[Buick]"How To" bypass hose and inlet manifold bung

[LeaThaL]

Hey all,

im big into doing detailed how to threads on my 1jz/z20 soarer so now im doing it on the VR i might as well do one on here!

this is a how to for replacing the bypass hose from the top of the water pump to the inlet manifold and the bung that is plugged into the inlet manifold




Step 1. remove the positive from the battery as were going to be playing with the alternator at one point.



Step 2. You want to remove the belt, so get a 18mm socket and remove the belt off the alternator pulley but dont totally remove it , just sit the belt on the pully when down so it stays where it is.



Step 3. now you will see the 2 bolts on the alternator, one is a 10mm and the bigger is a 13mm, remove the 10mm one (left side of alternator) and only loosen the 13mm one by about 2 turns.

Step 4. once the bolts are loosened get either some plyers or a flat head screwdriver and remove the clip holding the plug on top of the alternator on



Step 5. once done, the alternator should just rotate off to the right and sit there, if the loom catches just move it untill it moves freely



Step 6. this here is the little pipe were replacing, as far as ive had commodores this has been a randome problem as its in a fair amount of heat and can get hard and crack under pressure, you will want to remove these with a socket wrench, i think their 9/32 but not 100% sure once the hose has been removed expect water to flow out of the water pump, but to save some coolant just dont remove your radaitor cap as it will leave a vaccum in the lines and stop flow after some time



Step 7. now it looks really dirty here as it had been leaking oil at some time and coolant had been running thru here so with the hose off i hit it with some degreeser and a old toothbrush to get things nicer




Step 8. while the hose is off its good to replace this bung, its just a connector for the hose to enter the inlet manifold, as it can also get old and crack and cause water leaks,

now you can get a standard replacement plastic one, however as i found out they now make a brass one to repalce it




Step 9. for the above piece, to remove it either insert a set of long nose pylyers into the front and wiggle it from top to bottom or side to side or put a flat blade screwdriver under one side and pry it off side to side. but make sure it doesnt break as its a pain to try and remove random bits of plastic from inside the mainfold like when mine broke on the VR wagon, and once youve got it off give it a nice clean to make sure you would get a good clean seal



Step 10. with the new fitting in hand get the larger end with the rubber seal and put in the now open hole, and tap side to side to get said end in to sit flush with the manifold, and make sure to line up the hole on the loom with where the 10 mm bolt sits in.


Step 11. now using either new clamps or just reusing the old ones (i suggest if you do use old ones degrease them and check for damage) use you new hose and just pop onto the water pump pipe and put over your new bung, make sure both clamps are under the lip on the bung and the waterpump to save them getting pressurised and then pop off, once happy with how its sitting now tighten up the clamps but dont go too overboard as you dont wanna pinch the new hose and cause a new leak, just go till you feel its getting tight and go maybe a half turn after that and just check with your fingers if it moves.

Step 12. now just reverse steps 1 to 5 to get things back together, fill what water had come out in the radaitor, start the car and bleed the system as usual, while looking and seeing if there is any leaks and if there isnt, then success! enjoy having pressure in your cooling system again like i did

[akuma]

hey, where did you get the brass bung? is it a genuine part?
if so any idea of the part number?

[v6lux]

This is a very good mod, however Step 4 has a RISK!

Unnecessarily loosing the plug clip;

Step 4. once the bolts are loosened get either some plyers or a flat head screwdriver and remove the clip holding the plug on top of the alternator on

How about you guys just push the clip in with your finger or thumb and then remove the plug, keeping the clip in place so it wont get lost!

[LeaThaL]

This is a very good mod, however Step 4 has a RISK!

Unnecessarily loosing the plug clip;



How about you guys just push the clip in with your finger or thumb and then remove the plug, keeping the clip in place so it wont get lost!

yeah thats a good point, ill have to mod the post but cheers!

as for the brass bung i just got it from repco without a package but apparently most have them now

[RK5TAR]

I got my brass bung at Bursons. $26.95

Made by Kilkenny Castings
Brass Adaptor to suit Holden Commodore
Part No: KC38MC
VN-VR
Complete with seal.

Genuine Part N0. 92061-300(Adaptor) 24500321 (seal).

Thats what it has on my packet.

LeaThal the original bung on mine has actually broken and there is only a tiny but sticking out. What would be the best way to try and fish it out before putting the new one on?

