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Shop vac'd the coolant on a head swap

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Old 05-07-2006, 01:32 AM
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Default Shop vac'd the coolant on a head swap

This worked like a charm! I took off the driver side head and it was bone dry. I can't emagine having to clean up a bunch of coolant in the cylinders. Having to clean up the old gasket material is bad enough. Everyone should definitely do this when doing a head swap! Just wanted to pass this along.
Old 05-07-2006, 02:01 AM
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did the same thing today, and worked great for me also.

Justin
Old 05-07-2006, 06:48 AM
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I used a Miti-vac pump to do it, I was afraid of screwing up my shop vac. I got a couple of dribbles from the spark plug side of the head but that was it.
Old 05-07-2006, 08:23 AM
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Thanks for the tip!
Old 05-07-2006, 09:27 AM
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Yep, great usage of the shop vac! Mine too was also bone-dry when I removed the head. ALL of the bolt-holes didn't have a single dribble of coolant. Couldn't believe it! There should be NO other "preferred" method when doing head swaps!!
Old 05-07-2006, 07:07 PM
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Originally Posted by 02RedHawk
Yep, great usage of the shop vac! Mine too was also bone-dry when I removed the head. ALL of the bolt-holes didn't have a single dribble of coolant. Couldn't believe it! There should be NO other "preferred" method when doing head swaps!!

Works like a charm!!
Old 05-07-2006, 08:26 PM
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Which way did you vac the coolant before pulling the heads?
Old 05-07-2006, 08:51 PM
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Interesting. Never thought of that one.
Old 05-10-2006, 06:43 PM
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Default Shop Vac

I used my shop vac to suck out the bolt holes. Worked great!!!

I also duct taped the hose to one of the water pump ports on the block and let it run for about 5 min.

Bob K.
Old 05-10-2006, 10:51 PM
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I suspect that if you remove the temperature sensor by the #1 spark plug and the allen head plug at the opposite corner near the #8 plug and removed the vent lines on the top sides of the heads and then sucked the water out of the two holes by the spark plugs, that would work for the heads. Also, there are allen head block drains on each side if someone wanted to do that.

Steve
Old 05-10-2006, 10:54 PM
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I didnt use **** and water/coolant went everywhere...
Old 05-10-2006, 10:58 PM
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Since I pulled my heads before I ordered some I just let it drain out from the garage into the apartment parking lot. It was raining that day.
Old 05-10-2006, 11:08 PM
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Originally Posted by cantdrv65
Since I pulled my heads before I ordered some I just let it drain out from the garage into the apartment parking lot. It was raining that day.
Let me guess, you also discharged your A/C into the air that day as well as drained your oil into a toddler's mouth.
Old 05-11-2006, 12:09 AM
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If this works as well as it sounds then it'll save a butt load of time from having to blow out the bolt holes then drying them with paper towels.
Old 05-11-2006, 02:02 AM
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Why not just pull the big bath tub plug in the block and be done with it unless you don't have a hex key that big.
Old 05-11-2006, 02:05 AM
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Originally Posted by ArcticZ28
Let me guess, you also discharged your A/C into the air that day as well as drained your oil into a toddler's mouth.
No I would never discharge the A/C in the air! OMG! Used motor oil works well for killing weeds. Another benefit of coolant is getting rid of those pesky meowing felines.
Old 05-11-2006, 07:40 AM
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A word of caution here, if you take some measure to try to ensure that the coolant is drained from the heads, that isn't enough. You still need to check every blind bolt hole in the block to ensure that they don't have any fluid in them. You still want to avoid a cracked block even if you have minimized the clean-up chore.

Steve
Old 05-11-2006, 09:48 AM
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Originally Posted by cantdrv65
No I would never discharge the A/C in the air! OMG! Used motor oil works well for killing weeds. Another benefit of coolant is getting rid of those pesky meowing felines.
I've also found it's a good for the complexion.

Steve, that's great word of caution. I'm not going to skip out on cleaning the bolt holes and I hope nobody else does either. I did still find a tad bit of oil in the bolt holes that the shop vac couldn't get.
Old 05-11-2006, 11:12 AM
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Originally Posted by Steve Bryant
A word of caution here, if you take some measure to try to ensure that the coolant is drained from the heads, that isn't enough. You still need to check every blind bolt hole in the block to ensure that they don't have any fluid in them. You still want to avoid a cracked block even if you have minimized the clean-up chore.

Steve
very good advice

don't assume you got everything, but i do like the shop vac idea for an easier clean up
Old 05-11-2006, 12:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Xtnct00WS6
I've also found it's a good for the complexion.

Steve, that's great word of caution. I'm not going to skip out on cleaning the bolt holes and I hope nobody else does either. I did still find a tad bit of oil in the bolt holes that the shop vac couldn't get.
Xtnct which holes exactly did you use the vac on? I'm sure there are a couple of them you could use, but I was curious what you did.


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