postive battery cable before it goes to anything including the fuses. Does that make sense, or is there something I'm missing?

I did a topside once over on the engine and checked every wire I could get my hands on, I found none burnt, cracked or touching anything they shouldn't. About the only one I have not gotten to is the positive battery cable, mainly because it looks ok to the point it's at the back of the engine and haven't yet gotten it where I can raise it enough to get under there.

Apprecate any info or ideas of where to look.

Thanks

Paul

One more thing, I'd been using that battery cutoff for some time, but was planning on upgrading to a better unit. This could have been going on for some time but because I was breaking the connection to the negative cable when not in use it wasn't apparent till now. It's this one: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mor-74104/overview/

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Got a good Weller along with a soldering tip on the torch. That's good but found another issue, I'm going to start a separate thread on that issue.

Took care of the battery and a bubba left over. I know what you mean on the wrench. When I bought the car and had to change the battery early on, whoever changed it previous time slipped the tab on that bottom panel between the bolt head and the washer before tightening it up. They effectively dug the head into the glass. That was a bear to get loose with the minimum clearance. My Craftsman wrenches wouldn't fit through the slot but I had a set of HF combo wrenches I'd picked up that fit the slot just fine.
Figured while in there, I'm undo the Bubba leftover there.
PO had the original 4+3 changed out for a Tremec 5 speed.
Transmission replacement looked good until you got to some of the wiring, that's where Bubba stuck his nose into the job again. There's a Dakota Digital converter box that changes the signal and makes it compatable with existing speedometer. They put it in a little box under the cruise unit between it and the battery. Unfortunately you need to have access to it while driving or use a chassis dyno to adjust the conversion factor, it was off by several mph. I added some wire to get the box so it will go inside while driving last year. That was part one. Part two was it needs power, Bubba knocked out the lug on the positive battery cable and replaced it with one that has a stud on it and wired the power there plus had a large ringlet on the ground wire and put it between the negative battery cable and the battery. I changed the wire ends and moved the negative to the firewall and positive to that positive terminal junction between the battery and the firewall. Two more Bubba finger prints gone.

After I do the straps, figuring out where I want to mount a battery cutoff switch in the negative cable. This will be after doing the straps so I'm just figuring it out for now. I picked up a nice heavy duty battery cutoff switch from Summit Racing last year. My initial looks indicate it likely will have to go in the well ahead of the driverside front wheel. I'll need to find where the end of the negative cable and that smaller wire go to. Once i find those points then it will be getting new cables to run to where the switch will mount and a new cable to run to the same point. I think those I can buy or get made and I'll also need to make up a mount to hang the switch off the frame. Because of the increased length, I'm guessing I'll have to go with something like 4 gauge to insure it can handle everything due to the increased length vs the original negative cable.

The plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor (a full tuneup) was done last summer, maybe 500-1000 miles ago.
I had the Chevy garage do it only because I was fearful that the plugs in there might be original to the engine, or at least 'real old'. I was worried that the plugs could be seized in the aluminum heads, and I'm not set up to deal with that. Better to have it done somewhere by someone that is set up to do it was my logic behind having Chevy do it. Obviously that may not have been the best decision, but it got done and that was the main reason to get it taken care of.

I got the stainless steel straps in the mail but working through how to install and cut to length without leaving sharp edges was my concern. I was looking around and found what may be my solution. I found what looks like a 1/4" socket wrench extension but instead of fitting a socket, it has a slot in the end. You cut the straps back then slip this over the end of the tab and using a socket wrench, you 'roll' the end of the tab into a nice loop which is also supposed to tighten the strap at the same time.
I ordered one, for under $5 including shipping, seems like a nobrainer to give it a try and I have enough extra straps in case I screw up a couple. It's going to be another week or two before it's here, I'll let you know how it works out.

I just went out tonight and got a new battery. The one in the car when I bought it was pretty much junk. I had a leftover I bought for my one daughter but the car got junked about a year later and I kept the battery. It sat on the shelf for maybe a year between the junking of her car and me purchasing the Vette. A little small but it worked for the time being. It's over 4 years old now and getting bad holding a charge over time, so time for a new one. I got one with the highest CCA value (700) for a decent price with a reasonable warranty. I plan to put that in this weekend.

