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Bee's in my booster


Logical1

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I just cannot make this shit up, Working on re-building a couple of 720's and I had to let them sit for a bit during the fall while I had the engines out. Recently dropped the engine back in and have been hooking everything back up and I noticed both the coils and the brake booster vacuum inlet were full of 'dirt' Turned out to BEE mud wasps nesting. I cleaned the coil outputs fine and did my best to slowly scratch away the dirt from the booster with a vacuum and a small screw driver. Most of the "material" looked to get sucked up into the vacuum, however I am curious if there is any other action I should take? I have never taken apart a booster, only replaced them. Should I rinse it with water and hope to suck it out? My gut says, leave it alone and it will BEE fine. Thoughts?

 

Also, Just curious... one of these trucks has a PRISTINE aftermarket radiator and the other has a stock rad in decent shape. The newer radiator is aluminum with plastic housing on top and bottom. The other rad is a decent stocker but has several deflected finned areas. Which would you chose to put in your vehicle? 

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We had a bad wasp problem here in NorCal last year. So bad that I even called my bug guy to see what he could do. Yes, bees make nests just about anywhere. So bad that bees have made the diagnostic check list. EVAP problems? Check your purge solenoid vent for mud bees, and so on...

 

Do not take apart a booster. Leave that to the rebuilders. There is a shop here in Sacramento that rebuilds boosters - https://powerbrakes.com/

 

I don't mess around with parts that could kill you if they fail.

 

Stock brass radiators last a lot longer than aluminum and are repairable. Aluminum/plastic radiators are throwaway.

Edited by Stoffregen Motorsports
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I had mud daubers in the uncapped fuel tank on my other rig.  Nests were in other places as well, like on top of the oily transmission and on the side of the transfer case.  They look like machined holes in the casting of the transfercase behind the transmission, but it is just mud.

 

1096445190_muddaubers.thumb.jpg.4230d4cf82740ff37c13595538e6fb54.jpg

 

Maybe you can be on the look out for another booster?

 

I heard of people attaching a catch tank on an engine with too much blow by, to get oil out of the intake.  Possibly something like this to make sure that the engine doesn't swallow any sand and grind that on top of a piston ring?

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I lost my OEM radiator to the solder joints on the tabs that hold the mounting screws.  Too much vibration, after one let loose.  The radiator was then cut open by the fan, and I was left losing coolant on gravel county road with little hope for a AAA tow, so I winged it to pavement.  I'm now running a plastic one.  I'd go with anything that isn't clogged or corroded.  My plastic one seemed to keep the temp gauge a bit lower, at least initially.  The first time that I changed the coolant, nothing came out of the block, but poking around with a wire, I eventually got the jacket to drain.

 

There are mason bees, which would love a tube about the size of booster hose.  People even order them for their gardens and farms.  Then there are mud daubers, wasps, which really enjoyed the habitat, along with pack rats, of my not so sealed sleepy Land Cruiser.

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I am not sure if it was a mud dauber, it looked like I had dropped the brake booster down in the dirt and it had jammed the inlet full of dirt. I am pretty sure its fine as I took my time and slowed vac cleaned out the cocoon and dirt. I was just curious how fragile the booster diaphragm is and if I should take additional steps. 

 

As for my radiator, I am leaning towards using the new one as I feel the same as you do. The old solder joints are most likely brittle and the 40+ year old corrosion is not conducive to better cooling or longevity.  I do believe many many many original Japanese made parts will be far superior to modern reproductions, I do my best to use rational, deduction, and logic to decide which is best... With some help from friends! 

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Supposedly there are probe cameras available.  They are inexpensive and probably cheap.  It could be a good tool, for your booster, and looking into the engine, etc.  However, I'd bet that you would have to run a third party app on a phone/tablet to make the camera work.  That was a failure for me when I bought a drone to do garden and landscape photo/survey.  The app wouldn't actually take the still photo from the camera, and, the OS would disconnect from the wi-fi signal after a minute, as it wasn't connect to the internet.  They gave it the name "wi-fi cam" (all lower case) which keeps everyone in a haystack when searching with a web browser for reviews and assistance.

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