[fanatichuman]

Wow - what timing.... The Car Ninja does coolant pipes on an M54:

• uses a 90 degree pick and other metal tools to remove old broken pipe in bores
• uses a wire brush in a drill to clean bores
• no mention of RTV - but can't tell for sure.

That doesn't seem like a thorough job, and a steel wire brush to clean the bore, ouch?? Won't do that on mine.

 

[Sapote]

and a steel wire brush to clean the bore, ouch?? Won't do that on mine.

Give me a broken plastic chopstick and I will use it instead.

 

[fjkayaker]

Give me a broken plastic chopstick and I will use it instead.

Curious Sapote, the bore seems to be a lot larger than a chopstick. Somebody above just mentioned using a 16 mm socket long. Care to share a pic of your chopstick trick? I am sure you use a round chopstick, but some chopsticks are squarish.

 

[Sapote]

Curious Sapote, the bore seems to be a lot larger than a chopstick. Somebody above just mentioned using a 16 mm socket long. Care to share a pic of your chopstick trick? I am sure you use a round chopstick, but some chopsticks are squarish.

Just break up the chopstick in two, then you will have the broken sharp edges to use for scraping off the bore without worry damaging it. Round or square doesn't matter as the broken edges will randomly give the very sharp edge. I just use the sharp edge like a carpenter wood chisel, pushing it against the bore at an angle to clean it smooth. I couldn't think of what other hard plastic rods could be used for this.

Use the round sharp edge or the sharp corner edges.

 

[fjkayaker]

Just break up the chopstick in two, then you will have the broken sharp edges to use for scraping off the bore without worry damaging it. Round or square doesn't matter as the broken edges will randomly give the very sharp edge. I just use the sharp edge like a carpenter wood chisel, pushing it against the bore at an angle to clean it smooth. I couldn't think of what other hard plastic rods could be used for this.

Use the round sharp edge or the sharp corner edges.

Thanks. But I could be mistaken. Some mentioned using a round socket with fine sandpaper. Since you're such an indefatigable teacher, maybe when you got a chance to show us a picture. I'm a novice, and I'm learning a lot from this thread. While I have taken 3 IMs and the associated hard pipes out in the yard, I have yet to work (the hard pipes) on my own car, yet.

 

[kaboom28]

When I replaced my hard coolant pipes, the ends were already broken off and remained in the bores. I used a soldering iron with a "cut off" attachment and sliced through the plastic parts the long way, including the o-rings that were left behind. After slicing the plastic parts into many smaller pieces, it was then very easy to remove them. Doing it this way did not damage any of the aluminum. Once the plastic parts were removed, I used very fine wet-dry sandpaper glued to a long socket of the appropriate size and sanded the bore smooth. I dunked the wet-dry sandpaper in water frequently for lubrication. The bores came out smooth like a baby's bottom. Since I used 500, 1000, then 2000 grit sandpaper, I did not remove much, if any aluminum from the bores.

 

[Sapote]

Thanks. But I could be mistaken. Some mentioned using a round socket with fine sandpaper

fine sandpaper wrapped around a socket will take longer to clean up the residual on the bore. Beside, I don't use sand paper as I don't want to enlarge the bore.

 

[LL i am]

haven't done my hard pipes yet, just want to be prepared when i do. trying to learn on this thread. with Sapote's chopstick recommendation, i would think plastic trim removal tools (normally comes in blue color, just like what i have, or red) would be safe not to damage the bore. they come in various angle to retrieve small pieces out. thoughts?

 

[Sapote]

i would think plastic trim removal tools (normally comes in blue color, just like what i have, or red) would be safe not to damage the bore. they come in various angle to retrieve small pieces out. thoughts?

Too soft as a cutting tool. Try to bend these to 30 degrees and none will snap, and also has no razor sharp edges.
Go to Chinese dinner asking for plastic chopsticks and quietly keep them. When bent it snaps with razor edges.

 

[Bidno]

haven't done my hard pipes yet, just want to be prepared when i do. trying to learn on this thread. with Sapote's chopstick recommendation, i would think plastic trim removal tools (normally comes in blue color, just like what i have, or red) would be safe not to damage the bore. they come in various angle to retrieve small pieces out. thoughts?

If softer than aluminum, there will be no scratching - so yeah plastic tools should be okay. Yellow plastic tools are nylon and may be somewhat stronger/harder but okay on aluminum. May also file/shape plastic tools to sharpen or fit.

 

[fanatichuman]

If you cap the intake manifold port that goes to the vacuum canister, your exhaust flap (in the muffler) would stop working. Some folks prefer that since they get a slightly louder exhaust sound at idle and lower RPM's. In doing so, you would avoid potential vacuum leak between the canister and the muffler.

Side note - I always wondered if that vacuum canister has a one-way valve built in ....? Any reader knows if that's the case?

I think yes to the one-way valve in the vacuum canister. I just took the canister off the car today. The front hose was also missing, but the back hose was fine. When I took the back hose off I got the sound of air release from the vac canister. No idea when that front hose broke, but the canister was under vacuum the whole time!