[nathanVY]

looks interesting. good write up, what are the reasons/causes for doing this?
what problems does it fix?

[hakhawk]

looks interesting. good write up, what are the reasons/causes for doing this?
what problems does it fix?

the original hose piece is plastic, and over time, rots and eventually breaks, pissing coolant out the broken bit.

the new one is brass, so it can survive longer than the car ever will

[nathanVY]

the original hose piece is plastic, and over time, rots and eventually breaks, pissing coolant out the broken bit.

the new one is brass, so it can survive longer than the car ever will

on a 94 VR chances are its going, gone or gonna go see yeah?

[hakhawk]

on a 94 VR chances are its going, gone or gonna go see yeah?

up until the last 2 words, that was making sense.

most people dont change them til it breaks, depends if you want to drop $25 on the fitting, and whatever on the hose(dont change one without the other) or not

[nathanVY]

up until the last 2 words, that was making sense.

most people dont change them til it breaks, depends if you want to drop $25 on the fitting, and whatever on the hose(dont change one without the other) or not

whoops that was meant to say "soon" instead of "see".

ok ill put this in the list of things to do when I get bored lol. or change it when it breaks. thanks for you're help

[RK5TAR]

Im having real trouble getting the buggered bung out of the car. Because it broke off almost flush with the motor when we took the hose off. If I poke at it too much it starts to break up. WHich I gather is going to be a pain if it does it inside the manifold. Any suggestions please? I would be very grateful as I just want to finish this job so I can test if this was the only reason this car was overheating and to check it doesnt still do it in case the guy I brought the car from kept driving it too much after this problem started and done more damage.

Also, Im going to sound quite dumb, but... The step where you say to remove the belt out of the way, you say to use an 18mm socket... What do I use it on? I noticed the belt is quite firmly on the pulleys, and being as heavy handed as I am will probably break it. Is there a way to create some slack to lift it over the ridge on the pulley wheel thing?
The reason I am confused is my alternator looks different to the one in your photo. Mine has a covering over the fan part that yours shows is exposed.

[RK5TAR]

Anyone? I really dont want to have to chip away and break it up if I can help it.

[Veriton]

Never needed to change these on my old VR (never thought about em to be truthful), however from how brittle it sounds, you really have no choice but to poke away at it, just try more so to pull it out from the inside (using something small and right angle, ie allen key or something).

FYI you wanna be careful with mixing metals and coolant (brass and alluminum) this can cause "stray voltage" to run through your cooling system, especially on older vehicles, which in turn eats away at the radiator. We had a range rover with significat stray voltage issues caused by brass and alluminum mixing in the radiator coolant, helped along with a magnetic fuel rail, that had to have 4 radiators replaced and about 7-8 months.

[LeaThaL]

Anyone? I really dont want to have to chip away and break it up if I can help it.

mine did the same and fell inside the manifold, the easyest thing to do is either get a pick file (its a long thin tool with one end being 45 degrees and the other straight, normally used to remove rubber seals inside hard to get places) and try pull at it towards you from the back or just risk pushing what you have to in to get most out and then whats left, i used my pinky to pull at what i had to, and then i just removed the thermostat housing and thermostat and shoved a hose in there at full speed

[RK5TAR]

Thanks guys. I have been trying to pull it towards me. I found the perfect type of tool but the circumference is too big. I have a T socket wrench which I think would be ideal as it has the round bit on it as a stopper for the sockets not to go too far up the wrench. I figured this would apply even pressure on either side of the bung and force it out, the T part giving me good leverage.
Maybe being female Im overthinking it though LOL.

An Allen key is a good point though, have plenty of the stumpy ones laying around.

[v6lux]

Did you guys get the broken ones out? Perhaps an ezy-out would do the job or a nail bent over to form a hook and pull it with pliers.

The main thing is the corrosion stopping it and it should come out perpendicular to assist - any sideways tilt will jam it in the hole!

[Jake.VScommo]

Did this yesterday to my vp, was a very helpful post cheers. The plastic thing broke into pieces but i managed to get it all out and wack the brass one in. easy fix after all the drama the split pipe caused -.-

[Jxw]

Im having real trouble getting the buggered bung out of the car. Because it broke off almost flush with the motor when we took the hose off. If I poke at it too much it starts to break up. WHich I gather is going to be a pain if it does it inside the manifold. Any suggestions please? I would be very grateful as I just want to finish this job so I can test if this was the only reason this car was overheating and to check it doesnt still do it in case the guy I brought the car from kept driving it too much after this problem started and done more damage.