That's where I'm at for now.

Took a little time today and got the last of the boots on along with a EGR cover. I still want to do a little more fitting on the #1 & #2 cylinders, they're caught on something but I sliced my hand up getting on what I did so it can wait a while, there was another hoseclamp down there I caught my hand on.

[http://s162.photobucket.com/user/hcbp ... 2013_zpsxhke8hky.jpg.html]

[http://s162.photobucket.com/user/hcbp ... 2015_zps6pp2cemj.jpg.html]

Hopefully it will help protect the plug wires some. I did find a thing or two while in there. I found the 6 & 8 wires were wrapped around each other as well as the 5 & 7 both below the Air injector tubes above the exhaust manifold. I've never seen that before on any engine I've worked on so I straightened them out right away. Probably all in my head but I swear it idles better since doing this work than before.

Now the only thing left for this project is getting those stainless steel ties in and in place plus a little straightening and that's one more off the list.

I did take it one step further. I grabbed a fire extinguisher out of the shop and put it in the car just-in-case. Never rely on anything till it's proven over time. Better safe than sorry.

Paul

Those jpg's don't want to open, so here goes again:
[URL=http://s162.photobucket.com/user/hcbph/media/Corvette/Heat%20Shield/IM002012_zps45leyljo.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=http://s162.photobucket.com/user/hcbph/media/Corvette/Heat%20Shield/IM002011_zpslgi2rxlk.jpg.html][/URL]

1st shot is with 2 of the sleeves on, the air tube wrapped and the looms installed.

The 2d is what the material looked like. I have yet to get the wire bands.

Making a little progress, won't finish it till next week when I have more time and hopefully the straps will come in.
The sleeves I ordered have a metal ring in one end that won't fit over the boot, assume it's to hold it close to the wire. I'm leery of trying to get the boots off without potentially damaging the core, so I took a wire cutter and snipped those rings to open up that end. They slide over the boots easily with that little mod.

I've put 2 on and I'll need to do a little more fitting to straighten them up but so far it's looking good. Took a picture of some of the materials I'm using along with the loom clips I got on the engine. I also have a new cover for the egr tube but again that will wait till I get those stain steel straps.

The pipe wrap lists not for headers but being it's on the air tube I think it will be fine and the sleeves are treated fiberglass and say they can be in contact with headers etc without a problem.

That's where I'm at for the moment. Being the car is red, using red parts where I can seems to make sense, should look pretty when done.

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Will do. The sleeves won't be here for a week or two so it may take a little time before I can get them and put them on.

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I ordered some plug wire socks/sleeves the other day also as I could not find any locally, cheap if they prevent any future issues with burnt wires. I also ordered some stainless steel straps for the wrap. I used some hose clamps for now for holding the insulation for now but don't care for the sharp edges even when I trimmed them back. Might as well make it less blood letting if I stick a hand too close some time in the future and it doesn't hurt if it looks pretty. ;-)

Doing some of my maintenance items on the 86 and found a couple of things, one good and one not so good.

I had planned to change out the bushings in the rear. When I got into it, looks like they changed them on the dogbones etc the same time they changed out them on the swaybars, just used black instead of red like used on the swaybar so it wasn't as obvious till it was in the air. They look good and seemed tight based on my checks so if it's not broken, don't fix it.

Now for the possible not-so-good. Last year I had Chevy do a tuneup because I wasn't sure if the old plugs had ever been changed and this has the aluminum heads on it and I'm not set up to deal with stripped heads. Anyway they didn't do the best of routing on the plugwires, so picked up some wire looms to help keep the wires a little neater. While putting them on, found leftover plugwire insulation on one spot on the exhaust manifold and 2 on the air pipe adapters off the manifolds. It wasn't off the new set so it had to be off the old ones. Got some exhaust wrap to help insulate those areas and got the wires so they're clear of hot things.

If you haven't looked at yours lately, might be worth a peek to insure your plugwires aren't touching something they shouldn't.

Darn, that looks bad. Is the rocker arm twisting on that or idea what's going on?

