Ping: Rope-Pusher...rotted slushbox cooler line removal

[theholycow]

I know Rope-Pusher dealt with this problem recently.

Wife's Isuzu's slushbox has a cooler line that rotted right up at the transmission. Of course the threads are corroded together.

Any tips on graceful removal that won't cause any collateral damage? I'm pretty sure I can just spray it with PB Blaster for a few days and then wrench it out, maybe cutting it if necessary, but I figured some tips could make the job easier.

[Rope-Pusher]

Since I was replacing the line anyway, I snapped it off where it was corroded and then I could put a socket over the corroded nut on the end of the line and get it to unscrew even though many of the facets of the original hex head were crumbling off. The threads in my case were not corroded. Good luck with yours.

[theholycow]

Thanks, that's exactly what I was thinking...looks like I'm on the right track. I figure if the nut gets rounded off while I struggle with frozen threads I can hammer on a slightly smaller socket.

Worst case scenario I slice it lengthwise and chip it out with needlenose pliers.

[Rope-Pusher]

Thanks, that's exactly what I was thinking...looks like I'm on the right track. I figure if the nut gets rounded off while I struggle with frozen threads I can hammer on a slightly smaller socket.

Worst case scenario I slice it lengthwise and chip it out with needlenose pliers.

Or squeeze the snot out of it in a pair of Visegrip pliers.

[theholycow]

Yup, that's another possibility, depending what I can fit in there...

[theholycow]

Ok, here's how it went:

1. Cut the line off at the nut...using tin snips. It was really rotten.

2. Ratcheted it off. The flare nut goes into an idiotic size/flare adapter. It was seized in the adapter so everything came out.

I guess there are valid reasons to have the adapter, but why is its male end so much smaller and probably weaker than the flare nut? I imagine a lot of people break it off, getting it stuck in the transmission. If it was larger and stronger then any breakage would be easily repaired by replacing the adapter.

3. Used impact wrench (oh it's so nice to finally have one, even though it's electric, boogie woogie woogie) and breaker bar to separate flare nut from adapter.

4. Spent forever getting a cleanish cut on a clean section further up the line using a lame 12v rotary tool because I left my good one at work.

5. The pre-flared hard line I bought was the wrong size so I went to the store with everything in hand to buy a new piece. Bent the pre-flared hard line then remembered the the flare nut had to be on the other side of the bend. Cut it off and used the other end.

6. Put it all together and found that its loose end was too close to the transmission and would rub through the rubber patch hose. Also, patch hose was too short and hose clamps were positioned wrong. Tried to bend it by hand in place and found that it was loose in the flare nut.

7. Cranked flare nut down all the way, fearing that I'd break the adapter. Adapter survived. Cranking it down didn't stop the wiggle. I guess the flare nut doesn't go deep enough into the adapter.

8. Went to plan B, using a barb fitting I already had on-hand and a 6 inch length of hose. I could have saved an hour of driving and wrenching, and $5, if I had done it this way back in step 4. I should have learned when I did the same thing on the Buick's fuel line last year.

9. Set up the hand-operated transfer pump and fill-hole barb fitting. Why would I need a fitting to fill it? Here's why:

Jerks put the fill hole upside-down. There is no dipstick, no fill tube, just this hole a couple inches above the bottom of the pan.

10. Pumped in two gallons wondering when I'd see it running backwards between pumps. Finally cut hose from barb and ATF poured out. I guess my pump has a check valve.

11. Started it, put it through each gear while stopped, drove back and forth in yard. Checked ATF level, added more.

12. Started it, put it through each gear while stopped, drove back and forth in yard. Checked ATF level, added more. Battled the pouring ATF with the plug bolt hoping to overfill it.

13. Started it, put it through each gear while stopped, drove down the street, drives much better now...no slipping in 1st. Checked ATF level, it wasn't a steady drool but it was more than a drip. Good enough.

14. Cleaned everywhere that I smeared ATF. Door handle, key, steering wheel, handbrake, shifter, armrest...

15. There's a huge pile of tools covered in ATF outside, a pump that needs cleaning, etc. Huge mess. Do not want to deal with it. That's why I'm in here typing this instead.

[Rope-Pusher]

^Sum thymes ewe jest knead two bee a whey four an our ore sew.

[theholycow]

It never ends.

My fix held. The rest of the line did not. It looks fine but further up the line it's leaking. Engineers routed it between the engine and axle...and that's exactly where it's leaking.

It's bolted on in there where tools cannot reach and I can barely see. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET TO IT THERE? It looks like I'd have to take apart the whole front end. Fuggeddabottit. I'll just run a new line the whole way.

Could there be a blockage and I'm just sticking my finger in the dike? If I fix this section is it going to find the next weakest spot and break through? I'd hate for that spot to be the radiator, or worse, the transmission.

How can I troubleshoot that?

[94Corolla5Speed]

I'm just sticking my finger in the dike?

Damn, cowman is the man. Even lesbians let him get up in them

[theholycow]

Yo, I got game like Milton-Bradley.

[comingbackdown]

Yo, I got game like Milton-Bradley.

The ladies can't help but to love him madly,
They gonna walk funny after meetin' the moo,
With four stomachs plus an udder cow is comin' for you.

That said, I wouldn't be too worried... yet. Cooler lines fail. I've had to run new lines before. Now, cooler itself might be a weak point, but... Here's a suggestion: Look over it while you're working, look for any signs of decay. If you see a spot that looks sketchy, smack it with something. If it begins to leak like a sieve, you have dodged a bullet and are now out some substantial coin. Do that after the lines are repaired. If that checks out, then you put it through its paces.¹

1. By "put it through its paces", I mean "have a five minute fun streak of beating the living shit out of it and see if it holds".

[Rope-Pusher]

By "put it through its pacer", I mean "drive it thru the side of a funky 1970's AMC car that was laterally asymetrical".

[theholycow]

Yeah, looks like I'll be replacing both cooler lines in their entirety.

Too bad I can't get pre-bent lines (unless I want rusty ones from a junkyard that won't come out intact). Can anyone offer opinions on using rubber line the whole way?

[Rope-Pusher]

The whole line is part of the cooler with steel lines, so you would lose some cooling capacity the more rubber you substitute for steel.

[theholycow]

I hadn't thought of that. I know from past experience that that vehicle does not have excess transmission cooling capacity so I'll have to preserve what I can.

Looks like I should use sections of hard line where possible.