Please Help Coolant Problem....

[danger69]

Okay I've been searching for an answer for quite a bit but no answer. I firsted noticed a problem with my temp gauge. It wouldn't go up at all? And once i turn off the car I noticed that the coolant on the overflow tank is bubbling. I checked my oil and its still okay no milky look or anything. Next day I start the car and of course temp gauge is not moving. But after 5-10min I hear a pssssshhhh sound. And I see coolant leaking from some where *which I still do not know where, but do know its not near the waterpump. Its some where under the intake manifold from what I can guess*. I then wait till it cools down and I open the radiator cap and pour in some water since it looks dry. I leave the cap open and turn on the car and about 5min steam starts shooting out. What does that mean? And the water that I poured into the tank went to the over flow tank. Also the upper radiator hose is hot while the bottom one is very cool. Reason??? Please help.

[projectRDM]

Cold bottom hose = thermostat is not opening. Replace and bleed system after repairing the leak you currently have.

[sw20>>s14]

the hissing sound sounds like its coming from your heater core hose...you may want to check it out...

[danger69]

Where is that hose at? A pic would be great. I'm a noobie when it comes to this stuff. Also what parts need to be removed to replace the thermostat. I appreciate the help.

[ManoNegra]

Heater core is inside the car. Hoses going to and coming from it are behind the motor by the firewall.
I once had a problem with coolant boiling out of the reservoir. Turned out to be an old radiator cap that wasn't holding pressure anymore. Something else to look into after following Russ' advice.

[arminder_d]

Cold bottom hose = thermostat is not opening. Replace and bleed system after repairing the leak you currently have.


I thought its vice versa dude....shouldnt this hose BE cold because then the warmed up coolant rises and goes through your upper rad hose....because of convection. Or am i thinking inside the radiator?

[danger69]

Okay now that I eliminated a few things wrong. So here is the breakdown.

Problem:
After the engine warms up some where there is a coolant leak. And the temp needle didn't move.

Things Done:
I recently replaced the thermostat, drained radiator coolant, drained/cleaned radiator resivoir. Today I refilled the radiator with water. Turned on the engine with heater on high. In a few minutes my temp needle moved for the first time and sits in the middle which is great. Then I noticed dripping from somewhere on the passenger side. I checked around under the car and on top and could not find anything. I turned off the engine and let it cool down. I squeezed the upper radiator hose and I hear a weezing sound like air is escaping from somewhere. I have traced it to a hose that is behind the thermostat housing. What hose is that? I know my thermost housing isn't leaking because I checked that also. Please help.

[projectRDM]

I thought its vice versa dude....shouldnt this hose BE cold because then the warmed up coolant rises and goes through your upper rad hose....because of convection. Or am i thinking inside the radiator?

I don't know what you're thinking, but it's wrong. With the thermostat closed, water does not leave the block and circulate through the radiator, thus the water in the bottom hose is cold. When it opens, hot water leaves the block and mixes with the radiator's water. Hot water + cold water = slightly cooler than hot water, meaning the hose is considerably warm to the touch.

[g6civcx]

I thought its vice versa dude....shouldnt this hose BE cold because then the warmed up coolant rises and goes through your upper rad hose....because of convection. Or am i thinking inside the radiator?

Let me explain to you how the cooling system works.

1) Coolant leaves the radiator via the lower radiator hose. The hose is placed low so the coolant has a little bit of pressure to help force coolant into the block.

2) Coolant hits the thermostat. If the thermostat is open, it goes through. If the thermostat is closed, it gets stuck.

3) Coolant flows through the water pump and through the block.

4) Coolant exits the block and enters the radiator via the upper radiator hose.


When the engine is cold, the thermostat is closed so no coolant flows through the block. When the engine is warm, the thermostat opens and coolant flows through.

The purpose of the thermostat is to help the engine heat up by not circulating warm coolant out and cool coolant in. The engine is allowed to soak up heat to help it warm up more quickly.

Think about it. The radiator helps cool the engine. So under normal operation, coolant leaving the radiator would be cool, and coolant leaving the engine would be warm. If the thermostat is stuck closed, no coolant would flow and the lower hose would stay cool because no warm coolant is flowing to the radiator.

So under normal operation, the upper hose should be hot and the lower hose should be slightly cooler, but still warm to the touch.

Russ, was that remedial enough for you?

[projectRDM]

Too much thought, you forget who we're dealing with. You would done better with :

"Yo mang, da bottom hoze dont git hot 'til the engen get hot enuff to open da tsat, tehn itz hot az my homeboyz penis wehn i eat it at nite".

That's better worded for the common zilvia member.