Testing phase over we go to cleaning the AAV
Ok, this after noon I removed my AAV for testing Pn# 0280140017.
2 x 4mm hex screws held it in place and when she popped out of the jacket I lost half a cup of coolant and no more.
I gave her a quick squirt of brake cleaner to get rid of any grunge on the outside and wiped the bulb on the bottom clean so it was ready for testing.
I noted that the bulb has -30 celcius stamped on the bottom, any idea what that's about?
Anyway, with a kettle full of boiled water, a pyrex jug and my thermocouple and multimeter telling me the temp was @ 90 degree's I immersed the bulb and base of the AAV in the water and watched the slide to see if it closed by blowing down the outlet.
Yes the slide moved to almost closed but air still freely passed through the valve even though it was now too hot to hold in my hands.
So the unit is faulty and slow to move.
Next step meant back to the bench where I had a few cans of brake cleaner and some parts wash along with an empty 5 lt oil bottle with the side completely cut out.
I usually try for a nice bright colour but today all I had was a grey bottle as the colour helps to show how much crap is being washed out of the part you are cleaning and I wasn't disappointed with a fair amount of fine black dust washing out into the oil container.
BTW I alternated between the cheapy degreaser @ $2 a can and the brake cleaner to get good results with a bit of a soak.
Why? Because brake cleaner evaporates quickly and degreaser does not.
Ive also used a trans fluid 1 lt bottle to soak the AAV fully immersed in parts wash fluid and tomorrow after a blast out with brake cleaner and then compressed air I will test the closing and speed again before going to step 2.
Day 3 and more soaking overnight, I removed the AAV from the wash and gave it another blast of brake cleaner washing out a substantial amount of fine black grit before dropping the valve back into the wash, tomorrow I give it a final clean with brake cleaner and leave it to dry before another 80 celcius dunk test, if that fails to close the valve all the way I will try pinching the bulb in the vice or with vice grips to see if that method works and retest again!
Tony