cooling sustem

[brackie1]

Has anyone installed A flush and fill kit in their heater inlet hose? If so does it work or help in getting air out of the system?

Gene
North Carolina

[So Cal Mark]

it's a great thing to add, we put them on every car

[garion]

Thats one of more common mods.. It does help, but you still need to be careful.. WHat I do (And I'm no means an expert..)

1. Have the lower rad hose disconnected from the tstat, fill radiator until its to the top of that lower hose. Connect hose to tstat.
2. Finish filling the rad, as it gets to the top, go slowly, bumping the car every so often to fluid to more places...
3. Finish by pouring in the new T in the heater hose.

That works pretty well for me.

[brackie1]

Thanks for the replies. I am replacing the rad and thought I might as well put one on since disconnecting everything anyway. One question though. After filling system and is engine has been burped do you open the flusher valve to let additional air out?

Gene
North Carolina

[azruss]

I added one of these when i got my car going. I filled the system as much as i could thru the radiator cap, then topped the rest up through the heater line filler. As I recalled, i ran the car with the small filler opened and added coolant as needed. make sure the level is proper in the overflow tank. run enough cycles to get the stat to open. After it cools, open the little filler and top it up so there is no air there. should be good after that.

[brackie1]

Thanks arzuss

[brackie1]

well an interesting problem has occurred. I installed a new rad. and the flush kit. things went well for a week or so. now all of a sudden my rad. is kicking out fluid into the reservoir to the point that the reservoir is blowing fluid out the top. the old rad did the same thing but not to this extent. I have started taken fluid out of the reservoir and then restarting the car and letting it heat back up then it blows back out again. can you put too much fluid in the rad. starting the car cold the fluid level in the rad is below the core. the rad came with a cap is there a chance the cap could be too high a pressure cap. my mechanic said it should finally equal out between the rad and the reservoir but I wonder.

any advise will be appreciated.

[DanD]

Radiator cap, thermostat or head gasket. If the car was run low on fluid and overheated by the previous owner, chances are the head gasket is bad, and possibly the head is warped. if you can do a timing belt, you can do the head gasket job.

http://www.arrowheadradiator.com/head_g ... k_test.htm

[coise]

Sound like a head gasket to me . You probably have some burnt gases going into your cooling system. I´ve seen radiator cap do that too but sadly, less likely...

[brackie1]

the thing is, I have had the car little over a year and it never over heated. I have been very careful in watching it. I do think my temp gauge is lying to me sometimes it will show around 220 but when I check it with a thermal indicator it's 190. the fan comes on when it should. So I don't think overheating that would have caused the head gasket to warp is the problem. if the head gasket is warped wouldn't it run badly? the car runs great.

[azruss]

The fact that it was doing this before the new radiator would indicate a gas leak in the head gasket enough to superheat the coolant at that location. It is possible your radiator cap is bad and not holding pressure. If the thermostat stayed closed then the bottom of the radiator would stay closed and the temp gage would read high. Also if you temp gage reads high may be an indication of the head getting too hot locally around the sending unit. Now we are back to the head gasket.

[brackie1]

let me clarify. The old rad did it occasionally but never completely filled the reservoir. I drove it almost everyday during the spring and summer without a problem. The temp would sometimes get up to 220 but then most of the time it ran around 190. The problem I am having now did not start until I installed the new rad and flush kit. I'm certainly not a mechanic, but I just can't understand how it could be the head gasket. There is no fluid in the oil, and there are no oil leaks around the head gasket. The new rad came with a cap. Is there a chance that the cap is allowing too much pressure to build up forcing the transfer of fluid to the reservoir. I would just like to eliminate all other possibilities before replacing the head gasket. when I drove it the other nite it filled the reservoir to the point that the reservoir threw the excess out. the temp got up to 220 and stayed there for a few miles but then cooled down to 190 and stayed there for the rest of the trip which was about 30 miles.

[RoyBatty]

I am willing to bet that you do in fact have combustion gasses leaking into the cooling system. Most likely from the head gasket.
I have experienced your exact symptoms.
Head gasket was blown.
Time for a differential compression test of the cylinders.

[brackie1]

yeah you are probably right. will schedule it tomorrow. thanks for everyone's help. will let you know what I find out.

Gene
North Carolina

[brackie1]

well I am reporting back on my rad fluid through out. went to the local auto parts store and bought a rad cap that their computer recommended. it was a 13lbs pressure cap. installed it and brought the car up to 190. shut it off and unscrewed the upper heater hose flush valve to relieve the pressure. allowed the fluid to over flow until it stopped. then took off the new rad cap filled rad with fluid replaced all caps. then drove car for 45 min. temp gauge never moved above 180. no over flow. problem apparently solved. will watch.

Gene
North Carolina