Thermostat cover/outlet
Thermostat cover/outlet So, I'm starting to look into what to do about radiator hoses, and I see that my thermostat on my LM4 almost points away from the upper radiator inlet or outlet on my Volvo's radiator. I need to look at it tonight, but I'm pretty sure it points slightly towards the passengers side, and my upper inlet or outlet (don't know which it is really, or if it even matters) is on the drivers side of my radiator. Is there another thermostat cover that either points straight that would fit, or would point towards the drivers side? I'll take and post a picture when I get home from work, but wanted to post now while I was thinking about it. Thanks!!
TECH Resident
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 792
Likes: 2
From: SoCal
First, be sure which is the inlet and outlet on the motor. The thermostat is on the suction side (cold side), and the top of the water pump is the outlet (hot side). The pump outlet would route to the top of the radiator. I think this might better help you decide what you need. Yes, there are alternative thermostat housings if you indeed need one.
Andy1
Andy1
First, be sure which is the inlet and outlet on the motor. The thermostat is on the suction side (cold side), and the top of the water pump is the outlet (hot side). The pump outlet would route to the top of the radiator. I think this might better help you decide what you need. Yes, there are alternative thermostat housings if you indeed need one.
Andy1
Andy1
Thanks, I saw that when I got home from work and started scratching my head for a minute
Never seen a thermostat on the lower hose before. Anywho, not sure what to do about this. I had originally just planned on running the radiator hoses to the radiator, with a T in the lower hose to go to my stock Volvo pressurized coolant bottle (with an appropriate 15PSI cap). Now that I'm looking at this, the upper hose is going to be WAY above the top of the steam vents - not so good. I really dislike the idea of venting the steam tube to the upper radiator hose, I had planned on T'ing it into the little hose that comes off the top of the radiator and attaches to the top of my coolant bottle. Not sure what to do now, any suggestions??OUCH!! That seems expensive for a thermostat cap!
TECH Resident
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 792
Likes: 2
From: SoCal
Thanks, I saw that when I got home from work and started scratching my head for a minute Never seen a thermostat on the lower hose before. Anywho, not sure what to do about this. I had originally just planned on running the radiator hoses to the radiator, with a T in the lower hose to go to my stock Volvo pressurized coolant bottle (with an appropriate 15PSI cap). Now that I'm looking at this, the upper hose is going to be WAY above the top of the steam vents - not so good. I really dislike the idea of venting the steam tube to the upper radiator hose, I had planned on T'ing it into the little hose that comes off the top of the radiator and attaches to the top of my coolant bottle. Not sure what to do now, any suggestions??
Never seen a thermostat on the lower hose before. Anywho, not sure what to do about this. I had originally just planned on running the radiator hoses to the radiator, with a T in the lower hose to go to my stock Volvo pressurized coolant bottle (with an appropriate 15PSI cap). Now that I'm looking at this, the upper hose is going to be WAY above the top of the steam vents - not so good. I really dislike the idea of venting the steam tube to the upper radiator hose, I had planned on T'ing it into the little hose that comes off the top of the radiator and attaches to the top of my coolant bottle. Not sure what to do now, any suggestions??When you say coolant bottle, are you refereing to the expansion tank (bottle)? I'm not clear on what you have. Perhaps a diagram would help.
Andy1
I've read about that, and while it seems like a good idea - it's still just circulating air bubbles thru the cooling system, instead of venting them out, which is the idea of the whole system in the first place. The idea is to get the air bubbles (if there are infact any) OUT of the system, not just keep recirculating them thru over and over.
Here is my bottle. You can see in the one pic the small hose that comes off the top, that goes to the nipple on the top of my radiator. In the other pic, you can see the hose that comes off the bottom that feeds the cooling system. My cap on this bottle has been replaced with one thats 15 PSI to match what stock cap pressure on the Chevy's are, rather than the 22 PSI the original Volvo one was.
Trending Topics
Teching In
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 34
Likes: 1
I had originally just planned on running the radiator hoses to the radiator, with a T in the lower hose to go to my stock Volvo pressurized coolant bottle (with an appropriate 15PSI cap)... I had planned on T'ing it into the little hose that comes off the top of the radiator and attaches to the top of my coolant bottle. Not sure what to do now, any suggestions??
One thing that you might change, however, is block the small hose coming off the radiator, and then just run the steam vent tube directly to the pressurized Volvo coolant tank.
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
Awesome K5 Blazer Restomod Comes With C7 Corvette Power
Verdad Gallardo
10 Camaros You Should Never Buy
10 LS Engine Myths That Refuse to Die
Verdad Gallardo TECH Resident
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 792
Likes: 2
From: SoCal
Does the Volvo radiator have a cap? If not, then that small hose is necessary to both fill the system and vent any air trapped in the top of the radiator. JTR knows their stuff, so I was just wondering about that.
kendogg,
The prefered routing of the steam vents is into the hot side. If you run the venting into the cold side, you will essentially be bypassing the radiator thus feeding the cold side with hot coolant. Some claim this doesn't have much impact on system temps. Keep in mind that these vents don't just purge air, they also flow coolant.
Andy1
MikeJTR,
Does the Volvo radiator have a cap? If not, then that small hose is necessary to both fill the system and vent any air trapped in the top of the radiator. JTR knows their stuff, so I was just wondering about that.
kendogg,
The prefered routing of the steam vents is into the hot side. If you run the venting into the cold side, you will essentially be bypassing the radiator thus feeding the cold side with hot coolant. Some claim this doesn't have much impact on system temps. Keep in mind that these vents don't just purge air, they also flow coolant.
Andy1
Does the Volvo radiator have a cap? If not, then that small hose is necessary to both fill the system and vent any air trapped in the top of the radiator. JTR knows their stuff, so I was just wondering about that.
kendogg,
The prefered routing of the steam vents is into the hot side. If you run the venting into the cold side, you will essentially be bypassing the radiator thus feeding the cold side with hot coolant. Some claim this doesn't have much impact on system temps. Keep in mind that these vents don't just purge air, they also flow coolant.
Andy1
TECH Resident
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 792
Likes: 2
From: SoCal
The Volvo radiator does NOT have a cap. The small tube at the top of the radiator shouldn't be filling the system - the larger hose at the bottom of the reservoir is what fills the system. It's such a small amount of coolant from those small hoses though, it's really insignificant. If they raise overall coolant temps by as much as 5* I'd be surprised, but I think thats ok, and more acceptable, than continuing to circulate air bubbles or pockets that don't transfer any heat at all.
If that's the case, that small tube from the top of the radiator isn't used to fill the system, but rather as a vent while filling the system so you don't trap a big air pocket there (and to keep air from getting trapped there subsequently). I wouldn't disable it, if it were me. Perhaps Tee the vents into that tube close to the tank?
Andy1