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Went to Godfathers Pizza and went out to get some stuff preparing for a bushing upgrade that I've been putting off. I wanted to check out some work I've been doing on-and-off to insure all is good before tearing into the rear end. Seemed like as good as excuse as any to get it out for a quick run ;-)

Weather was so nice, skipped doing some maint and took the Vette out. Funny thing - didn't see another Vetter all Day!

Streets are dry and the alley was clear of ice, perfect to take it out today. Didn't even get to do the Wave.

I know this won't help you but might help the next guy.
If you break some plastic stuff, I've tried 2 things:
http://www.plastex.net/Product_Info.php
along with one of those UV glue pen things.

The first I used to recreate some missing mounts on my dash bezel and it worked. Had to do a little messing around but was able to make some missing mounting tabs with it. You can make some missing plastic stuff or use it to repair broken items. You can use it to rejoin 2 pieces back together but it can be a little messy at times.

The UV is one of those things off the infomercials on TV. Had an occasion to unfortunately break a plastic item and tried it and it actually worked joining the 2 parts back together.

In a scenario where you broke a plastic piece out of the motor housing, as long as you have the piece I'd actually try the UV one first.

Just some thoughts.

Paul

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Congrats. It's really fun laying on your back trying to get that stuff out but it feels so good when it's done ;-0

Paul

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No I don't. Unfortunately it's going to have to wait a while before I can get back at it. Family stuff and unrelated are coming to top of the list to deal with right now. I appreciate all the help and hopefully can get back to this before long but family comes before toys.

The connector shown marked 'high pressure switch' by the fan is what I jumpered and as soon as I did that the clutch engaged. The clutch coil where I checked for current is there between the pulley and the body of the compressor.

I will need to check with the place that charged the system last year and see if they use dyed Freon and if so, try a UV light and see if anything still shows up. Kind of doubt it but you never know.

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Clutch is working if I jumper the "pressure cycling switch" so I assume it's low on Freon. Likely leaked out since having it charged up last August. Clutch seems good if the wire to the switch is jumpered. Doing better, at least know the clutch is good and working though it does put one thing back on the to-do list - find the leak.

Not sure, doing it alone today. I set the airgap based on some info I had found from compressor rebuilding companies. Spent some time today and fsm has .015-.025" for he airgap so I think that's the first thing I'll try. That's an easy one to adjust and see what happens.

Worst case, I'll use go-conditioning in the future (open the windows and go like heck).

Well I ran the car enough to warm it up and tried the a/c and it didn't engage. Should have tried it yesterday before I took it apart - dumb move on my part. Not going to mess with it today, but I'll have to look at it again when it's a little warmer out.

At least it's not squeaking.

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Yeah, that's what I heard. I've been doing research on it and hopefully it will go as planned. I've also done some research on the kits from https://banskimotorsports.com/ and if push-comes-to-shove have considered this as an option.

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Joel

Thanks much. Appreciate any and all info.

Paul

Well I got another one off the list today. I had a noisy A/C clutch in my 86. I picked up a a/c clutch a while back when RockAuto has some things they were clearancing out and got the tools lined up.

Checked the pulley bearing and that seemed fine though I had a replacement pulley bearing on-hand just-in-case. Pulling the old clutch and prepping for the new clutch was easy. Problem was getting it back together. Dropped the pulley key (still haven't found it) after a failed attempt to get it on. I had some new on-hand and marked to length in case needed. The darn key wouldn't slid in straight and kept hanging the clutch up while trying to reassemble it multiple times. Finally got mad and insured the keyways did not have any burrs in them and beveled the leading edges on the key. I also used a little pipe dope to help stick the key down into the keyway on the shaft so it wouldn't fall off again during assembly and finally got the pulley on.

Airgap set to a perfect .030", cleaned up the facing on the pulley prior to reassembly. Pulley bearing seems to be good. I have not run the car yet as the hands were getting cold cause I can't work on the car in them, but may run the car and check out my repair tomorrow. I need to run it a little anyway every so often while in hibernation.

The only thing I had to unbolt and move a little was the accumulator/drier (I think that's what it's called) that bolts to the radiator bracket right in front of the a/c compressor. Needed a little more space to get the tool onto the clutch to remove and reinstall it and that was in the way, otherwise everything was done on the car 'as-is'.

