Parts - Assistance needed....

[Chris da Silva]

It has been a few weeks since I responded to this thread. As stated earlier [in the thread] I would be updating some aspects of my "adventures" (for want of a better word) with the EA21R - so here they are.

The thermostat number which I gave earlier (part #17600-85811) was alas too small! I had the old part out and compared them; and the one from the [EA21R] Cappo is slightly bigger and off-centred! Then I looked at the next size up (part #17600-60814) and that was also off-centred but too big!! In the end, I acquired the correct part from Japan as per the parts book - part #17670-73G01 - which is an in-between size! Part #17600-85811 (as mentioned above) is for the EA11R and is concentric.

Note also that for EA21Rs with automatic transmission, the part number for the radiator cap (17730-12C01) has now been superseded to 17730-08J00.

After assembling the thermostat, I flushed the system through and topped up the radiator with Evans Waterless Coolant as I said I would. This weekend, I am going to take the Cappo for a spirited drive in the Aussie heat and see what happens. The glycol I had in there when I bought the car didn't do much, and the engine ran abnormally hot as indicated by the water temperature gauge. All things being equal, the temperature should now read Normal or slightly above!

Finally, the other piece of good news is that I had the power steering motor rebuilt! Considering that the complete sub-assembly (Part #48200-80F40) is no longer available from Suzuki, this was a sensible move!

At first I thought that the motor assembly was welded to the steering column when the assembly was still in the vehicle (it's hard to see when the column is still in situ); then I discovered that it wasn't when I removed it! 2 bolts held the motor flanges to the column, sealed with Lock-Tite(!!) and was a devil to get off! To cut a long story short, I had help in removing the bolts (thankfully undamaged) and peered into the motor casing!

Not only had the innards seized completely and burnt out thanks to rust and other corrosion (could be ingress of water, but the Lock-Tite which also formed a seal couldn't have let moisture in...) , but it also needed rewinding. This was duly done and now it works just fine. I'm pretty chuffed that the work put in has paid off handsomely!

C

[Ian Linden]

Here's hoping the cooling system is now ok.

That's good news about the power steering. It good to know that there are still places where you can get motors rewound, and the "throw-away society" is not all-pervasive.

[Chris da Silva]

Well, fingers crossed that all will be OK.

The Cappo is now "all gassed up and ready to roll" and is sitting impatiently in my garage! The run will be a mix of town (stop-start) driving and spirited jaunt through the country lanes for an across-the-board assessment.

I'll post the results next week on this thread.

Cheers

C

[Murray Betts]

Good work there, you are having to put a lot of effort into this project for all sorts of reasons and I hope it all rewards you with a reliable and enjoyable fun car.

Just one extra note on the coolant. You said "this new waterless coolant", it reminded me that it was in 1989 that I was involved in investigating the use of propylene glycol with a company in the USA who were trying to sell it to us at the time, so it isn't really "new"!

Best wishes with the car!

[Chris da Silva]

Hi Murray

Yes, a lot of work has gone into my Cappo and I'm really looking forward to enjoying myself after all that!

I seem to recall you mentioning something about waterless coolants not that long ago. It has been 20+ years when you were involved with the substance; so I figured that at the time, it was probably purely experimental. But since then, I think it was refined and improved - so I'm going to check it out. What's important [to me] is its performance in the field instead of under laboratory conditions.

If it lives up to expectation, I will probably replace the coolant in my other car with it. But first things first: I will get the results from this Sunday's dry run and take it from there.

Cheers!

[Chris da Silva]

Re Waterless coolant - it passed the field test hands down! The temperature gauge stayed steadily on Normal all throughout the city (stop-start) leg and the lively jaunt along the country lanes! Not once did the needle go anywhere past the halfway mark even in the Aussie heat..... hooray!!

So what I have now is a reliable fun (i.e. weekend) machine in which to indulge in...

It's pretty certain now that I will replace the glycol with the waterless variety in my other car next year!

Cheers!!

[Ian Linden]

That's good to hear, but I expect the improvement is actually due to the new thermostat

[Chris da Silva]

The proof of the pudding is the result I get from changing the coolant on my other car. Incidentally, it exhibited the same symptoms as the Cappo - water temperature climbing inexorably when the vehicle is in traffic or on a spirited run.

If this shows the same result as the Cappo (even without putting in a new thermostat) that would be me exonerated...

Watch this space.

Wishing you a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year...