RE: [DML] Radiator overflow

["Tom Tait" <TTait@xxxxxxxxxx>]

If you are lucky, you just have some air in the system.  If air gets into the radiator, thermostat housing etc. it will expand greatly when hot and force out coolant.  

You should have the air bleeder installed on your thermostat housing, and probably the bleeder at the radiator as well.  As far as I know Toby is the only one that sells both.  Get and install both, they make the car much easier to bleed.

In the meantime you can try refilling the system with coolant, and manually bleeding at the thermostat housing, and at the small tube at the front of the radiator.

Warm up the car, turn on the heater for a few minutes, let it cool completely and then top it off and bleed it again.  If that solves the problem, great.

If you have recently overheated the engine though, you could possibly have a blown head gasket.  If you have bled properly and the problem repeats, this could be the issue. One way to check is to go to autozone and borrow a cooling system pressure test kit (free to borrow).  hook it up on the metal(plastic?)tank, and start the car.  If pressure starts to build immediately, you are blowing exhaust gas into the cooling system.  If so come back for more help.

BE WARNED.  When using a pressure test kit, you have removed the radiator cap from the tank.  The job of that cap is to relieve pressure and prevent it from getting too high in the system.  Without a standard radiatoe cap in place the cooling system can over-pressurize and damage the system. If you do use a pressure tester, only run the car for a short time period.  If you start building pressure right away suspect a blown head gasket, and kill the engine immediately.  If the pressure doesn't go up within 30 seconds, you are probably safe.  If you do allow the pressure to build up with that pressure tester on, it will keep the system sealed to perhaps 45 PSI or higher. Your radiator would burst long before that.  Don't ever let the pressure build up past 10 PSI with a pressure tester attached to a running engine.

Good Luck.

Tom


-----Original Message-----
From: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx on behalf of Craig Stecker
Sent: Mon 12/8/2008 5:22 PM
To: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [DML] Radiator overflow
 
Hi Guys,

I just came home from a car show and radiator overflow started to drain out through the tube for about a minute or two then stop.I let it cool down then tried it again and the same thing happened.If anyone has some ideas I would appreciate it.

Thanks Craig #1892


      

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