Next on the list is rear suspension bushings. Have everything here I should need, just need the time to do it. After that is replace some of the under-hood Delphi type connectors that had the locking tabs broken off before I bought the car. Making progress, a little at a time.

Have you looked at Batee.com website for info? He has a lot of info available there was well as parts.

When the cluster went out on my 86 I found the probable cause there. I also figured I might not be up to fixing it myself and sent it to Bryan to repair. He did a great job on it and I'm happy with both the cost, quality and timeliness of his work.

I did mine about a year and a half ago. I used hand tools and removed the axel stub along with the half shaft only removing the straps on the differential while under the car.

I bought both a regular 6 point and a deepdrive 6 point in 8mm and 5/16" sizes 3/8" drive sockets for the project. Pretty sure it was the 5/16" that fit the bolts as the one socket also broke for me and I remember going back to Ace Hardware to exchange it. I only have 1 Ace Hardware socket and that one 5/16" is the only 1 I have. I counted it up to a bad socket as it split immediately on the first bolt.

I just jacked it up, rehooked the spring and loosened a couple of suspension parts then went after the inner U-Joint straps on the diff. Rolled the shaft so the bolts were on the upper side, deep drive socket, extension and a 3/8" breaker bar. Hit the end of the bar with the heal of my hand to shock it loose then it was turn it out. Once that was done, with the nut off the axel, pulled it out. 8 under the car, 8 more once the half shafts were out and then it was replace the u-joints.

I marked everything ahead of time and used Kroil on the bolts too. Only problem I ran into was when I dropped one of the bolts during reassembly and couldn't find it till late in the day. Be advised, if you drop one it's going to be a bear to find a replacement, I only found one thing locally at O'Reilly and they were the wrong bolt sizes. Throw a piece of carpet under where you're working so if you drop something it won't go skating all over the place.

Here's the thread I used for info: http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144562
It covers more than just the U-Joints, so read the parts that apply and stop when needed.

I buy Scotchbrite pads by the box, so yes I did what I could to insure everything was nice and clean.

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Having worked on a truck with a non-original brand engine in it many moons ago, my suggestion is leave the wiring in it for now. Unhook and mark each wire but leave it intact till such time as you get everything worked out. Once it's all good then you can start removing wires if that's your desire. Better to have them around in case it turns out one happens to be required and if you've removed it then it's a lot of extra work to undo it.

My 2 cents.

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You and me both! Ironically I've looked over the old hose fairly well, I can't find where it was leaking but I definitely saw the spray coming out of the bottom of it somewhere where the hose was on the fitting. Don't have a small enough mirror to fit under where it was leaking I took it on faith it was the hose so just so long as it's leak-free, I'm happy.

Happy Holidays everyone.

I wanted to get a radiator pressure testing setup but I couldn’t find one with a cap adapter that fit this car. I ultimately found that H.F. had a setup with a generic adapter that worked. Screw the seal part in, clamp it to the radiator neck and turn the knob on it to tighten it up tight. Snap on the pump and pump it up

[URL=http://s162.photobucket.com/user/hcbph/media/Corvette/Coolant%20Leak/DPP_0011_zpsdgi8wro7.jpg.html][/URL]

I found it was the throttle body heater hose that was leaking on the bottom fitting.
The process I used to replace it was first to remove the fanbelt. I then removed the MAP from the throttle body, marking the connector

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There’s also a couple of devices next to the airconditioning compressor. I marked the units and wires and unhooked them. There’s also a hose that comes off the airpump and goes to that diverter valve, I also removed that and marked it.

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At this point, though the radiator showed full, the leak from the bottom of the U shaped hose between the throttle body and block was not leaking. I left the radiator cap on to try and keep a vacuum and not have coolant run into the block and jacked the front of the car up having already loosened the hose clamps on the existing hose. I’d picked up a Dayco 87653 hose at Autozone along with a couple of worm clamps.

