I have this old truck my Grandpa grave me.  It was my first car.  I got it when I was 15.  It is a 1984 Chevy K10 Scottsdale 6.2L Diesel with read paint an a four speed manual transmission.  The “K” in K10 means it is a 4×4 as well.  I always loved this truck when I was kid.  I thought it was the coolest truck in the world.  It was a go anywhere and do anything adventure rig.  Gramps gave me the truck when it had about 190 thousand miles on it.  Today it has about 260 thousand.  It still runs, but needs a fair amount of TLC.  Eventually I want to restore it to it’s original glory, but first things first.

Oil fill tube 6.2L Detroit Diesel

The last time I started this truck I noticed a a heavy mist of engine coolant spraying everywhere in my garage.  Thinking it was merely worn radiator hoses I replaced those, the thermostat, and the thermostat housing gasket.  Pleased with my work I dutifully poured more anti-freeze back in the radiator only to have most, but not all of what I poured spill onto my garage floor through the water-pump weep-hole.

Radiator return line 6.2L Detroit Diesel

The water pump replacement has turned out to be a big job.  Both the alternator and the power steering pump need to come off, so I am replacing those as well.  The water pump doesn’t come off on it’s own.  You need to remove the water pump plate it is attached to as well.  Removing this plate exposes the timing chain.  That should be fun when I get to it.  Before any of that can happen both the oil fill tube and the radiator return line need to be removed.  The oil fill tube came off with what felt like the best balance of strength and gentle finesse I could muster to wiggle it out of the hole in the front of the engine block.  The radiator return line required a pry bar and was so old and rotten it spit apart as I removed it.

Coolant return blocking water pump plate access 6.2L Detroit Diesel

After this a I set about cleaning the gunk off of the remaining bolts so I could break them free.  I got what I felt was all of them until I saw one hiding behind the radiator return line hose mount.  I tried a 13mm on the bolt but could not get enough leverage.  My choices are to remove the hose mount or get a longer 13mm wrench.  I decide to remove the hose mount which naturally requires a 22mm wrench.  A wrench I don’t have.  After an hour round trip to Harbor Freight I have a new set of wrenches and half inch sockets to deal with the larger bolt size.  I decide to quit while I’m ahead and take a few photos before I call it a day.