raysadude

iTrader: (11)

went back from the track tonight, when i got home i open the hood to cool the engine down a bit, i could hear the coolant inside the radiator is boiling, my temperature gauge is normal though no sign of overheat, hovering around 190-215

my question is, is it normal for the coolant to be boiling like that or is it possible that my radiator fan is broken? is there anyway to check if the fan is broken?

thanks

Zerokube

iTrader: (4)

im having the same thing happen to me down here in hellish florida

raysadude

iTrader: (11)

ya it almost freak me out because you can literally hear the coolant gurgling inside the radiator...just afraid that it'll go boom =(

i bet florida is not as hot as oklahoma tho

Zerokube

iTrader: (4)

with our heat index its like living in the amazon, believe me the only other hotter place then here sometimes is the sun

02_camaroz28

iTrader: (20)

Make sure your coolant in your overflow is full because if not it will not turn on your fans.

xbcrguy182x

Is there smoke?

mknight759

iTrader: (8)

i have a little pickup that does the same thing

raysadude

iTrader: (11)

no smoke, no leak although last friday when i flush the coolant i think i overfilled it a bit, because everytime i turn off the engine there's some amount of coolant overflow from the expansion tank..but it already stop..like i said, when i turn the engine off after i got back from the track i opened the hood and i could hear the sound of coolant boiling/ gurgling inside the radiator.

raysadude

iTrader: (11)

check weather.com

your heat index is not as hot as ours

we got 110 here today yay!! it was like in the oven

1 FMF

iTrader: (1)

how can that be?



if you have a 50/50 mix of water & antifreeze, the boiling point is not until 265 degrees F if the system is under pressure to 15 psi.
if it is getting that hot, over 240F, you would definitely notice your temperature gauge over to the far right.
What you might be hearing is the system (radiator) relieving pressure into the overflow tank having a gurgling sound which may be normal. Otherwise, the simplest thing to do is replace your radiator cap, I think it's an 18psi cap, and make sure the gasket on it is good and the radiator neck it seals on is clean. And make sure coolant is topped off in the radiator along with having the correct amount in the overflow tank shown by the overflow tank dipstick.

And you said last week you flushed the coolant,
either you have some air in the system which hasn't worked its way out so every time the car is cold open the radiator cap and keep topping off the radiator and check the overflow tank and make sure it has enough. After a few cycles the air will work its way out. The other is when you flushed the system you had water left in the system when you added your 50/50 coolant mix which may have resulted in a 40/60 or 30/70 antifreeze to water ratio which will drastically lower the boiling point, in which case you can drain the radiator a little then add straight antifreeze to try to get it back to 50/50 or 60/40... higher antifreeze ratio increases the boiling point but don't go over 70/30 antifreeze to water. See if you can find an antifreeze tester at the parts store, that'll tell you what the freeze point is which you can determine what ratio antifreeze to water you have.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Its probably not "boiling" and the sound you heard was likely air getting sucked in the system from the overflow reservoir. (This happens if that reservoir gets low.) Do you know what your level was?

Zerokube

iTrader: (4)

the sound i was having was boiling.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Keep in mind that boiling is water vapor escaping from a liquid. Cold air/gas bubbles in the system sound the same as hot ones and make the same "gurgle."

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Get a new radiator cap and you should be good. If that doesn't help you need to check for blown head gaskets. Sounds like your cap has lost its tension and its letting coolant blow out into the over-flow tank.


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SlideRight

Do you have antifreeze in the system? Shouldnt it raise the boiling point higher?

raysadude

iTrader: (11)

ok now you make me scare, my car doesn't even puff a white smoke like if it were burning coolant...how that's a blown HG?

and yes i always use antifreeze, and couple times if it was gurgling(boiling sounds) there's coolant overflowing from my expansion tank(from the top)

99RTA

iTrader: (-1)

You are either low on coolant and have a small leak or the rad cap is bad. NOWAY it should boil when you shut it down, my 99 did that when the water pump gaskets started leaking. The boiling when shutting off tipped me off that something was up.

