|
After completing the cylinder head replacement Friday afternoon, I had to make sure that Brunhilde would be reliable before returning the rental car, and putting her back to her usual work as our daily driver. Here is what she did over the weekend:
Friday evening, Jan. 23: Start up and run until fully warmed up. Minor coolant leak noted (banjo bolt connection of coolant to turbo housing). Leak fixed. Run again for about 3 minutes, then driven about 2 blocks. Oil clean, coolant okay, no leaks noted. Running very smooth and evenly. No further testing/driving due to impending sunset.
Saturday, Jan. 24: Start-up and idle in driveway until fully warmed up. All okay. Drive about 4.5 miles, checked everything, all okay. Drive about 75.5 miles to do errands (several park/shutdowns & restarts/go elsewhere) in Gainesville. On return noted that coolant level had dropped a little less than 1/4 inch in tank. Will watch carefully. Ran and idled very smooth.
Sunday, Jan 25: Watched exhaust while wife started car first time in morning, and for 15 seconds after start, watching for white smoke. None seen. Drove about 60 miles to do errands, total of three stops. Ran and idled beautifully and smoothly the whole time. Made a second trip of about 54 miles total to return rental car used during head replacement. Again, very smooth and nice.
Total mileage since head replacement: about 195
Overall: Runs smoothly and very well, especially for an 18 year-old car with about 300,000 miles on it. Oil is very clean still, like honey. No water in oil, and no oil in water. Coolant level is a little below where I filled it on Friday afternoon, and I am watching it like a hawk. Will check it daily. But all seems very good.
Edit: Careful measurements are giving her a gas mileage of 23.29mpg, which is near spectacular for a 745 Turbo. Amazing.
Will monitor the coolant level, but have no evidence of internal leak. I think that if anything other than purging trapped air out of cooling system passages, it might be a very small leak at a hose or something. Will change oil and filter during the week.
Do any of you see anything here that should give me cause for alarm?
--
Scott Cook - 1991 745T, 1985 RX-7 GSL-SE, 1986 Toyota Tercel (Don't laugh, it is reliable, faithful AND gets 41 mpg!)
|
