Millipede Monaro (it's a bit leggy!)
Discussion
Copper pipe and beading tool arrived.
First job was to turn the pipe into a usable straight length as it arrived rather more tightly coiled than I was expecting. After I had slowly and carefully straightened it out, it also turned out to be 10cm shorter than the 2m I had ordered - naughty eBay vendor!!
Fortunately I had rounded my requirements up from the length of the old cooling loop, so no harm, no foul I guess.
Bead tool worked quite well, although I have some doubts about its longevity - for the price it should be made from indestructium!
Bending the loop up to fit was simple enough, I just copied the shape of the old one and only nearly put one bend in backwards!!
Fitted re-using the original plastic mounts.
Filled the system, it took a little persuading to self bleed, but got there in the end. No leaks, all appears ok...
First job was to turn the pipe into a usable straight length as it arrived rather more tightly coiled than I was expecting. After I had slowly and carefully straightened it out, it also turned out to be 10cm shorter than the 2m I had ordered - naughty eBay vendor!!
Fortunately I had rounded my requirements up from the length of the old cooling loop, so no harm, no foul I guess.
Bead tool worked quite well, although I have some doubts about its longevity - for the price it should be made from indestructium!
Bending the loop up to fit was simple enough, I just copied the shape of the old one and only nearly put one bend in backwards!!
Fitted re-using the original plastic mounts.
Filled the system, it took a little persuading to self bleed, but got there in the end. No leaks, all appears ok...
Cheers. 
Commuted today without issue. Might be my imagination but the PAS pump might be a little more whiny when manoeuvring than it was, or maybe I'm just listening for it.
It hadn't quite run dry the other day, the noise was it sucking in a mix of fluid and air. It hasn't started leaking since, so I'm hoping I've got away with it.
As an aside, when I removed the crash bar across the front for better access, I noticed that it has some thick (maybe 5mm) washers fitted between it and the chassis leg, nearside only, to make it align properly.
Not sure if they are a factory item to adjust for build tolerances, or more likely they have been added by a body shop at some time - possibly Bodgit and Scarper who replaced the nearside rear quarter rather averagely when the car was, I assume, fairly new.
I guess the latter. The paint on the nearside front wing is thinner than the rest of the car, suggesting that the front wing has probably been replaced too, so I suspect someone wiped out both nearside corners early on on the car's life. Quite possibly preceded by the words "watch this..."
No matter anyway, the old girl drives straight, wears her tyres evenly and has no nasty handling characteristics, so what's a few millimetres here and there between friends!!
Commuted today without issue. Might be my imagination but the PAS pump might be a little more whiny when manoeuvring than it was, or maybe I'm just listening for it.
It hadn't quite run dry the other day, the noise was it sucking in a mix of fluid and air. It hasn't started leaking since, so I'm hoping I've got away with it.
As an aside, when I removed the crash bar across the front for better access, I noticed that it has some thick (maybe 5mm) washers fitted between it and the chassis leg, nearside only, to make it align properly.
Not sure if they are a factory item to adjust for build tolerances, or more likely they have been added by a body shop at some time - possibly Bodgit and Scarper who replaced the nearside rear quarter rather averagely when the car was, I assume, fairly new.
I guess the latter. The paint on the nearside front wing is thinner than the rest of the car, suggesting that the front wing has probably been replaced too, so I suspect someone wiped out both nearside corners early on on the car's life. Quite possibly preceded by the words "watch this..."
No matter anyway, the old girl drives straight, wears her tyres evenly and has no nasty handling characteristics, so what's a few millimetres here and there between friends!!
Had the air-con recharged last week (first time since replacing the pipework and compressor around late 2013 / early 2014) so not too bad. Nice and cold again.
Had a longish motorway trip to undertake at the weekend, three up with a boot-full of alcohol!
With the 9-5 off the road, the Monaro remains the best quiet and comfortable high speed cruiser I own, so despite some misgivings about the generally grotty nature of most things under the bonnet, I did some basic checks and pointed the old girl off down the M6
I needn't have worried, not a beat was missed. The journey down was a bit stop-starty but coming home was surprisingly clear and fast most of the way.
