Really?? No "how-to" for coolant flush in the tech articles

[97RangerXLT]

yep, I do think a basic auto maintenance 101 would be a nice thing to have for the newbies. and as I pointed out, this is a great time for the OP to step up and fill a niche You got this @91stranger

that might be something we can all do. doing a repair/ maint on your truck? look to see if it is posted in the tech forum or stickied in a sub forum. If not, create a how to while you are doing it. post up your plan, get it submitted and get the cool "article contributor" banner under your avatar

stay tuned for a steering rebuild how to... may be a few weeks or months before I have time to write it up, but it will happen...

AJ

 

[Curious Hound]

To: 91stranger. Sorry. We're all volunteers here and many of us are a bit lazy and)or busy. The How To Tech articles are written by members who take time out of their schedule, after doing whatever task they just completed on their vehicle and sit down at their computer, write an article, include pictures (that may need editing for file size or clarity), then submit the article to the forum staff for inclusion in the site. Many have ideas for articles they think they should write, but lack the time and ambition to actually do it since another vehicle repair, home repair or family obligation comes along and takes higher priority. So the more mundane articles rarely get written.

My recommendation would be; go to your local parts store. Buy a bottle of Prestone coolant flush stuff. Also get the little pack from Prestone with the flush tee and hose connector in it and 2 gallons of undiluted antifreeze. Follow the instructions in the package. Make sure you get all the air out of the system. There are many threads in this forum about venting the air out if these cooling systems. If you have the time, write and submit an article for the website. Pictures and videos would be really cool in your article. Then the next guy who needs the article will be thankful to you.

 

[Bill]

How to fill gas in NJ -

Step #1 Pull into gas station
Step #2 tell the guy to fill the tank
Step #3 give the guy money

It's almost the same in OR.

1) Pull into the gas station.
2) Wait for the attendant to acknowledge you.
3) Continue waiting for the attendant to acknowledge you.
4) Continue to wait further for the attendant to acknowledge you.
5) Start the engine so you can run the air conditioner because it is now hotter than hell in your truck.
6) When the attendant comes running over to tell you not to idle your engine tell him you have been sitting there waiting for someone to fill your tank.
7) When tank is finished filling, pay and leave.

 

[Dirtman]

I give them about 20 seconds before I just get out and pump it myself...

 

[Bill]

I give them about 20 seconds before I just get out and pump it myself...

I tried that. The pumps require a key to work, so no gas came out. It did cause them to panic and I was chastized about the dangers of pumping gas myself. Of course, my reply was that just about everyone else in the country pumps their own gas and I haven't heard of anyone setting themselves on fire at a gas station.

 

[91stranger]

As much fun as it sounds writing a detailed story about how to flush the coolant I'd rather just do the job and get it done. My point was having something called "how-to tech" on a forum should include the basics. If there are article contributors and staff for a forum then they should be working on adding stuff to the how to sections. Member contributions are great because they offer real life issues that would come up rather than the youtube video of the guy working on a rust free 3 year old car with no issues. That's what I was really looking for was the stuff members found that was helpful, not helpful, the right way or another way that's not anywhere else online. I know the basics when it comes to a coolant flush but just like reading about others experiences. What else does the staff have to do on here? I would think adding helpful articles should be something they could easily do. FYI, I am not trying to start shit with anyone on here about this, I'm just saying....

 

[Snoranger]

What else does the staff have to do on here? I would think adding helpful articles should be something they could easily do.

You know they don't get paid to do this, right? They have jobs, families, trucks to fix, etc. I would think that writing a how-to on opening a drain valve, closing it, then refilling the fluid is not high on anyone's priority list.

Edit:
I just realized I wrote a coolant flush how-to article in the last paragraph. I should add pics and submit it.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Ya know... you could be right.

With the generous salary... expence account... and paid vacation time the moderators get here... they should do some thing!

 

[Snoranger]

Ya know... you could be right.

With the generous salary... expence account... and paid vacation time the moderators get here... they should do some thing!

Lazy, good for nothin' kids these days!!

 

[Curious Hound]

As much fun as it sounds writing a detailed story about how to flush the coolant I'd rather just do the job and get it done. My point was having something called "how-to tech" on a forum should include the basics. If there are article contributors and staff for a forum then they should be working on adding stuff to the how to sections. Member contributions are great because they offer real life issues that would come up rather than the youtube video of the guy working on a rust free 3 year old car with no issues. That's what I was really looking for was the stuff members found that was helpful, not helpful, the right way or another way that's not anywhere else online. I know the basics when it comes to a coolant flush but just like reading about others experiences. What else does the staff have to do on here? I would think adding helpful articles should be something they could easily do. FYI, I am not trying to start shit with anyone on here about this, I'm just saying....

