1040023
Well, there's always the "trail fix" Go get yer long nose pliers, reconnect the tubes with them long nosed pliers, take some solder and glue them shut again. Don't laugh, what are you gonna do when your 25 miles out in the rocks when a branch desides to squewer your radiator?
Or perhaps your on , say the Rubicon trail, here in california, with 4 other jeeps in your group. Your clawing your way up a 45% grade hill, (slowly, in 4 lo) and suddenly you hear what sounds like a metal pipe being JAMMED into a fan YOUR FAN! Well, the first thing is you get a state change! Course now you can smell and see hot anti-freeze all over, and all this took place at just before you crested that hill. What are you gonna do? Find out what happened of course and repair it!
What happened was the front clip (grill) lost some bolts and the grill fell back into his fan, If it was a stock fan with a clutch, there wouldnt have been as much damage, (as the fan would have stopped spinning as soon as it encountered the radiator)but as it was a flex fan, it shaved out the first core! GONE, cut it out like a cookie cutter!. Fortunatly, the radiator was 4 cores.
I pulled off the trail to lend assistance, the Jeep was backed down to a level spot, not on the main trail. The radiator was removed and each damaged tube was bent closed and soldered shut, the fins were combed back, Loon lake was just below us, so filling the radiator up took little time.
When I returned to my Jeep, I noticed there was just a little too much oil somewhere where it shouldn' have been. My power steering high pressure hose split (3/4" long gash) spewing red, hot powersteering juice all over my motor!
Any guesses as to how I repaired it, enough to make it back home?
I had some clear hose (for taking up water for showers) 3/4" I cut a length about 2" long and split it lengthwise. So now I have a patch about 2" sq. I cleaned the area up as best I could, wrapped the split hose with a few layers of duct tape, then wrapped the hose I cut, around the split and put 3 hose clamps on the patch. 2 on the ends, and one right over the split.
Did it leak? Hell ya, like a sive. but enough 30w was able to circulate through the system to allow me to continue steering. Yes I said 30w, mine wasn't the only power steering problem that trip, my fluid was gone before I needed it.
Later.....
[addsig]
