Dead in the Water.
Well, it’s official: I’m overheating. I got the Scout out on the first dry Saturday in three weeks, made it down the hill to Ellicott City to gas up, and across the river into town before the temp gauge spiked beyond where I was comfortable. I pulled over into the International dealership at the top of the hill and popped the hood to take a look. The radiator cap was cool to the touch and the overflow tank was at its normal level; there was no sign of steam although I could faintly smell cooking antifreeze. I slowly unscrewed the radiator cap and got a burst of steam as well as gurgling from down below. After a half an hour cooldown, I made it back through town and about halfway home before I had to pull off again. It took two more rests to get it back in the garage.
So, the plan has changed a little: I’m going to mock up the fan shroud supports, probably out of some aluminum sheet I saw at the Lowe’s, buy a new water pump online, and then scoot down the street to our local garage to have the cooling system sorted out. At this point I just don’t have the time to fool with it myself, and I don’t want it sitting for months without running like my last Scout.
Then, after that’s fixed, I’ll bring it down to my other mechanic, who has experience with carburetors, and have him go through the Thermoquad and the ignition for me.
Meanwhile, there’s a fantastic thread on the Binder Planet about tuneups, including overhaul of distributors and cleaning carbs. I’m subscribed and watching it closely.
Random Links.
I haven’t done much in the way of working or playing with the Scout, but I’ve been keeping my eyes open for future plans. Here are some links I’ve collected for possible future purchasing:
Heat Shield Mat – this will come in handy for next summer when there’s a ton of heat coming off the engine.
Door jamb switch – a possible replacement for the ones I’ve got.
Gone Quiet.
I haven’t done much with the Scout lately, only because it’s been ridiculously busy in the last couple of weeks, and the temperature gauge has been giving me a scare. I drove home from work about two weeks ago and for the time it took to sit at a red light, the gauge climbed towards the red uncomfortably quickly. When I got out I popped the hood and felt the radiator cap, which was surprisingly cool, and the engine didn’t seem any hotter than normal, but with my water pump troubles earlier in the year I’m afraid to chance cooking the engine. So I’m saving shekels to buy a new pump and have it replaced along with the seal (I don’t have the time to do it myself) as well as fabricate a fan shroud adaptor so that whoever does the work can install that while they’ve got the pump off. Lowe’s sells sheet metal that I can cut down and adapt pretty easily, so I think I’ll try to tackle that this coming weekend.
← Back to Home
© Scout. Powered by WordPress using a variation on the DePo Skinny Theme.