[TurboRay]

It's a crankcase breather canister, John.....it doesn't contain or route coolant. Inside, there's a "labyrinth" of sorts that's intended to draw the oil outta suspension from the blow-by vapors and allow it to drain back into the crankcase. Two hoses - with a PCV valve in between - connect it to the intake plenum.

They rarely go bad to the extent that they can't be cleaned (outside) with an electric wire brush &/or (inside) with a soaking in carb cleaner or a hot tank, followed with a water rinse. If yours has a pinhole, however, it might be worthwhile looking for another by placing a "Wanted" ad.....or, searching eBay ( <font color=blue>Example</font> ). :thumbup:

[John W.]

HA! Mine had a piece of generic parts-store heater hose, same as they used for the heater hoses & the oil filter cooler, so I figured it was coolant. That makes WAY more sense now. *SIGH* the joys of learning with someone else's project . . .

I was cleaning it up with a wire brush on a drill when I noticed the hole. You can just see the hole in the first picture. Does anybody have one to check? That hole isn't SUPPOSED to be there, is it??? :dunno: If it's supposed to look like that, I might just keep on de-lousing it and hope for the best?

[John W.]

I'm looking at the eBay example, I do not see a hole where mine has one. I'm thinking it's not supposed to be there.

[TurboRay]

I'm relatively-certain that the hole isn't supposed to be there, John.....my NOS one doesn't have it. But, if the surrounding metal is still intact and solid, you could probably just put a dab of epoxy or RTV over the hole and reuse it (first, however, make sure it flows freely). :thumbup:

[John W.]

Well, I did quite a bit of work on the 2.3T today. I think I'm calling it "clean enough" after this final round of degreaser (tonight) and wire brushing (tomorrow). The intake side was very easy to clean up, and looks really good. The exhaust side isn't quite down to bare metal in a lot of places, but the slag is so hard the chisel is making sparks when I strike it. I hammered on a particular bolt post for a good 20 minutes, and now I'm pretty sure I was chiseling on a casting number.

The oil separator is now officially ruined. I gave it a bath in chem-dip . . . and the hole got bigger. Then, being the curious fool that I am, I poked at it and now it's shaped suspiciously like a 1/4" blade of a flat screwdriver. I'm not sure how this thing got this rusted, but it's truly awful! At least it happened before reassembly!

I'm still struggling with my crankshaft timing sprocket. I was going to cut it, but it's REALLY hard. Then I was going to drill it, but it's REALLY hard - I barely scratched it with a brand new 1/8" bit. Then I tried pulling it again, and absolutely destroyed a cheap Chinese jaw puller from O'Reilley's. I have another, heavier one, but the jaws are too big to fit in the cover groves and grip the sprocket. I'd rather not grind them down, but I might have to. Any other success stories on this stupid thing?

Also, I put a new fuel pump on the Falcon on Thursday and magically solved my poor fuel mileage, hard strarting, and the odor of gasoline at long stoplights! It reminded me the fuel pump is going to be another one of the problems I face when I start to install the EFI engine. :/

[dsrace]

looks very good!

[TurboRay]

Originally posted by John W.:


I'm still struggling with my crankshaft timing sprocket.


Any.....success stories on this stupid thing?

Those sintered-iron t/belt sprockets can sometimes get rusted to the crank snout so tight that you'd swear they're welded on, John. When they're that stuck, I don't waste much time on 'em. Instead, I place a large cold chisel on the corner of the sprocket adjacent to the keyway and smack the snot out of it with a BFH.

The "wedging action" of the chisel WILL crack the sprocket the full length of the keyway (usually on about the 2nd or 3rd whack) and the sprocket will then slide off fairly easy. Obviously, you'll need a new sprocket - but at least they're plentiful and fairly cheap. :thumbup:

[John W.]

I started with a 16oz hammer and a 1/2" cold chisel. I ended today with a new 5lbs hammer and a stick that used to look like a 1/2" cold chisel.

We're gonna need a bigger, better chisel...

[TurboRay]

My Snap-on "dead-blow" hammer is only 32ozs, John - but my HD cold chisel is about 8-in long and has a 3/4W - 7/8W cutting edge.

I can't ever remember having to strike the corner of a 2.3 crank sprocket (at the KEYWAY) more than 3 times before it split.....SORRY you're having so much trouble! :dunno:

[Sevensecondsuv]

Would heat be a good option?