Cooling and Bureaucraps

["C.M. Smith" <cmsmith@domain.elided>]

I thought everyone visited Death Valley these days before releasing a new
car onto the market. The cooling system on a 164 should adequately cool the
engine in Death Valley with the AC on, Caddy's do. Just as everyone is
supposed to start their cars in Kapuskaping (or however the heck you spell
it)  Ontario (the Canadian Province ,not California) after sitting out all
night in the winter. No excuses now.

Mike's rules for hot cars: If you're having cooling problems first suspect
the temperature gauge, then the sender, then an airlock in the water jacket
somewhere, then the thermostat, then the radiator, then the head gasket,
and only then start to worry about the design! Please note that the first
three items are really cheap to check. If the gauge is wrong (as is common)
then ignore it or mentally re calibrate it. If the sender's wrong,duh
replace it. If there's air in the system, bleed it as specified (there is a
bleed somewhere isn't there?).

 If the thermo starts to go the engine will be slow to heat to normal then
often keep going to too hot, the expansion part usually poops out over time
causing the 'stat to stick open and refuse to open fully. Rads are trouble
free as long as the coolant is changed every 2 years. O'wise rod' em or
leave 'em and buy a new one (ouch). Head gasket leaks can overheat or
overpressure (there's a difference? not really) the cooling system in a hurry.

 If your engine actually boils over as in steam all over the place then it
was too hot and the cooling system fault should be found and repaired. If
it didn't actually boil over, then it wasn't really too hot, you just
thought it was. I can't remember the last time I had an engine actually
boil over as opposed to get "too hot". Makes you nervous but the engine
really couldn't give a damn you know, aluminum doesn't melt at the boiling
point of water/glycol, if she boils shut 'er down and wait, then fix the
cooling system.

As a legal eagle I have an insight into bureaucratese. In descending order
of forces of darkness and ignorance: Number 1: Insurance Companies, what
they do oughta be against the law and used to be before it was "regulated",
 Number 2: Banks, any Banks but Canadian Banks more than most, just plain
crooked sometimes, takes your breath away, what they do should be against
the law and frequently is judging by how often they lose when a guy mad
enough and with enough money actually takes them all the way (they oughta
be more regulated than they are), Number 3: Bureaucrats, all bureaucrats,
even the mailman, sorry, but it's just a matter of degree, and the big joke
is Number three is the hen house guard protecting us from numbers 1 and 2!!
Regards

Michael

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