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I did find it made it easier to fit after removing about 5/8” of hose for the bottom connection on the engine. I had loosened up the hose clamps on the old hose and worked it off. No coolant came out of either fitting. I slipped the hose clamps onto the new hose so they’d be available to tighten once on. I put the lower hose fitting onto the block and tightened the hose clamp. Before putting the upper on on the Throttle Body, I pulled it out and routed the wire with the 3 connectors (MAP, air divertor and whatever the 3d one is) through the loop. Next I put the upper fitting onto the throttle body (just to the right of the yellow arrow).

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Now it was just a matter of testing the cooling system and reversing the process to put it all back together. Once the hose was on, I pressurized the radiator with 13 lbs of pressure and left it a while. It did lose 3 lbs over 30 minutes, that I attributed to the universal cap adapter as the most likely vs a leak yet in the cooling system. Did soap and water on the hose ends and didn’t get any bubbles. Once comfortable it was tight, I just reversed the process to reassemble the car.
Lowered the car and started it up. The radiator showed full when I lowered the car but after about 3-5 minutes of running it, the low coolant light came on. Temp showed about 110 degrees so I opened the radiator cap and the radiator showed low so I filled it up along with the overflow tank.
That pretty much wraps it up. Happens I had a low coolant light come on during the trip home when I purchased the car the other year. It’s likely been leaking some time but never enough to become truly suspicious and most of the coolant on the garage floor so it wasn’t too visible. Anyway it seems to be fixed now.
Next will be replacing the a/c clutch and the bushings in the rear end. Hopefully they will go as well as this did.

Well I spent a little time out in the garage and found the leak. It's the U shaped hose that goes from the intake to the block. I had picked one up the other week and it's blue vs black. I think I'm going try and find a black replacement locally as I don't like the looks of the one blue hose under there. I thought about checking out eliminating it, but with driving it at times when it's very cold out, I think it's probably better to have it on.

I did take some pictures so far and will take a few more and post them once I've got it done.

I ordered a few parts, some for the shelf and a couple 'just in case'. Getting ready to do some more digging in but haven't yet. Thought of an idea to try and nail it down a little better prior to either doing it myself or getting it to my mechanic. Looking at the FSM it looks like if it's the water pump, that could be a bear as the FSM lists having to remove the a/c compressor and fuel lines first to get it off.

Had what I think was a brain-storm yesterday. I cut a piece of cardboard and after a little bending to soften it up was able to slip it under the air pump and work the end between the top of the water pump and the coolant temp sensor and pumped up the cooling system. I got coolant on the engine side of the cardboard but not on the water pump side so looks like the leak is the easier of the 2 or 3 possibles.

Looks like I'll have to pull that emissions pump to gain access to where it's leaking from but that looks a lot easier than pulling everything off to get to the water pump. I won't know for sure till I tear it open but hopefully it's either that sensor or that U shaped hose rather than the water pump. If it turns out to be the water pump, unless I can find a way to get the a/c pump out of the way, I'll likely let my mechanic do it otherwise I expect to fix it myself (I hope).

The a/c clutch looks to be going out, does a lot of squeaking, I picked up a reconditioned unit, and if I do the repairs myself I'm thinking I'll do that at the same time.

Time will tell, hate doing anything mechanical in these cold temp times. Unfortunately I don't have a heated garage.

Happy Holidays everyone.

Been having a small issue with losing coolant over time. Got a radiator pressure tester the other day and pumping it up I could see a sign of a leak behind the water pump. Well it looks like it may be the coolant temp sensor that's leaking. It's too hard to see with everything assembled so I did try one thing and worked some paper towel under it and it got wet very quickly.

I'll have to tear off that junk in front of it and pump it up again to confirm, but it's hopefully not an all day replacement but who know with all that looks like will have to come off first.

Wish me luck.

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It was held at the same place we meet monthly,
Jimmy's Food & Drink
Vadnais Heights, Mn.

Great place to eat and meet :-)

Last Saturday we had the Annual Awards Banquet for Suburban Corvettes. In addition to a great Murder Mystery Meal there was a drawing for several prizes. I was lucky enough to win Registration for the 2016 Fall Color run. Last October was the first one I've been on which was thoroughly enjoyed, and planning on this being the first of many. This basically means I have to pay for gas and lodging while food and registration are already covered.

