Overheating and leaking coolant
morriswil
Band Wagon
What an epic 4th of July weekend I'm having! Started overheating with coolant boiling and coming out of the top of the overflow after about 20 minutes of driving highway speed. I don't seem to have the same problem with town driving however. I changed the thermostat (tested it in boiling water before installing) and still had the same problem. Next I made my way to the water pump, I was going to replace it but the stupid autoparts store gave me the wrong match. It looked like the gasket was missing a little piece so I thought that was it. Since the stores are all closed for the holiday, I decided that I'd reinstall the pump because it looked fine to me, (turns fine, no signs of leaking internally, no corrosion. I made a new gasket with RTV red high temp silicone and reinstalled it. It's so hard to tell with all of the stuff in the way but it looks like it leaks from the water pump area. It drips like crazy, but I'm kind of wondering if it's actually pour over from the overflow res that blows down to that area when I'm cruising.
Some peculiar things I've noticed:
-Once it's up to temp and the thermostat is open, aren't I suppose to see a moving stream of coolant in the radiator? I see no flow in there.
-also, the fan doesn't kick on until it's already hot and overheating. At about what engine temperature should the fan kick on?
-I am about to drain it again and flush the radiator to see if it's plugged. The lower hose gets warm but not hot when it overheats.
-When I drain the radiator at the bottom valve, it pours out pretty slow, like a quart every five minutes. Is this normal?
-The oil looks clean (no water) and I can't see or smell and coolant clouds in my exhaust
-Another thought was trapped air but I followed the purging according to Chilton's manual (heater on, bleed valve open etc.)
-when I refill what has leaked, I only need to put about a cup and a half in the radiator so there's actually not much coolant lost when it overheats
-The temperature gauge at the dash does not indicate overheating when the coolant is actually boiling in the radiator.
Any suggestions welcome
Some peculiar things I've noticed:
-Once it's up to temp and the thermostat is open, aren't I suppose to see a moving stream of coolant in the radiator? I see no flow in there.
-also, the fan doesn't kick on until it's already hot and overheating. At about what engine temperature should the fan kick on?
-I am about to drain it again and flush the radiator to see if it's plugged. The lower hose gets warm but not hot when it overheats.
-When I drain the radiator at the bottom valve, it pours out pretty slow, like a quart every five minutes. Is this normal?
-The oil looks clean (no water) and I can't see or smell and coolant clouds in my exhaust
-Another thought was trapped air but I followed the purging according to Chilton's manual (heater on, bleed valve open etc.)
-when I refill what has leaked, I only need to put about a cup and a half in the radiator so there's actually not much coolant lost when it overheats
-The temperature gauge at the dash does not indicate overheating when the coolant is actually boiling in the radiator.
Any suggestions welcome
Comments
but when you replace you thermostat, did you also change your radiator cap.
might not hold pressure anymore. try it out, it could be an easy fix.
i just try not to get caught in traffic