Coolant Pressure Tester

Anyone using a coolant pressure tester? I bought the craftsman and it
was a POS, the bladder popped up under test pressure, jeez. I heard
that Stant is good but they don't have an adapter for LR as far as I
know.

Dean

On or around 26 Dec 2005 19:50:16 -0800, "dean" <[email protected]>
enlightened us thusly:

>Anyone using a coolant pressure tester? I bought the craftsman and it
>was a POS, the bladder popped up under test pressure, jeez. I heard
>that Stant is good but they don't have an adapter for LR as far as I
>know.

I made me own: all you need is a pipe from a defunct footpump with the valve
connector, a T piece of suitable dimensions to fit one of the small coolant
pipes and a spare wheel with tyre.

inflate the spare wheel to about 20 psi, connect the T piece with a bit of
spare pipe into one of the small coolant pipes (modern ones have littel 1/4"
size pipes going to the expansion tank - on a series, you'd probably need an
unequal T and put it in the heater pipe.

connect connector to the spare tyre, till the pressure cap blows off on the
rad or coolant tank.

If you want to be really cunning, you can blow the tyre to the pressure the
cap is meant to blow off at, and that lets you test the cap spring as well.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
Appearances: You don't really need make-up. Celebrate your authentic
face by frightening people in the street.
from the Little Book of Complete B***ocks by Alistair Beaton.

Sounds ingenious, but why do you need to link it to a tire? Does it
leak or something?

On or around 28 Dec 2005 06:57:46 -0800, "dean" <[email protected]>
enlightened us thusly:

>Sounds ingenious, but why do you need to link it to a tire? Does it
>leak or something?

you use the tyre to supply pressure. I guess you could use a pump. Pressure
loss is generally the problem, though, if you've got to the point of looking
for leaks with a pressure tester.

oh, and if anyone's tempted to play... do it with the engine cold.

traced a leak on the TDi which was otherwise invisible by this method.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
In Touch: Get in touch with yourself by touching yourself.
If somebody is watching, stop touching yourself.
from the Little Book of Complete B***ocks by Alistair Beaton.

Oh, ok. I had assumed that there was some volume in the reservoir and
hoses that could be used to hold some pressure. After all, if its a
huge leak, it would be obvious where its coming from!

Thanks,

Dean

On or around 28 Dec 2005 21:15:33 -0800, "dean" <[email protected]>
enlightened us thusly:

>Oh, ok. I had assumed that there was some volume in the reservoir and
>hoses that could be used to hold some pressure. After all, if its a
>huge leak, it would be obvious where its coming from!

well, yeah. But if you want to maintain a pressure of (say) 12 psi in a
system that's leaking, you're going to have to keep pumping, whereas
connecting it to a spare tyre blown up to 12 psi means that you have a fiar
reserve of pressure while you wander around peering at the bits that a re
leaking.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"'Tis a mad world, my masters" John Taylor (1580-1633) Western Voyage, 1

dean wrote:
> Anyone using a coolant pressure tester? I bought the craftsman and it
> was a POS, the bladder popped up under test pressure, jeez. I heard
> that Stant is good but they don't have an adapter for LR as far as I
> know.
>
> Dean
>

Or just pop it into a Serck depot if there is one near you - they
pressure test FOC (and found the leaking water pump I had today)...



--
Regards,
Danny

http://www.gaggia-espresso.com (a purely hobby site)
http://www.dannyscoffee.com (UK advert for my mobile espresso service)
http://www.malabargold.co.uk (UK/European online ordering for Malabar
Gold blend)
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