I didn't expect to win anything, but I'd told the wife if I had a choice of winning anything, that would be the one I'd like. Well low and behold, I did.

Weather was good enough I was able to take out the Vette one more time plus won the registration - life is good!

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Looks like something I picked up a while back at HF to pull the hubcaps on the truck. Only a couple of bucks from what I remember

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IMO it's all about torque, hp is just numbers for bragging rights. You can have all the hp you want but if you don't have the right torque curve, it does you nothing. That's one of the main reasons I love the L98 in mine, it has all the torque in the right places and can both get out of it's own way and get me where I'm going :-)

As far as those gray haired ladies, should have told them their C6 wouldn't have seen the light of day without the innovations of the C4.

And the proceeds including raffle and auction go to those with Spina Bifida so not only a good time but a good cause.

Last weekend I and a few current and new friends met and spent some time driving through Wisconsin looking at the fall colors. There were cars from Indiana through North Dakota and from Minnesota to Iowa along with a couple of snowbirds from Texas.

I don't have a final count but guess there was between 220 and 250 cars in the run. The down side it was next to impossible to take pictures while driving and there weren't many chances to pull off to take any. I was quite impressive seeing that many cars on the road at one time.

I had a lot of fun and definitely will do it again if I can.

Hopefully it will let me attach pictures this way:
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Paul

I was just one of many volunteers. It was the efforts of everyone that made it happen for the kids. I can't claim anything other than the joy of seeing them enjoy the rides.
Most looked like a kid at Christmas time, all wound up and ready to go!

One thing I thought of but not till I got there. If you have the chance to do something like this, if you have a childs booster seat for the car, take it along.
I have one but forgot to get it out of the truck and I think it would have enhanced the experience for both the 5 & 8 year old passengers I took. They were straining a little to see over the dash in the car as we drove around the neighborhood.

Last weekend Suburban Corvettes participated in an event where volunteers drove people with this disease along with family members on a short drive in Corvette's. I was luck enough to be one of those drivers and had one of the best days for this year.

I'm not sure how many cars we had, at least a dozen though it seemed a lot more as the day progressed and it was hard to tell who had the better day, the drivers or the people there. We took them on a ride around the area, saw some streets I've never been to so it was an experience for me and had a wonderful time.

My first rider was to be a young boy about 5 and his sister who was about 3. I wasn't sure about taking both at the same time, but that wasn't to be. Little sister started having tears, so she stayed behind with Daddy. I could barely get a word out of him till we got back and then I got a very proper Thank You for the ride.

My second rider was an 8 year old girl, she was my little puppy. Hands in the air and peeking around the side of the windshield (which amazed me being she was belted in) to get some wind in the face much like a puppy would when in a vehicle with a window open. She acted as my navigator helping keep track of the cars ahead of us, loved having a job to do and did it very well I might add. She told me she was going to have a Vette when she gets older and when we saw a limo on the highway, she was going to have one of those too and party in it.

My 3d rider was hilarious. Older lady and before we started giving rides as she wheeled through the parking area she said she was going to get a ride in the red convertible (mine) before she knew it was mine. When we were getting her into the car, she noticed the route directions and said forget that as we didn't need them. I tossed them under the toneau cover and said that was ok as we'd be following the cars ahead. She said forget that, we could just head out anywhere and have a great drive, I did follow the group though. She had a great time and had participated in the ride in previous years. She was telling me about how many of the kids looked forward all year to the ride, including her.

It was a great day, everyone had smiles a foot wide when they started the rides but it grew to at least 2 feet wide when we got back. It was such a little thing for me but gave me such joy from the smiles and Thank You's I received. I wasn't able to participate last year as the convertible was a little bit dicey then but between what I've done and maybe a little of the Big Man watching over us, she drove perfect.

If you ever get the chance to do something like this, go for it. You'll get far more than you give. I can't put into words the joy I saw when they came back from their rides.

Special thanks to Suburban Corvettes for the opportunity to participate in such a great event.

Paul

PS The lady asked if the Vette has a name, I told her Jessica (As in Jessica Rabbit). Looks great in red, has all the right bumps in the right places and has a very sexy voice. She got quite a chuckle out of that :-)