Dear bomhauer,

Good p.m. and may this find you well. Hope you've gotten the thermostat housing bolts free, without using a nuclear device.

Brake cleaner can also be used to flush the flame trap. The plastic insert should be cleaned every 5K miles and replaced every 10K miles. This part costs about $3US, so it is pretty cheap preventive maintenance.

If the flame trap gets plugged, higher than permissible crankcase pressure forces oil past seals and gaskets. If oil is forced passed front seals, it ruins the timing belt. If oil is forced passed the rear main seal, the tranny has to be removed to replace the rear main seal.

In short, the flame trap - like one's honor - must be kept CLEAN.

Yours faithfully,

spook