Re: San Antonio area mechanic/Coolant leak

[Kneale Brownson <knotnook@traverse.com>]

It's about time for your heater control valve to begin disintegrating,
Tracy.  In my 4KQ and 5ktq cars, that valve is located near the firewall
behind the engine (approximately in front of the passenger seat), so I'd be
inclined to look for that.  I'm not familiar with the 90q, but if you have
electronic temperature controls, the valve will have a vacuum chamber with
a vacuum hose on top of it.  If you have cable-operated temperature
controls, there'll be a choke-type of cable coming through the firewall to
operate a valve that has a flat plate to provide anchorage for the cable.
In either case, the valves are plastic and have a tendency to break upon
failure.  They're all a Pain to change because of their location amidst a
maze of hoses and wiring, but the process itself is simple:  Drain off
coolant (I disconnected the bottom radiator hose and let it run into a
pail), disconnect  cable or vacuum hose, loosen two hose clamps, remove
valve, put in new, tighten hose clamps, connect cable or vacuum hose and
install coolant.

Kneale Brownson





At 04:02 PM 8/17/99 -0700, Tracy Glenz wrote:
>Does anyone know of a good mechanic in the San Antonio
>area? My '88 90q has a boo-boo - leaking coolant out
>of somewhere. Or if someone can advise me on what to
>look for as far as the leak goes, I'll gladly take
>that advice. It appears to be leaking somewhere almost
>underneath the front passenger floorboard. My
>technical expertise extends only to brake pads at this
>point. :)
>
>Thanks,
>Tracy
>
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