Cooling problem (1 Viewer)

[Poriomania]

Just got this thing back together after redoing the timing belt, water pump and I installed a new t-stat as well. Took it for a short drive and by the time I got back home the temp gauge was into the red. I let it cool and then allowed the radiator to bleed some more with the heater running, the coolant level in the resovoir dropped some more, then it went into the red again. Is this likely still an air in the lines problem. This may have been stupid, but I used straight coolant as I didn't have any distilled and didn't think it would matter. Could the mixture be too thick?

 

[Colorado Boy-74-FJ40]

50/50 is the right mixture unless you live in extremely cold climates. Is the thermostat in the right way? Some can be put in up-side-down. If you were in the red twice, with an aluminum block/head (not positive if you do) you may have done some damage.

 

[Poriomania]

Yeah, I'm concerned about the head, not sure what to do now unless it's getting the cooling system to work right and see where I'm at after that. Thermostat is in correctly, can the coolant be too thick and not allow the thermostat to work properly?

 

[bigndn]

Yup, blew the bottom radiator hose going east on I-90, was in the red so fast it wasn't even funny. Long story short, as a result kept losing antifreeze into the cylinders from the warped head. FAWK!!!!!!! Rebuild..........for another $900, bored .030 over, and all new bells and whistles (and hoses).

You got anything in front of the grill (ie big bumper, aux lights)? I ended up going with a radiator out of a V-6 for the additional cooling, because I made a custom front bumper with two 6" offroad lights right in front of the grill. Something to think about.....

 

[Colorado Boy-74-FJ40]

You cannot run straight antifreeze. It will not flow like you want it to. Check out this website and look for the question "how much water should I mix with my antifreeze?
http://www.eetcorp.com/antifreeze/antifreeze-faq.htm#q16

 

[Poriomania]

Going to drain half tomorrow and mix in a gallon of distilled. Hopefully I haven't really f'd anything up.

 

[Colorado Boy-74-FJ40]

How did it turn out?

Going to drain half tomorrow and mix in a gallon of distilled. Hopefully I haven't really f'd anything up.

Well, What's the damage if any? Did you get the mixture right? Curious to what happened. Please advise.

 

[Poriomania]

Drained about half of the straight coolant and replaced with distilled water and it started to work right. It still started to get warm when I turned the A/C on high, but would cool back down. I let it sit overnight to think about my next move and when I checked it in the morning the resevoir that had been full was empty. I refilled that with 50/50 and it has been cooling fine since. The problem with heating w/AC was an air bubble I think. I checked the level again this morning and it was empty, if that happens again I'm going to pop the timing cover off to double check about any leaking around the water pump. It seems likie I've put a lot of coolant in for this burping, but I also don't see anywhere on the ground where it looks like it's leaking that much either.

The engine seems to be running just as smooth as ever so I don't think I warped anything.

 

[KliersLC]

Not to put a damper on things, but you shouldn't lose that much coolant. Check your oil for sludge and check for white smoke out the exhaust.
Dan

 

[Colorado Boy-74-FJ40]

I agree

Not to put a damper on things, but you shouldn't lose that much coolant. Check your oil for sludge and check for white smoke out the exhaust.
Dan

You shouldn't lose that much coolant. If you dont see it in the oil or exhaust, you might want to put a pressurization cap on it and check for leaks. Most radiator shops can do this.

 

[Poriomania]

I checked the oil the same time that I added coolant and it seemed pretty black and a little thicker than I would expect. Going to have the wife check it again before she leaves work. I didn't see any white smoke on start up when she left.

 

[Poriomania]

After watching for a few days I think the problem was that I did a poor job of bleeding the cooling system after draining it. The resevoir level has remained steady and I've seen no white smoke, sweet smells, or milky oil. So I think it's good to go, still keeping an eye on it though.

 

[KliersLC]

Glad you dodged the bullet on that one!!!
Dan