gregrob

iTrader: (8)

What can cause this? I'd like to think I still have some air pockets in the system but after bleeding it several times and continuously topping it off w coolant over the course of about 250 miles I'm beginning to think I might have bigger issues.

I stuffed paper towels all around the filler neck down by the battery and took it for a hard run. Stopped and look and the towels are soaked in dex cool. :-(

I did the little test because it was always wet looking around the battery and on the inner fender.

Car runs awesome and the temp stays rock solid.

It has spiked up a couple times right after startup and spit out a little coolant. I was thinking maybe air pockets and topped it back off and all is well. But maybe not :-(

Where should I go from here?

shbox

Could be that you have a hole in the pipe from the radiator to the remote reservoir. It's pretty common. Normal operation is that excess coolant can pass to the reservoir when the engine is hot and then is sucked back into the radiator during the cool down cycle. If there is a hole in the pipe, the coolant is just lost and you slowly loose coolant in the system and eventually get air pockets.

You will have to remove the battery to check it out.

ss.slp.ls1

iTrader: (36)

You could try replacing the radiator cap, that was an issue for me a long time ago.

gregrob

iTrader: (8)

Thanks for the ideas guys.

Could it also be that I used a different bleeder screw in the top bleeder.

Try as I may I lost that one so I replaced it w like a sheet metal screw for the time being.

Could that be letting air in? It doesn't leak at all there. Only time I saw anything come out of it is when the car was hot it puffed a little steam, but doesn't leak liquid coolant.

gregrob

iTrader: (8)

Checked before I started the car up today and the rad held maybe a quart.

Here's the thing though, the reservoir was over the hot full mark.

Could it simply be over full? Seems like the rad likes to go down to the top of the core and stop, I know some rads are like that. Maybe I should just quit putting coolamnt in it and see what happens

shbox

Any time you remove the radiator cap when it is cool, the coolant should be at the top. If coolant is being pushed to the reservoir and can't return because there is a leak in the system, then your radiator is going to get low. Any leak will not allow vacuum during cool down to draw coolant back from the reservoir. An easily found replacement for a bleeder screw would be a small pipe plug.

Suggestions on things to look for have been given. You should take some time to check them out.

gregrob

iTrader: (8)

I intend on replacing the radiator cap and checking the hose you mentioned.

The hose you mentioned was not leaking before and I did nothing to make it start, also the coolant is blowing out of the reservoir LID, not leaking out underneath the battery tray. In fact the car doesn't leak a drop from underneath, just gets the fender and battery area wet. I will check that hose nonetheless to eliminate it.

That's gotta be a small pipe plug. Like 1/16" I'm guessing, and a pipe plug would have tapered threads and the screw didn't. But it still would probably work better than what I have in there.

Thanks,

ss.slp.ls1

iTrader: (36)

You don't have to do anything to make a hose leak, they just leak. My car was boiling water out the reservoir cap once, changed the rad cap and it solved it. I'd also get a pressure tester and see if the cooling system holds pressure.

shbox

I believe the bleeder is tapered. It does not screw all the way down to seal. I've used a pipe plug before (in place of the whole bleeder assy). It works perfectly.

If you have excess pressure reaching the reservoir, it is a bad cap or you have head gasket leak that is overpressurizing the system and blowing by the cap.

gregrob

iTrader: (8)

Well, any more thoughts on this guys? Its getting extremely frustrating.

I drove over 450 miles last night n today with ZERO issues, I mean zero.

Then, sat at a buddies house for about 30 minutes and it decided to blow over 2 gallons of coolant out and try to overheat when I restarted it in the course of only about 3 city blocks.Mind you the rad was completely full just before I got to my buddies! (Checked it at the resteraunt then drove 5 mins to his house and shut it off)

I would feel completely comfortable driving the car coast to coast and it would never blow out any coolant, unless u shut it off...

Filled the car back up, even pulled the thermostat and filled up the engine, did the WHOLE bleed procedure over again, I mean I seriously took over an hour to bleed and bleed it over again til I couldn't get any more bubbles out.

Take it for a test drive and the heat was hotter than its ever been so I think great, were making progress. Car never missed a beat the whole time.Parked for maybe 15 mins max.

Started it up to head home and it GUSHED almost 2 gals out of the coolant res, right there in the park.I noticed the temp climbing and not dropping back down, and one of my friends said it was gushing.

Let it cool, refilled the rad what it had gushed out, temp went to normal and I drove it 35 miles home w no issues.

The car runs awesome, and will never "overheat", its just this issue with the coolant blowing out *randomly* after a short time sitting, then being restarted.

Should I really start looking into the head gasket?

Thanks for any help,

Greg

ss.slp.ls1

iTrader: (36)

Did you do any of the things mentioned?
Change the radiator cap?
Check the hose to the resevior for leaks?
Use a pressure tester to see if the system holds pressure?

gregrob

iTrader: (8)

Everything except testing the pressure. Ill do that asap and report back

Also going to check out the reman wp I used and see if it may be slipping on the shaft after startup

gregrob

iTrader: (8)

Ok, heres the routine with this bitch.

Start it up cold in the morning, it pukes coolant and starts to go past the normal operating range.

Shut it off, fill radiator back up.

Restart engine and go. You can drive 5 miles or 500 miles and it will NOT overheat, or lose coolant or any type of strange behaviour at all. Runs perfectly great.

Shut it off and let it cool down, even for 20 or so minutes, and the cycle is repeated all over again....

Ideas?

At this point I still have to pressure test the system, and I'm also thinking of getting an oil analysis done and pulling the plugs to check of any signs of coolant w a UV light.

ss.slp.ls1

iTrader: (36)

Check back in after the pressure test.