The mix of some three-figure cruising, aided by the unavoidable 50mph average speed sections, saw an average of 30.7 on the (very accurate) trip computer by the time I turned off at Bamber Bridge.
Despite its mileage and general cosmetic neglect, as six years of Monaro ownership approaches, it still remains one of my favourite cars.
Had a longish motorway trip to undertake at the weekend, three up with a boot-full of alcohol!
With the 9-5 off the road, the Monaro remains the best quiet and comfortable high speed cruiser I own, so despite some misgivings about the generally grotty nature of most things under the bonnet, I did some basic checks and pointed the old girl off down the M6
I needn't have worried, not a beat was missed. The journey down was a bit stop-starty but coming home was surprisingly clear and fast most of the way.
The mix of some three-figure cruising, aided by the unavoidable 50mph average speed sections, saw an average of 30.7 on the (very accurate) trip computer by the time I turned off at Bamber Bridge.
Despite its mileage and general cosmetic neglect, as six years of Monaro ownership approaches, it still remains one of my favourite cars.
Had to cancel the MOT due this week as the cooling fan packed in on Tuesday.
Leaving work and the A5036 to Switch Island was slower than usual, with much longer stops and shorter starts than it normally has.
Sitting there waiting for the traffic to move I thought (sniff, sniff) something smells hot around here. Looked at the temperature gauge
Not in the red but close, nowhere to go to pull over and turn off. Couldn't hear the fan(s) running so flicked the air-con on as that should trigger at least one of them, still nothing.
Last resort, heater on full, interior fan on full... VERY hot air out of the vents!! Wait and pray whilst remembering how old the coolant hoses are, waiting, expecting the cloud of steam that signals game over...
Traffic moves a little more, gauge holding at 7/8. Bit more movement and it drops a notch. Might make it?
Finally onto the M58 and a gentle cruise, temp back to normal over the next mile or so. Fortunately traffic pretty clear the rest of the way home so no further issues.
Still running fine, no coolant loss so think all will be well, just need to find the cause of the lack of fans...
Leaving work and the A5036 to Switch Island was slower than usual, with much longer stops and shorter starts than it normally has.
Sitting there waiting for the traffic to move I thought (sniff, sniff) something smells hot around here. Looked at the temperature gauge
Not in the red but close, nowhere to go to pull over and turn off. Couldn't hear the fan(s) running so flicked the air-con on as that should trigger at least one of them, still nothing.
Last resort, heater on full, interior fan on full... VERY hot air out of the vents!! Wait and pray whilst remembering how old the coolant hoses are, waiting, expecting the cloud of steam that signals game over...
Traffic moves a little more, gauge holding at 7/8. Bit more movement and it drops a notch. Might make it?
Finally onto the M58 and a gentle cruise, temp back to normal over the next mile or so. Fortunately traffic pretty clear the rest of the way home so no further issues.
Still running fine, no coolant loss so think all will be well, just need to find the cause of the lack of fans...
JakeT said:
Smallblock life!
They're tough old beasts. I am surprised yours doesn't have a belt driven fan though, and relies on electric alone.
Super high-tech they are, right down to the pushrods!! They're tough old beasts. I am surprised yours doesn't have a belt driven fan though, and relies on electric alone.
Had a look tonight, think I understand the failure mode now...
Larger, main cooling fan - simple corroded wiring failure so it might not have worked for a while.
Smaller aircon / backup fan, locked solid and had blown its 30A fused link.
Little vid
Opened up the motor, that's got a bit hot...
Chunk of magnet causing it to lock up
I suspect the heavy corrosion to the case caused the magnet to crack and the loose bit then locked it up which in turn generated excess current and popped the fusible link.
Wiring and fusible link easy enough to fix, just need to track down an a/c fan...