I don't care what anyone tells you boiling after shutting off is NOT normal!

raysadude

iTrader: (11)

i don't think i'm low on coolant, i check my coolant lvl every morning, both on radiator and expansion tank(with the dipstick) and both are fine...

can you explain how the water pump gasket leaking caused the boiling sound?

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

I think there are two possibilities at this point that folks here are pointing you to: (It sounds like folks are feeling like #1 is it.)

1) NOT boiling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling
Boiling is water turning to a gas and escaping from the system. IF your coolant is the right mix and IF your temperature gauge is not lying to you, then you just have fresh air getting in to the system. The coolant system on these cars is a sealed system and the overflow tank maintains a siphon with the system and transfers coolant back and forth to regulate pressure in the radiator as coolant expands/contracts. If you have a leaking gasket or a bad radiator cap that doesn't seal, then you can get air in to the system. (Especially when you turn the engine off, which turns the water pump/pressure off, and the coolant starts to contract in the radiator.)

2) IS boiling
IF your system is sealed properly and IF your temperature gauge is not lying to you, then your coolant to water ratio is off. You should be able to purchase a special hydrometer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrometer from your local auto parts store to test this.

So... there are a number of causes that could lead to the two instances above. I'd suggest going in this order due to probability of cause and the cost involved:

- Buy a new radiator cap (Be sure to get a GM/AC Delco cap and not an aftermarket cap from your local auto parts store. The GM cap has a special pressure relief that will prevent the plastic parts of your radiator from imploding in the event your overflow siphon gets stopped up. The aftermarket caps do not have this feature.)
- Steal your Mom's meat thermometer and test the temperature of your coolant to see if your temp sensor is bad. (Keep in mind that the coolant at the radiator will be a lower temperature than at the sensor closer to the engine.)
- Buy a hydrometer and test your coolant or take it to a Jiffy Lube, where they will probably do it for free! (Maybe you do this first, if you really feel like things are boiling.)
- Check the siphon on your overflow tank and make sure everything flows properly (and does not leak) between your tank and the radiator.
- Check your water pump and thermostat gaskets.
- Find religion and then explore your head gaskets.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

First of all, you don't have an "expansion tank". There were only a few cars ever built in history that had a true expansion tank. We have plastic, unpressurized over-flow tanks that just catch coolant. Its an arguable issue that coolant goes back into the radiator once it gets pushed out into the over-flow tank. Because after the coolant goes into the over flow tank, and the coolant in the cooling system starts to cool and creates a vacuum, the pressure of the radiator cap gets pulled onto the fill neck tighter and tighter, ain't no way coolant is getting in there. Its a spring loaded cap, anytime it gets pushed open by pressure the only thing thats gonna happen is **** will escape. Not gonna bother arguing the point until someone can show me coolant getting "sucked" back in. I have never once in 11+ years put coolant in my over flow tank. But I have run into the red a couple times becaue I threw my serpentine belt, when I pulled over to let it cool there was coolant getting pushed out into the over flow tank. We sat there and let it cool and not a single drop ever got "sucked" back in, thats just hilarious. I then took the cap off and topped off my coolant when it was cooled down. Then I had to take the over flow tank out to dump that **** out. This happened twice to me. So......

Bad gaskets anywhere (water pump, heads, t-stat, etc) will simply leak coolant while the engine is running, and/or after you shut the engine down. For about 20 minutes after an engine is shut down the pressure in the system actually rises before it starts to drop and cool off. So the coolant will leak from those bad gaskets.

If you have coolant leaving the system, you will have air in its place. HOW does that air get in there to take its place....through that same leaky gasket or hole in a hose, or whatever. It gets sucked in when it cools. That air is what allows the coolant to boil over by lowering the boiling point of the coolant.

You're coolant can still show full, depending on where that air bubble comes to rest in the system.

----Get a new radiator cap

----If that doesn't do it, get a leakdown check to see if you have blown head gasket(s).

Until you do these two things, you will most likely not find the problem.


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