[Tanya]

well, we grabbed the "dead 85 for sale" down here in Naples for $500, and damn does it heat up. DRiving for not even ten minutes and the temp. guage was pinned in the red, so we stopped ASAP... smoke rolled out from under the hood....when it cleared up a little bit, you can see that the smoke was coming from the intake manifold area, close to the intake cam carrier...there's NO pressure in the upper radiator hose, and when you squeeze the hose, you can hear "air" coming out of a place where the smoke was coming from, but we can't seem to locate where this mystery is at. Can anyone help? We'd at least like to be able to get the car home beings it has no tag! Are there any coolant lines that run on that side of the manifold? btw, the car is an automatic...

 

[zank]

there should be a coolant hose that is right under the Intake manifold its connected to the pipe that runs around the engine block. Its the pipe that is connected to the water pump also ( I think ). try checking to see if that hose slipped off or what not

HTH's

 

[Tanya]

I will definitley check it, the car needs to cool right now, I don't want to incinerate my hands, heh, I'll let ya know what we come up w/

 

[Tanya]

ok well we finally got it to where it's supposed to be...we had to refill the radiator 3 times on the way back! I have an awful feeling it's got a bad freeze plug, but am not sure yet...b/c as fast as we were putting water into it, it was coming out quickly underneath the intake manifold. Probably going to jack it up tomorrow and take a closer look

 

[Dave A.]

I suspect that you will probably find that the "suicide hose from h---" has let loose. The hose is located just below the intake runners and isn't visible from the top of the engine. The hose gets soaked with grease and oil over the years and deteriorates until it finally swells up and blows. Hopefully you don't now have a warped cylinder head and a BHG. The "bypass hose" as it's called, has one or two pre-formed bends in it but you should be able to find an aftermarket hose at a local auto parts store that will fit. Someone really needs to make a kit that will eliminate that hose and save a lot of MKII owners a lot of grief, expense, and frustration! I gave that hose it's nickname after it let loose on the interstate in my old 85 several years ago. Nowhere to pull over, temp. guage pegged, and goodbye 5M. I think I must own the record for the most severely overheated 5MGE. The head was so badly warped that it had about a 1/8" gap in the center when measured with a straight edge and the exhaust cam tower had a nice crack down the center. Not a pretty sight! Call me stupid, but I really had no choice but to keep driving or back up rush hour traffic for many miles. Very frustrating when a perfectly good engine is forced into incineration because of that stupid hidden hose and also because there was no shoulder on the highway. Darn Florida Expressways!!

 

[Tanya]

gawd tt's horrible Dave! damn hose, gee I don't know which I'd rather it be a hose or a freeze plug, I'd still have to take apart the intake to get to that hose right/.? And you wouldn't happen to know the real name of this POS so I could get it aftermarket?

 

[85TurboMKII]

actually you can use a straight piece of hose. mine did the same thing. if you want tanya if you can hold off till I get down there I can change it for ya. it's kinda a PITA but it can be done in about a half hour or so. especially since you can't really see it you kinda have to do it by feel.

gawd tt's horrible Dave! damn hose, gee I don't know which I'd rather it be a hose or a freeze plug, I'd still have to take apart the intake to get to that hose right/.? And you wouldn't happen to know the real name of this POS so I could get it aftermarket?

 

[Dave A.]

You can visually see and get to the hose from underneath the car or you can use a small mirror to see it from above. The technical name for the hose is "thermostat bypass hose". The purpose of that hose and piping is to allow coolant to flow when the thermostat is closed. There's a picture of the hose in the Haynes manual on page 2B-21, illustration 15.14

 

[Speed Racer]

I replaced that hose (PITA) last summer when it sprang a leak. Dave A is right about how it deteriorates with age & grease...I was surprised at the condition of the hose -- that it hadn't gone long before.

It's a bitch to change but you'll be glad you did. What concerns me is my heater core. It's still the orginal one from 1983, and I'm dreading the day that I have to do what Wesley did here: http://www.afn.org/~wjh/tsc/supra/heatercore/heatercore.htm Ugh...just thinking about that job makes me want a beer.

 

[Tanya]

thank you all everyone for the input, we'll be working on it Sunday, and I'll let you know the outcome, thanks!