Jimmy Recard said:
With any luck it’s one of those GM parts that’s used in a million different models and costs about 3p 
Glad you got to the root of it
Appears not to be the case sadly. Available new or used from Australia relatively easily but at a price, so hopefully I can find one from a breaker in the UK for sensible money otherwise I'll be bodging a universal fan to fit...Glad you got to the root of it
99t said:
Jimmy Recard said:
With any luck it’s one of those GM parts that’s used in a million different models and costs about 3p
Glad you got to the root of it
Appears not to be the case sadly. Available new or used from Australia relatively easily but at a price, so hopefully I can find one from a breaker in the UK for sensible money otherwise I'll be bodging a universal fan to fit...Glad you got to the root of it
Pictures aren't working at work for me. I can't remember if this is a 2004 Monaro or 2005 Monaro.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/UNIVERSAL-MOUNT-ELECTR...
The above number comes up on Rockauto for the large fan on a 5.7 2004 Pontiac GTO
Small fan, cheaper on the Holmart website.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Genuine-Holden-V2-VY-W...
There are universal fans that come up when I look on Oz Ebay.
Link fixed.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/UNIVERSAL-MOUNT-ELECTR...
The above number comes up on Rockauto for the large fan on a 5.7 2004 Pontiac GTO
Small fan, cheaper on the Holmart website.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Genuine-Holden-V2-VY-W...
There are universal fans that come up when I look on Oz Ebay.
Link fixed.
Edited by motomk on Sunday 9th June 23:56
Thanks for looking those up
I had found the Holmart site when looking myself, but for my old heap I was hoping to avoid spending a couple of hundred pounds on a new fan (including shipping and VAT, duty etc.) as it would be the only shiny thing on the car!!
I have ordered an aftermarket fan from the UK that is thin enough to fit and is within 3mm of the original fan's diameter - just hope I can find a way to secure it to the original fan housing.
T'was cheap enough to discard if I can't make it work, so no great risk.
edit 1 to add - the one I have ordered looks similar to the ebay one you've linked, just a bit more cheap and nasty!!
edit 2 to add - actually that ebay one listed as aftermarket is a proper GATE2 OE fan but is larger than the AC fan, think it might be the main one??
MP8120/VYV8C - 5000373 is the AC fan that came off my 2004
MP8125/VYV8C - 5000374 as listed above - blades look slightly longer
I had found the Holmart site when looking myself, but for my old heap I was hoping to avoid spending a couple of hundred pounds on a new fan (including shipping and VAT, duty etc.) as it would be the only shiny thing on the car!!
I have ordered an aftermarket fan from the UK that is thin enough to fit and is within 3mm of the original fan's diameter - just hope I can find a way to secure it to the original fan housing.
T'was cheap enough to discard if I can't make it work, so no great risk.
edit 1 to add - the one I have ordered looks similar to the ebay one you've linked, just a bit more cheap and nasty!!
edit 2 to add - actually that ebay one listed as aftermarket is a proper GATE2 OE fan but is larger than the AC fan, think it might be the main one??
MP8120/VYV8C - 5000373 is the AC fan that came off my 2004
MP8125/VYV8C - 5000374 as listed above - blades look slightly longer
Edited by 99t on Monday 10th June 08:07
Edited by 99t on Monday 10th June 08:16
So after a bit of bodging (fully approved by the Federation of Master Bodgers of course) I managed to fit the cheapo ebay fan motor into the original fan housing with the original fan blade. Quick and nasty rewire and it was time to test...
Fan test video (20mb)
Reassembled and put in for MOT expecting a fail on what I thought to be a rear wheel bearing. Instead, I got this :-
Shows how much I can tell where funny noises are coming from, I would have sworn it was the rear!
Still hopefully an easy fix, I reckon it'll be the dust shield touching the disc and needing some light fettling...
Fan test video (20mb)
Reassembled and put in for MOT expecting a fail on what I thought to be a rear wheel bearing. Instead, I got this :-
Shows how much I can tell where funny noises are coming from, I would have sworn it was the rear!
Still hopefully an easy fix, I reckon it'll be the dust shield touching the disc and needing some light fettling...
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff