That's not gone well.

"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
05/23/2016 at 09:12 • Filed to: Fuck

I took the Roadmaster rallycrossing yesterday. Came home on a tow truck. It’s unclear at this point if it will live to fight another day. Long story short, the radiator puked everything out, and I’m not sure if I cooked the motor driving back to the paddock. More details to come when I’m less pissed-off and depressed.

DISCUSSION (48)

vondon302 > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 09:22

Damn that blows. Sorry to hear that let us know what the damage is. And I thought my Monday sucked.

Ash78, voting early and often > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 09:23

"I took the Roadmaster rallycrossing yesterday. Came home on a tow truck." That comment alone is already a pretty solid WIN. Good luck getting her back up and running.

EL_ULY > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 09:25

“I took the Roadmaster rallycrossing yesterday”

yeah this is going to be a contender for WIN of the year!!!!!!!!

hopefully it’s not too bad homie.

adamftw > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 09:25

Its a 305 or a 350. I doubt you cooked it.

$kaycog > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 09:27

Oooh no! I’ll cross my fingers that’s it’s not too bad.

fourvalleys > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 09:28

Oh, man. Sorry to hear that! Hopefully it isn’t too bad. Let me know if you need a hand with anything.

Noah - Now with more boost. > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 09:46

Damn that’s too bad. I have a feeling the same thing would happen to my car if I pushed it very hard. After a few minutes of spirited driving the temp gauge starts to move and I need to let it cool off. Were there any warning signs? Or did it just let go?

shop-teacher > Noah - Now with more boost.
05/23/2016 at 09:55

It was sudden.

smobgirl > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 09:55

This sounds like a preview for a Top Gear episode. What an awesome idea!

Fingers crossed here too.

shop-teacher > $kaycog
05/23/2016 at 09:55

Thanks! I hope it’s not.

shop-teacher > Ash78, voting early and often
05/23/2016 at 09:58

It sure as hell didn’t feel like a win, but thank you.

shop-teacher > EL_ULY
05/23/2016 at 09:59

It was the time of my life, until I possible killed a car that I love, but thanks man.

shop-teacher > adamftw
05/23/2016 at 10:00

I sure hope you’re right, it’s a 350 LT-1, with reverse cooling. My fingers are crossed!

shop-teacher > fourvalleys
05/23/2016 at 10:04

Thanks, I appreciate that.

adamftw > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 10:06

It’s a REALLY heavy pig of a car. With an upgraded radiator and BIG tranny cooler it will help keeps temps at bay. Make sure your fans are in good order too, I don't know if that thing has electric fans only or if it has a clutch fan, but it theres a clutch it probably should be replaced.

crowmolly > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 10:11

Since it’s reverse flow I wouldn’t despair just yet...

shop-teacher > smobgirl
05/23/2016 at 10:12

Thanks!

shop-teacher > vondon302
05/23/2016 at 10:13

I will keep you all updated. I’m extremely bummed about it, especially if I really did kill it.

shop-teacher > crowmolly
05/23/2016 at 10:14

Thanks, I hope you’re right.

shop-teacher > adamftw
05/23/2016 at 10:16

It has both an electric fan and a clutch fan. Unfortunately the clutch fan is a unique piece of unobtanium these days. Depending on the damage, i may have to go with dual electric fans now.

crowmolly > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 10:16

Air bubbles in the system can cause all kinds of havoc and the reverse flow system can be a bit tricky to bleed.

I’ll pray to the gods of ethylene glycol for you.

vondon302 > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 10:21

I overheated a 351 windsor in 78 couger until it stalled. Walked back to the car after work and it started right up. Thought for sure I killed it. You should of heard it knocking. Drove it for another year and was still running . I’d be surprised if you burnt it. Good luck!

adamftw > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 10:33

How is it unobtanium? If the fan is fine, just buy a clutch. Mechanical fans pull twice the CFM of even the best electric.

random001 > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 10:43

In the immortally forgotten words of Darth Vader: “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

shop-teacher > crowmolly
05/23/2016 at 10:43

I’ve heard they can be tricky to bleed, I’ll have to read up on it before I try it out. Thanks!