The real life "what's helpful and what's not helpful" info is in the forum threads, which can be searched. Not trying to give you a hard time. But this forum, in its entirety is a hobby. It is all voluntary. It is not a business with people being paid to write content. There is no central TRS building with offices and shop with lifts and computers and dynos and test track with a bustling staff trying to figure out all there is to know about Rangers and other Ranger based vehicles. Everything here is done by volunteers. Even Jim, the owner of the site does this purely out of his own enthusiasm for these vehicles.

Maintaining a website takes a lot of time. Time to create content, time to make sure security is updated, time to check for and remove spam and debris from hackers, time to make sure forum members are not abusing their privileges or each other. Therefore, some responsible members have committed to volunteer their time to assist with all this work so we can enjoy it. Any money from membership fees and advertising goes toward paying fees for the domain name registration, leasing server space and any other miscellaneous overhead costs. It isn't free. All the content here has come from volunteer efforts.

Some websites have paid staff. Those would be companies like Ford or Motortrend or oil companies or parts suppliers. But this is not like that. So if you see something lacking, jump in and help out in that area.

 

[Bgunner]

I would do a write up on it, since I do have so much extra time, but when I got my truck 2 years ago the radiator was bad so the system got flushed and a radiator was installed so I don't have pics and vids' to add in. I to agree that basics have a place in the "how to's" seeing since when I need info that is the very first place I go to look. While my skill level is much higher than those that would be looking for How to do a coolant flush article I can see the need for it for those just starting to pull wrenches.

I personally have difficulty sifting through the forums, even while using the search function, for the info I'm looking for so to have it in one section would be great help.

If I pick up a flush or radiator job I'll do a write up on it but till then I can't see spending the money on flushing a perfectly good system just for this write up.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

As much fun as it sounds writing a detailed story about how to flush the coolant I'd rather just do the job and get it done. My point was having something called "how-to tech" on a forum should include the basics. If there are article contributors and staff for a forum then they should be working on adding stuff to the how to sections. Member contributions are great because they offer real life issues that would come up rather than the youtube video of the guy working on a rust free 3 year old car with no issues. That's what I was really looking for was the stuff members found that was helpful, not helpful, the right way or another way that's not anywhere else online. I know the basics when it comes to a coolant flush but just like reading about others experiences. What else does the staff have to do on here? I would think adding helpful articles should be something they could easily do. FYI, I am not trying to start shit with anyone on here about this, I'm just saying....

Adding helpful articles is something we do. Most if not all the staff (and many members) are article contributors.

This whole thing is a community effort.

 

[Shran]

Having written several tech articles for TRS, I will tell you that it's not something that you just whip out in a few minutes. There's the actual "doing" part, documenting it, editing, and making sure everything is factually correct before publishing it... just an oil change article could take a couple hours to do and may not even apply to everyone, considering all the drivetrain variations over the years.

You need to realize that TRS is by far the premier resource for RBV owners and it's not helpful to complain about a service that you're getting for free. If you feel it's lacking somewhere, contribute a tech article or two! And, become a supporting member!

TRS would not be here without the support of its members, as 85 said, it's absolutely a community effort.

 

[Bill]

Adding helpful articles is something we do. Most if not all the staff (and many members) are article contributors.

This whole thing is a community effort.

I wish I had thought of that when I replaced my water pump. I've seen a lot of posts wherein people had a hard time with the water pump on the 2.3L Duratec. The hardest part about replacing mine was that I had to do it in 105 degree weather which made me just want to get the job done and thus, I removed two bolts that appeared to be for the water pump, but were for the timing cover. Since the water pump wouldn't budge because it was still bolted in place and it was too hot to continue, I decided to finish the job after sunset. At that point, using a flashlight, it was clear removed the wrong bolts. After removing the correct bolts the pump fell out with no problem. I've read many posts where people were hammering on these water pumps, trying to twist them out with pipe wrenches, using torches, all kinds of tricks because they couldn't get the pump out. I'm convinced they either didn't maintain the cooling system and some corrosion made it difficult to remove, or they removed the bolts for the timing cover. So, I guess the important thing here is to use the correct coolant (there is a Youtube video where someone had green coolant come out of a Duratec) and if something doesn't come loose, double-check that you have removed all the fasteners.

 

[91stranger]

All I was saying is that there are staff members on here quite regularly so why wouldn't they be trying to make the forum better by adding more to the how to section? If they have such a love for RBV's then it shouldn't be an issue, right? Anyone whos worked on a car/truck knows that its never as easy as what the instructions say on how to replace something. You say "all you gotta do is drain it and refill it" bullshit... there's more to it than that and that's what I was getting at with this topic. Not everyone one knows the right way to do stuff so they look for how to's before they screw something up. Instead everyone would rather talk about clam chowda or diss 2.9s all day. I grew up without a dad or any kind of father figure so I had to learn automotive repairs on my own. When something broke I bought the right tools, took it apart, figured out how to fix it by either figuring it out myself, looking it up online or getting a friend who knows more about cars than I did and went at it until it was fixed. So there could be more people in that same boat as I was growing up. If you want to be the best damn ranger forum then you should cover the basics as well as the hard stuff.