3.0L engine swap

[DMC5180]

I looked into those block drain valves several years ago when I discovered they were used on the next gen PRV in the mid 80’s. The only place I found the part number was a Volvo parts direct. They were very proud of those I guess because they were ridiculously expensive. So I passed on them back then. A couple years ago I got interested in them again and found they were No Longer Available.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Farrar]

Today, I pulled the thermostat again. The top side of it was dirty, and the underside of it was clean.

I removed the radiator cap, then pulled both block drains and let the fluid out. Flakes of brown and black rusty stuff came out of both sides, but mostly from the driver's side. I didn't want just gravity to do the job, so I put the radiator cap back on, connected the garden hose to the bleeder with a barb to make a good seal, and then turned the hose on full blast. It made a godawful mess, but it didn't take long for nothing but clean water to come out of both sides. (To get full pressure on both sides, I flushed one at a time.)

I replaced the thermostat and filled again with just water to see if it would change color again while getting the system up to temperature. My new fan switch is not here yet, so I jumpered the fans to run full time.

Then I saw this:



I aborted the cooling system test, partly because of the spark problem and partly because Mosquito Hour was beginning. Now I am going to learn how to make my own spark plug wires.

[Farrar]

OK, so I kind of have a fan shroud...

fanshroudish.jpg

I'd like one of those nice metal ones to fit the newer, thinner, and more powerful fans I bought. Looks like a few vendors have such a thing, but I'm sure I could make my own, which would be more fun.

Of course, I'd have to remove the current fans & shroud first. Can that be done without removing the radiator, or does everything have to come out at once?

[dn010]

Fwiw here is a shot of the drain, along with my old dirty engine. I may have extras, not sure-and by the time I find them you will probably already have your cooing system task complete.

[Farrar]

Fwiw here is a shot of the drain, along with my old dirty engine. I may have extras, not sure-and by the time I find them you will probably already have your cooing system task complete.

Thanks, Dan! Dirty engine yes, but your frame looks beautiful!

In case no one has mentioned it yet, when you are ready to tighten down those headers you may want to consider this type of flange nut. The slightly out-of-round shape ensures that they will not loosen, and the copper will not corrode-weld to the steel studs. I used them on my old engine with success.

...

In other news, my new radiator fan switch ("Otterstat") arrived. What follows is absolutely too much information about this part, but I'm putting it here mostly to jog my memory in the future.

I used a cross reference of Santech MT0569 and bought it from AutoZone for $18.99 plus tax and shipping. The part includes a new rubber seal. Now that it's here I can see that it's marked "FAE 36070." FAE seems the be the manufacturer in Italy of this part. If you type "FAE 36070" into Google you'll get more information than you will about "Santech MT0569." It also seems that the FAE part is cheaper than the Santech part, so I'll be sure to look for the part under its original manufacturer next time.

It looks like the part's original application was as an auxiliary fan switch in a Volvo of some vintage. Judging from the stamp, the Volvo must have used a cooler thermostat than the DeLorean: the thermostat for the 2.8L in #2613 was marked 88°C/192°F. The stamp on the new switch says "92 / 87" which I presume means that it turns the fans on at 92°C/198°F and back off at 87°C/188°F. If I understand the system correctly, were I to run a 192°F thermostat, the cooling fans would run pretty much non-stop.

I'm not sure what the temperatures were for the fans on the 1989 Eagle Premier/Dodge Monaco V6, but 198°F on and 188°F off seem pretty reasonable, especially if I run a 180°F thermostat.

A replacement spark plug boot is in the mail to me, as are some copper sealing washers, a 1.25" inline drain kit, and (for flushing purposes) some hose adapters. Now that I've flushed the radiator until the water came out clear, and I've done the same thing for the engine, I'm going to do the same for the entire system. When that's done, I'll put everything back together with a new fan switch, new seals on the block drains, new thermostat, and new radiator cap. Then I'll put the system through its paces and see if I still have the "crud in the coolant" and/or "running too hot" problem.

[Farrar]

Almost ready to finish the cooling system this weekend -- today this arrived from Jegs:

radiator drain.jpg

(The black piece is actually aluminum.)

Looks like a 1/4" NPT fitting. I dislike that type so I will replace it with a ball valve.

[Farrar]

Installed the drain. It works. Used it for flushing and backflushing with thermostat removed. This time water pressure from the garden hose blew more crud out of the engine. I flushed the entire system front to back, and then back to front.

And then, this.



The fans turned on, the temperature went down, and the fans turned off.

Everything seems to be working well.

Right now there's just water in the system. I'm going to keep testing for a couple more days and see if the water stays clean. If it does, I'll drain and fill with 50/50.

But for the moment, it looks like this problem is solved. I'm ready to start working on the next one.

[Farrar]

And in case anyone was wondering if/how the drain/flush valve I installed works:

[dn010]

Looks great, hope that was the last of it! I notice your voltage didn't really drop much when the fans kicked on - mine goes to about 11 with just the cabin fan set to 4! This inspires me to visit the issue, EFI doesn't like low voltage. Anyway, go enjoy your car now!

[Farrar]

Looks great, hope that was the last of it! I notice your voltage didn't really drop much when the fans kicked on - mine goes to about 11 with just the cabin fan set to 4! This inspires me to visit the issue, EFI doesn't like low voltage. Anyway, go enjoy your car now!

Thanks! I need to get new tires and get it registered in the state of Florida. However, the fuel tank is down to 1/4, so I should probably do a quick test drive to the nearest filling station. With luck, I won't get pulled over. (However, the NY plate is not expired, and I do carry Florida insurance.)

Re: voltage drop. You know, I hadn't even noticed that. I was worried about so many other things! The fans sound like stock fans to me, but when Bill was under the car he said they aren't stock fans. Whatever they are, they're over 12 years old by now, but they seem to be working fine. I should probably do a stress test with the a/c and headlights on.

The 3.0L engine is running a new Eagle Premier alternator. Not sure how it compares to stock DMC alternator. Also, because the location of the alternator is on the opposite side of stock, it has a brand new cable. The engine also has a new ground cable (made of battery cable). These things probably help. Bill is the DeLorean Ground Bus Expert, but #2613 does not have a ground bus. I may install one later, but it's pretty far down my to-do list for this car.