crowmolly > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 10:57

http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech…

shop-teacher > adamftw
05/23/2016 at 11:04

It’s a weird fan that is specific to LT-1's with a towing package. It’s offset from center and driven by some sort of jackshaft. Nobody makes it anymore.

shop-teacher > random001
05/23/2016 at 11:08

That sums it up well.

adamftw > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 11:09

Oh, that’s odd then. Maybe just replace it with the standard Caprice/Roadmaster setup? Just throwing things at the wall here.

shop-teacher > adamftw
05/23/2016 at 11:10

That’s a possibility. First things first, I need to run a compression test and see if I cooked it. If not, then I’ll pull it apart and start doing some research.

shop-teacher > vondon302
05/23/2016 at 11:12

That gives me hope then. It didn’t stall, and the temp warning light only came on for a few seconds.

shop-teacher > crowmolly
05/23/2016 at 11:17

Thanks!

random001 > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 12:10

Truly, I has a sad for this post. I wish for things to be ok!

mr2gud2u > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 12:43

That LT1 is a tough bastard. It would not surprise me it its ok.

shop-teacher > mr2gud2u
05/23/2016 at 12:59

I hope you’re right!

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 15:14

The LT1 isn’t a Jeep 4.0, but it should still be good. I blew a hose off mine in the middle of winter, and dumped out all my coolant. It was too cold -20°F plus wind and I wasn’t properly dressed, so I just said screw it and drove the ten miles to home. I did stop and let it cool down a couple times, but not for long cause without coolant I also had no heat. Got hot enough the coolant temp sensor went far enough out of range to trigger a check engine light for a malfunctioning sensor.

shop-teacher > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
05/23/2016 at 15:54

That gives me some hope then, thanks!

ranwhenparked > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 19:30

I blew the radiator on my LT1 engineed Fleetwood - granted, not on a track, but it turned out fine. Pulled into the parking lot of a sushi restaurant, and sat in the car for a while waiting for a friend to show up, and some guy came up and tapped on the window to let me know the car had vomited out it’s entire supply of antifreeze.

I had dinner, had the friend run me to Walmart for some coolant, topped it up, and drove it as quickly as I could to the nearest reputable shop. It was nearly empty by the time I got there, but with a new radiator, ran as good as it had before the incident.

The rad in question was a replacement for the factory original that had been damaged by a deer, so was likely not made to the same quality standard.

shop-teacher > ranwhenparked
05/23/2016 at 19:38

We tried refilling mine with a gallon of antifreeze another racer had, and them just switched to straight water. In gushed right back out immediately, no nursing it anywhere. Hopefully it’ll be OK like yours was!

Tinfoil Hat in a thunderstorm, now with added diecast > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 19:46

Oh man! Hope it’s ok. Last year I smashed the lower tank of my Radiator while off-roading. Never knew anything was wrong until it lost power. (Must remember to check gauges more frequently) Fixed the crack once I was towed home by a mate and it's still alive. Thought I'd killed it for sure. Hope you have good results as well and you are back to hooning ASAP!

ranwhenparked > shop-teacher
05/23/2016 at 19:57

The LT1 is fairly robust, I wouldn’t write it off without further investigation. I know I left a trail of coolant behind me the whole way.

shop-teacher > ranwhenparked
05/23/2016 at 20:01

I absolutely love this car, so I will definitely be doing my due diligence to try and mend it.

uofime-2 > shop-teacher
05/24/2016 at 14:09

Oh no!

Good luck with the repairs!

shop-teacher > uofime-2
05/24/2016 at 14:56

Thanks. Yeah, it was not a good end.

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > shop-teacher
05/24/2016 at 15:53

Any update on this bud?

shop-teacher > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30
05/24/2016 at 16:11

I’m not going to have time to dig into it until next week. I definitely need a radiator, I probably need new fans, and I may need a core support as well, depending on whether or not I can beat it back into shape enough to work.

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > shop-teacher
05/24/2016 at 16:12

Well, best of luck dude. It's one of the best cars on Oppo!

shop-teacher > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30
05/24/2016 at 16:13

Thanks! I really appreciate that.