SeanMiller063

Alright guys I need help with my coolant system please!

3 core aluminum radiator
CRS electric waterpump
Dual electric fans
180° T stat (some 1/8th holes drilled on the flat part)
Tstat bypass blocked off

Trying to burb the system today all was going well lifted the front burbed more moved to coolant hoses squeezed a bit did this for about 20 to 30 minutes put down took for test ride. Got back popped hood coolant cap pissing slowly took off a little bit of overflow not terrible but kept bubbling over no matter what I would do and it started poring over like crazy so i shut the car off and boom it went up in the air like a volcano turned the water pump back on and it slowed down but still overflowing into the air a bit.

What did i do wrong any advice or help?

Gary M

Is the cap new. Aluminum radiators are very good at cooling.

Fun71

Do you have a temperature gauge? If so,what was the temp while driving and idling?
Do you have an open system or a closed system with an overflow jug?

As for burping the system, I never really bother with that. Top off the radiator, the drive it, let it cool down, then top it off again and all is well. This is with a closed system and overflow jug.

Gary M

What motor?
Is there a spring in the lower hose?
Fans and sensor wired correctly?
Did car run cool before you added all this?
As Fun71 said. Check the temps with a external gauge.

SeanMiller063

I just bought a new cap aith a temp guage on it hopefully it works a bit better gonna get the no drip funnel for coolany systems to hopefully i can get this thinggo8ng any ideas?

SeanMiller063

Car ran alright before hand, its a 455, what do you mean by spring in the lower hose? Fans are wired on off sucking fans

MDchanic

What was the temperature of the engine?

Why all of these modifications?

Did you have an overflow jug?

How high did you fill the radiator?

What were you using for coolant?

In general, these systems do not have to be burbed (or even burped). They do not generally have places for air pockets to form.


The lower radiator hose should have a spring inside it to prevent it collapsing.


- Eric

76olds

I've always filled the rad up 3/4 of the way or top of the trans cooler. Start the car keep it at high idle for about 10-15 minutes, adding coolant as it drops below the 3/4 mark or top of trans cooler.
After the 10-15 min mark put the heater on full defrost HEAT. If you get heat this means your t-stat has opened.
After the 10-15 minute mark you should see coolant flowing through the tubes, coolant will be very hot.
Now that the coolant is flowing good through the tubes (visibly) top off the rad with coolant on high idle, put the cap on.
Let the car idle normally for a few minutes before shutting it off, then turn the car off and watch for the coolant to push into the overflow jug.
Should be good to go top off the overflow jug to hot line.
Hope this helps
Eric

Gary M

Since it ran good before you can concentrate on things that you just changed. Was the system sized for your application? Verify the fans are pulling into the engine compartment. Since it overflowed ( has it since) and yet still is the level good in the radiator. Just to verify you did not overfill it the first time. What else did you change?

cwb442

With radiator cap of cycle the coolant system quite a few times(YouTube) to get all air out of it. If you still have problems there's something else going on. Mechanical water pumps and fans are rock solid reliable, that's why they came that way. Unless your running an engine that creates some abnormal excessive heat I would never go otherwise. Also maybe try 160 stat. Just my opinion.

SeanMiller063

Burped* damn typos
Puller fans*

Why,
water pump was leaking
Radiator was garbage
Fans.. because a mechanical fan doesnt work on an electric water pump.
Coolant is/was dexcool 50/50 now mostly water
I do have an overflow
Filled it 95% of the way

MDchanic

Okay. That answers that.

You've got an effective coolant and it is okay to fill it all the way if you are using an overflow jug.

I am ASSuming you had the 50:50 in there when it was boiling over, and it wasn't mostly water.

How much coolant actually came out when it boiled?

Have you tested the cap to be sure it is holding 16 pounds?

Have you done a compression and leakdown test? That is: Are you sure the head gaskets are good?

Without temperature measurements, there is nothing else to say, so we will wait.
You mentioned a cap with a temperature gauge somewhere above. I would strongly advise installing a proper temperature gauge, and also getting an infrared thermometer, which will allow you to take spot readings at different points as you figure this out.

- Eric

oldcutlass

Are you saying that there was coolant pushing into the over flow jug while the engine was idling? Then you messed (loosened) with the radiator cap and it popped off into the overflow tank?

SeanMiller063

Yeah plan was to get a good temp guage s well as a few others here shortly but i wanted to get the car running today

SeanMiller063

No, it the radiator cap I took it off after it started to flow over but what concerned me the most was without the cap on when I shut the car off it shot up about 4 feet

oldcutlass

When you depressurized the system the water temp was over 210. Without it, the coolant started to boil inside the block and then blew out.

