Rad/Coolant problems

[Ninjabread]

Hey guys, while i was doing my oil flush yesterday, i decided to change the thermostat and flush my cooling system. Rad is dumped, new thermostat is in and i let the block drain too. I follow the FSM directions and fill my rad while the air relief plug is open, and proceed to close everything and start the motor. Under ideal conditions, when warm, the thermostat would have opened, let the coolant into the block and the level in the rad would have gone down, and i would have topped it up. Well, it seems that i must have an air bubble or something because i dont think water is flowing through the block.

I thought maybe it wasn't getting hot enough so i took it for a spin around the block. Obviously the car got realllly warm (temp gauge showed normal though) and i think my rad overflowed because I had coolant all over the bottom/front part of the engine compartement.

I don't know what to do at this point so if you have any ideas, throw them my way, any help is appreciated. Sorry for the long winded post.

Thanks,

-Matt

CLIFF NOTES: COOLANT DOESNT SEEM TO BE FLOWING IN THE SYSTEM. HELP!

[MadScientist]

Take off the top hose off at the Radiator and put a garden hose in the radiator at full power. Start the car and let run. Water should be coming out of the Top Radiator hose... Warning it will be HOT and its not going to flow as fast as the water being shoved in the Radiator by the Garden Hose.

If you are getting no return your water pump is bad.

Anyone correct me if I'm wrong.

Peace
Drew

[Ninjabread]

My shop class teacher suggested that i take that hose off, but we were in a hurry so I didn't quite catch what he meant to say. So if i get this right, take the upper rad hose off at the rad and put a hose into the top of the rad and let her rip while the car is running? The only problem i see with this is that I put antifreeze in seeing that winter and -40*C weather is comming, and i dont want it going all to waste if it's all gonna leak out.

thanks for the help though.

[Creizai]

Originally Posted by Matt89

My shop class teacher suggested that i take that hose off, but we were in a hurry so I didn't quite catch what he meant to say. So if i get this right, take the upper rad hose off at the rad and put a hose into the top of the rad and let her rip while the car is running? The only problem i see with this is that I put antifreeze in seeing that winter and -40*C weather is comming, and i dont want it going all to waste if it's all gonna leak out.

thanks for the help though.

He want you to do this so you can get out any bubbles or anythign that is stopping it from flowing (And just to see if its not your waterpump). You always drain out some water while putting back in antifreeze.

[Ninjabread]

I think i might have airlock. I think there is no water in my block, and therefore the thermostat is not heating up and not opening. Weird thing is i have hot air comming from my vents... so confused.

[MadScientist]

Get an oil pan or something of size that will hold the new fluid you already have in your car. drain from the lower hose so its not so messy and easy to control. Reconect the lower hose and preform the test as first mentioned... when you done you can drain the water the same way.

Thremo should open even if water wasn't pressent... also water sitting will create steam and cause enough pressure to open the thermo.

Cooling systems are very simple systems.
My Water Temp Gauge reads about 75 deg. Celcius (167 deg F) at idle... this is right at what a stock Thermo will open at. I have a pre-warning light set @ 80 C. (176 F) and a Critical set at about 95 C (200 F).

Let me know...
Peace
Drew

[Ninjabread]

Alright let me just get this straight. I pull off my upper hose at the rad, and shove my garden hose into the rad itself turn my water on and it should come out of the (now disconnected) upper hose? i thought the system flowed the other way?Correct me if im wrong

I dont know if i mentionned before, but we put in about 4l (it should take around 7, according to FSM) and we run the car, and it seems like no water is leaving the rad to go into the block. So i was thinking we could open the drain plug on the block, pour some water in from the upper rad hose (where it goes into the block) and that would be a better start.

I just dont see your method working because the system is meant to flow the other way. Anyway, im done fooling around with it for tonight but ill try again tomorow because i'll have the whole night off.

Thanks for the help Drew.

[MadScientist]

If you feel short of water in the block you can force water from the Garden hose into upper Radiator hose and into the block while the car is off. Before doing the test you may want to use a Radiator Clean Fluid... just maybe something is being blocked by rust or contamination.

When I first started to do this I though the same thing... I though Up was In and Bottom was Out. That would be a Gravity feed system in the Block and water would flow faster, also if you ever came up stort of water in the Radiator, even a little, you would burn the block... so its not a practical system, however it is when you gravity feed on the Radiator side.

Glad to help.

Peace
Drew

[Ninjabread]

We tried pouring water into the upper rad hose, to no effect, i guess because there is no air comming out to let the water replace it, ill try forcing it in tomorow.

[Jung918]

Other people have mentioned lifting the front of the car to help get the air out.
When I did it, I just turned on the heater and rev the car to 2k or so with the bleed open.

[Ninjabread]

yea we did try that, but like i said, the water stays in the rad.

[Dream240]

I'm just wondering, how long did you let the car run before you gave up on the thremostat not opening?

Just a thought, you DID put the thermostat in the right way? If it's backwards then thats your problem.

I doubt it's your water pump. Easy answer....the car wasn't overheating before you started the cooling flush, and the water pump won't just spontaneously break.

RE-check the thermostat direction and follow standard coolant fill procedures. Give it time to heat up! Also keep squeezing the upper hose to help push air out of the system. Leave that bleeder screw open while bleeding.

[blownoffvalve]

let us know the update on the problem so we all can learn something. Thanks!

[Ninjabread]

Alright, after much worrying (for nothing) i finally took the car out for a 10 minute drive and everything was OK. I guess it just needed the extra little bubles of air to come out, the level of fluid in the rad went down quite a bit, and it also went down in my reservoir. Just needed to top it up.

Lesson learned: Fill it, run it, fill it up again, take it for a drive and as long as it doesn't overheat, dont worry. Top up when needed.

[sccrstar011]

Hey I feel your pain. I had to put a new heater core in and lost a lot of coolant in the process. My friend told me to re-fill the radiator, top off the the resivoir, and then squeeze on all of the coolant hoses to try and force some of the air out(do this with the radiator cap off). Re-top off the radiator and start the car with the cap off and let it run until the car starts to heat up(this should get some more of the air out). After that I started the car and took it for a test drive. It started to get hot so I turned the car off and let it sit until cool. After running for awhile the air bubbles worked themselves out. Just keep an eye on your temp gauge and your fluid level and youll be good to go.

[Ninjabread]

Just an update on this thread because i'm having more problems. Now i find out my water pump is leaking, you can see coolant dripping from what looks to be some sort of drain hole.


You can see it on this picture, its the hole in between the ribs. So what now, i need a new water pump?

[S14DB]

Yep, that's a weep hole.

[Ninjabread]

supposedly it means my water pump is on its way out.. yay, more downtime.