Coolant Issue

[TKing]

Hey gang.

This is a weird one :werd: . It is almost impossible for me to get the coolant to enter the engine block via the coolant reservior. I have to actually unscrew the nut that's located on the thermostat housing to get any water into the car.

The car has overheated a couple of times in the past and I would fill the coolant tank but it would still overheat. So I accidently discovered that I could induce water into the cooling system by utilizing the method mentioned above. The car doesn't overheat anymore; however, probably once a month I have to add water using this method. And it's usually a significant amount. I have no leaks that I can detect and there's no moisture or condensation of anykind in the oil.

Can't figure out :boggled: why I can't get water in through the coolant tank and where in the hell the water is going. HELP PLEASE...

Can anyone tell me what the heck is going on here?

Thanks in advance for your help with this issue.

Todd

 

[Peewee]

Coolant tank is an expansion tank.
The only time water goes from the tank to the cooling system is when the car cools down.

Removing the bolt on the thermostat housing is the easiest way to do it.

 

[TKing]

Wow!

Had no idea. Well at least I've been doing it correctly...Thought maybe I was doing something wrong.

Thanks for the insite...

Whatever happened to just opening up the radiator cap and putting the coolant directly in the radiator?

Oh well,

Todd

 

[gloverman]

Does the coolant tank you speak of have a radiator cap on it?. You still should fill through a radiator cap but it is not always on the radiator. How long does the car take to get to operating temperature? and what do you do to make it overheat? Cheers

 

[TKing]

Yes it does. It takes several minutes to reach normal operating temp. BTW, waterpump and thermostat are new...

The only time the car will overheat is if there is no water in the car...my concern is that I can't seem to ascertain how the water is getting depleted from the system. There are no apparent leaks of any kind. So at least once a month I have to add water to the system just to make sure it doesn't overheat...

TK

 

[Peewee]

Oh, if tank has a radiator cap on it, then you can fill it from there.
However, I believe that in the Soarer the thermostat bolt is the highest point in the system.

Remove that bolt (when the car is cold) and fill it up from there.
Then start the car, and let it idle for a while.
Watch the coolant level through this bolt hole, if it drops, fill it up some, when it starts overflowing, put the bolt back in.

Make sure your heater is on full aswell.

You may need to do this a couple of days in a row to get all the air out.

 

[TKing]

Wow, I actually prefer to take the bolt out when the car is at normal operating temperature. The boiling water is excellant for shaving first thing in the morning.

Just kidding. That's what I've been doing. Sort of bleeding the air out of the cooling system.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Peace and Blessings

TK

 

[B-FISH]

Hey Yall, Im Having Some What Of A Similair Problem. Basically My Car Will Overheat, But Say If I Rev The Engine Or Hit The Freeway, It Drops To Normal Temp, And It Kinda Jumps Up And Down As I Drive. When I Turn It Off I Can See Steem Coming Out Of The Overflow Tube By The Resevior Tank. Im Hoping Its Ust An Air Pocket But, The Coolant Im Putting In Doesnt Seem To Be Going Through, Its Almost Like Its Evaporating Away Or Sumthin When It Gets Hot. I Know To Put The Heat On Full When I Put It In, But It Doesnt Seem To Work. Im Interested In The Removal Of The Thermostat Housing Technique, Can Someone Further Explain Or If You Have Any Ideas Let Me Know. Thanks....

 

[B-FISH]

hey, i figured out how to pour directly into the engine, but i dont know if this is going to solve my problem...

 

[chilkoot]

when you say "water", make sure you're using DISTILLED water to refill your coolant, and that it's a 50/50 mix of distilled water and coolant, or a pre-mixed 50/50 coolant.

check your exhaust on startup, if it's making its way into your cylinder and burning up your car will be smoking out of the tailpipes. it's either going there or on the ground. refill it, get it up to heat and set a white towel under the car in the garage for a night, see if anything shows up.

how old is your water pump? may be time for a 100k service.

 

[TKing]

when you say "water", make sure you're using DISTILLED water to refill your coolant, and that it's a 50/50 mix of distilled water and coolant, or a pre-mixed 50/50 coolant.

check your exhaust on startup, if it's making its way into your cylinder and burning up your car will be smoking out of the tailpipes. it's either going there or on the ground. refill it, get it up to heat and set a white towel under the car in the garage for a night, see if anything shows up.

how old is your water pump? may be time for a 100k service.

Hey chilkoot, what's the benefit of using distilled water vs. ordinary tap water?

Thanks,

Todd

 

[chilkoot]

don't know, probably sediments that are harmful to sealed rotating assemblies.

something like putting microscopic sand through your water pump would probably do some damage long-term, or it may not make a difference. Everything i've read says distilled, and it's the same price as regular bottled water so at 99c it's dumb not to.

 

[TKing]

Well thanks for the info. Never new that there was a difference. But the information you provided makes perfectly good sense.

Thanks again

Todd

 

[cribbj]

If you want the absolute best heat transfer possible, run only enough antifreeze to protect the motor against the lowest temperature you'll encounter. Endurance racecars run little or no antifreeze - only straight water because water is still the best heat transfer fluid on the planet.

Distilled water is easier on aluminum engines than corrosive tap water; that's why it's recommended. With domestic cast iron blocks, it's not such a big deal, but aluminum corrodes so easily that it's better to use distilled water in the cooling system.

Also add a bottle of Water Wetter, or similar product, which will reduce the surface tension of the water and let it wet the metal surfaces better, and that improves the heat transfer from the engine to the coolant.

Also recommended would be a combination water pump lubricant with an anticorrosion additive like BG Super Cool.

Redline claim their Water Wetter already has anticorrosion additives, however Redline have also been known to exaggerate their product capabilities.....

Lastly, make sure your radiator cap is up to snuff and will hold pressure, or consider going to a higher pressure radiator cap. With the reduced percentage of coolant, the cooling system will want to boil over easier, but you can compensate for that by running at a higher pressure.

 

[Toysrme]

I always liked redline's water wetter. back in the day when I did h2o PC cooling (2001, long before the norm).
I ran a ford heatercore (brass/aluminum) with my copper waterblocks. It was filled twice in 4 years with straight tap water + the recommended amount of water wetter.
There was never a problem with corrosion, and it dropped the temps 1*C on the thermocouple I had machined into the waterblock to monitor temps.

Personally, I just stick with redline when it comes to coolant addatives. It's cheap, keeps me from needed multiple products on hand & I figure the more addative syou put in, the higher the chances of them screwing eac other up. Just like an oil addative would.