MDchanic

+1.

- Eric

SeanMiller063

Oh is that why it took a minute to shoot up after taking the cap off

steverw

Are the radaitor and electric water pump both new? As in you just installed them, and this is the result? If so is it possible either one had some kind of plugs in the water passages to keep out dirt and debris during manufacturing and shipping, plugs that the buyer should take out before installation? If so then there would be an obstruction to flow. Sorry to ask this but its something i might forget to check for, i dont even know if they put in plugs or caps like im refering to, so again just askin.

Gary M

Fill it back up to correct level. Test again. If same result:
Verify cap is compatible with aluminum radiator, verify electric water pump is right one, (would not be the first time I heard of a store selling the wrong pump). I'm not saying accuse them, just verify by other means. Also is it possible the new thermostat is defective? I would start with verifying first then replace the new thermostat last.

76olds

MD Eric touched on a compression/leakdown test... if the coolant spewed out 4 feet in the air as you mentioned...Then I think MD was onto something with a head gasket. I can see it depressurising and spewing out ohhh 4-5" thats ok. More than that well talk further with MD Eric.

SeanMiller063

Thank you for your input! This is something I checked for while installation as I wanted to do it all correctly the first time on this one.. any help is appreciated guys. I'll try again tomorrow with the new radiator cap I'm thinking the other one was junk and thats why it was leaking out causing me to take it off leading to the overflowing and shutting the engine off leading the coolant to shoot out like that.. I'm guessing ny system is mostly water now as I refilled it mostly with water and cleaned up before giving up for the day.

SeanMiller063

Yea it was at a minimum 2 feet straight out of the open radiator. Tomorrow I'm goint to jack the cars front up and run it for a bit refilling it as I go and after ill put the new cap on and test drive hopefully it will be solved and if not Ill check the T stat by putting it in some boiling water.

oldcutlass

As was suggested earlier, a mechanical temp gauge will tell you what the temp is actually doing. It will also indicate whether you have air in the system because you will get wild swings in temperature. I agree the rad cap is probably defective.

SeanMiller063

Currently thinking T stat. I'm going to let the car cool down then pull it out and pop it in some boiling water

SeanMiller063

Well not the T stat was open

oldcutlass

Buy a temp gauge, start the car and watch the coolant in the radiator as the engine warms up. You can see when the thermostat opens because the level in the radiator will drop a bit and the coolant will flow. Make note of the temp on your gauge. Put the new cap on your radiator and go for a ride. If there are no wild temp swings on the gauge, generally there is no air in the system. Monitor your temps and let us know what they are at cruise speeds, stop and go traffic, and after idling for about 15-20 mins.

76olds

^^^^ X2^^^^^ The best advice !!

tmaleck

I had a geyser on my system once or twice as well working out the bugs. Do you have a shroud, or are the fans mounted to the radiator? I changed several things at once, to get my issue fixed, but I'm pretty sure most of my overheating was the fans. They did not direct air across enough of the core without a shroud. That and I think the cfm's claimed by the seller were wishful thinking.

I can't say it really helped, but Water Wetter is supposed to help with micro bubble creation at the block to water interface. It was $10 at the big box auto stores, so I put it in. I spent 4x that on coolant that ended up on the ground.

oddball

Note that those radiator caps with the temp gauge are worthless. They only work if the little spike is touching the water - which in a normal A-body radiator it never will. I'd give mine away, but I think I threw it away instead of passing on the disappointment.

I have enthusiastically overfilled my system before if it's been too long since I made that mistake. It'll dump quite a lot when cooling down. Follow the info above. The radiator does not need to be 100% full.

Also note that if you are using a recirculating overflow can (where the hose connects on the bottom, or there's a tube or something so the radiator can suck coolant back in) then you should use a VENTED cap. If it's just a catch can where the radiator would be sucking air or not using a catch can, then you want an UNVENTED cap.

76olds

Any luck getting the air locks out Sean?

SeanMiller063

Not 100% sure i ended up buying a "no leaks" funnel to help and feel it's mostly bleed however having a charging system issue (upgraded alternator and had to do some wiring so doing some volt meeter testing here shortly to diagnose that) but it ran for about 20 minutes today no real problems but top rad hose felt pretty stiff like it was full of air pressure

76olds

The upper hose will get hard, no issues ther. As long as you seen good flow through the tubes before topping the rad off and putting the cap on its all good. As Kenneth mentioned a closed system will work the rest out, just be sure to check your overflow bottle after a 20-30 minute drive.
Hope you get you charging system worked out.
Put-er'-ther
Eric

The Bug Man

Gut the thermostat and use water wetter. It works!