Also, Im going to sound quite dumb, but... The step where you say to remove the belt out of the way, you say to use an 18mm socket... What do I use it on? I noticed the belt is quite firmly on the pulleys, and being as heavy handed as I am will probably break it. Is there a way to create some slack to lift it over the ridge on the pulley wheel thing?
The reason I am confused is my alternator looks different to the one in your photo. Mine has a covering over the fan part that yours shows is exposed.

I've had the rear one break in the past, i'm not saying it's the best idea but pushing it into the manifold and leaving the broken bit in there was the only option i had without removing the intake manifold as there's no room between the rear of the engine and the firewall to get any kind of tool in there to remove it.
The removed piece was fairly brittle so decided to leave it in there, as it's only a small piece of brittle plastic it'll just get chewn up by the water pump into smaller pieces if it ever gets that far or it may get stuck in the thermostat keeping it open and you car will run cooler and have trouble reaching normal operating temp, it's not going to cause much damage, if you can't remove it try breaking it up into small pieces with a screw driver or something.

Step 9. for the above piece, to remove it either insert a set of long nose pylyers into the front and wiggle it from top to bottom or side to side or put a flat blade screwdriver under one side and pry it off side to side. but make sure it doesnt break as its a pain to try and remove random bits of plastic from inside the mainfold like when mine broke on the VR wagon, and once youve got it off give it a nice clean to make sure you would get a good clean seal

in order to clean it maybe add use a small piece of wet n dry or emery paper and move it around lightly with your finger keeping pressure on it to clean any corrosion/gunk out, don't use excessive force and reshape the hole just enough clean it up for a good seal.

[immortality]

Scotchbrite pads work wonders for cleaning without really removing any metal. Polish reasonably well too

Personally, I blocked this on my VN

Cheers

[padrickz88]

Scotchbrite pads work wonders for cleaning without really removing any metal. Polish reasonably well too

Personally, I blocked this on my VN

Cheers

Oh really? details/pics? I'm guessing this would keep down intake temps since you wouldn't have coolant running through the intake manifold?

[immortality]

I changed mine so it's more like the ecotec cooling system. The heater has a 4hose heater tap so it's also a bypass even when the heater is off. the ecotec's heat up quicker and also it makes the cooling system more efficient. (how you ask) well, once the cooling system is up to temp and the thermostat is open you need all the coolant going through the radiator so that it can be cooled. With the bypass a certain amount of coolant (which is still hot) is cycling back directly through the water pump straight back into the engine block without been cooled.

Been running it like that for about 2 years now with no noticeable problems. Engine heats up quicker on cold mornings (and we get a fair few of those here in NZ) so the demister works better.

Cheers

[Jxw]

Oh really? details/pics? I'm guessing this would keep down intake temps since you wouldn't have coolant running through the intake manifold?

nah the way he has mentioned blocking/bypassing won't change the temp of the intake much, it still has coolant flowing through the heads and to the thermostat.

great idea changing the system like that though on the older systems, i think it was just the first vn's with a 4 connector heater tap/bypass, my 91 has 2 connector tap, so heater off, no water bypassing the thermostat.

[Krisp]

Scotchbrite pads work wonders for cleaning without really removing any metal. Polish reasonably well too

Cheers

Did it that way to polish the 3 meter camshafts on the collins class subs. works a treat

[Rodeo Girl]

Great Post guys.

Followed most of the instructions. Only difference, couldn't get belt off alternator pulley, so just levered the belt tensioner (to left of alternator) so it loosened the belt enough to get it off then same to get it back on, two person job though.

Cheers (off to check out how to change the front struts).

Ann

[Jxw]

Great Post guys.

Followed most of the instructions. Only difference, couldn't get belt off alternator pulley, so just levered the belt tensioner (to left of alternator) so it loosened the belt enough to get it off then same to get it back on, two person job though.

Cheers (off to check out how to change the front struts).

Ann

it's easiest to release the tension then slip the belt off the water pump pulley as it has no lip, especially if it's a newer belt that isn't stretched.