02 NHRA

So have went through the posted way of doing a refill on the car about 3-4 times and I think I still have air in the system.

Checking the hoses while running for a good 10 minutes, the lower feels cool and full of coolant. The upper feels hot as hell and empty.it really isn't taking any more while running, actually it is overflowing. Once while I had my hand on the upper, the hose "kicked" like 10 times...state opening and closing with cool coolant?...Idk. I had thought the state finally opened and was going to start circulating but after the kicking stopped, nothing really changed. And when I shut it off cooloant level drops pretty far, enough to where it isn't visible any more. So after cool down I start it back up, refill and do the whole process again with no change.

Am I on the right track and just keep going or am I missing something? ...not running it long enough? The temp never gets above 210. Help guys!

02 NHRA

Oh and I jacked up the front end and have been squeezing the hoses trying to push air/coolant manually past the stat.

Undertow74

iTrader: (45)

as long as you have no leaks, and your t-stat is functioning as it should, run the car with the radiator cap off, and the heat on full blast for a little bit until it gets warm and circulated throught your entire system. then shut off, top off and put the cap on and good to go

02 NHRA

Yeah I forgot to mention that I did have the heat on the whole time. So its normal for the coolant to drop like this when it is actually full? I figured that as a sign of needing more filling...I guess I can go through the process again, top her off and see how that goes for a day or two..

Any more ideas guys?

02 NHRA

To add to the info I'm giving, fluid is running through the throttle body. Does that mean its all good? Thought I read something about that on here...

02 NHRA

I'm just kinda apprehensive about running it. If I F'd something up I wouldn't forgive myself lol.

02 NHRA

Lol, went for ashort cruise and noticed I am not getting any heat from the heater. Look down right as the temp gauge shot from 210 wanting to redline at 260. So now I need to take the stat out when I get home...when ever this thing cools. Ugh.

1 FMF

iTrader: (1)

with the car cool enough and off, pull the coolant hose off the throttle.
pour coolant into the radiator slowly until coolant comes out the throttle body hose, this will take you 5-10 minutes once the radiator is full. it takes time.
reconnect throttle body hose.
top off radiator and put radiator cap on.
fill coolant resevoir and make sure level in that is midway on the dipstick.
run engine normally, if you overheat then stop and let it cool down.
check after every cool down by removing radiator cap, coolant should be right up to the top. if not, top off. if after 3-4 cycles the coolant is not at the top of the radiator then you have some other problem.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

check your t-stat in a pot of water....it might be shot.

.

02 NHRA

Yeah gonna pull the thermostat tomorrow morning. It started sleeting right as I pulled over because of the heat. Stats are cheap so ill probly go ahead and replace it. I will try the removing the throttle body hose filling...maybe I can beat the snow they are calling for tomorrow.

LS1121

iTrader: (17)

Be very careful with running the engine Hot for any period of time. The motor is aluminum and does not like that much heat. Cam you see water flowing thru the radiator when the car is warm and running?

chrysler kid

iTrader: (14)

It sounds like you have a bad thermostat. Change it asap

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Are you doing all of this with the radiator cap on? What is happening to the fluid level in your overflow tank?

The system is a pressurized one, so abnormal things happen when the pressure cap isn't there. For example, if you don't have the cap on, the coolant will contract as is it cools and won't be able to pull more coolant from the overflow tank. This will drop the level in the radiator.

If you have a stock cooling system, it will bleed itself over just a couple of heat/cool cycles.

02 NHRA

The system is just as it was the day it came from the factory, haven't modded it at all. Yeah when I get done at this job fair with the wife I will be pulling the thermostat and checking it, possibly replacing. I just don't understand how it was working last weekend when it drove it 9 miles from where it was stored to my moms (she has a garage) and then over heats on a 3 mile test drive yesterday. Could some contaminates got lodged in it to keep it from opening? I will probly end up flushing the whole thing again when the weather cooperates because while I was filling and squeezing hoses some "crud" was visibly rising to the top of the radiator filler opening.

I just want to get this cooling thing fixed cause it seems this winter storage was hard on the car. It just seems like it is driving a lot worse than when I put it away. And its kind of hard to even see if getting everything moving again with "wake it back up" or not when I can't even move it.

02 NHRA

Yes I was doing all this whithers the cap off. So its normal for the level to drop when the system is not pressurized. Well that makes me feel alittle better. Pretty sure that the stat wasn't opening....and as I write this it starts to snow. I am so ready for winter to be over all ready lol.

02 NHRA

I am guessing now the only thing that was circulating was coolant through the throttle body.

02 NHRA

So I go to work on the bird and as the wife goes to leave, her 02 Regal GSs supercharging system idler pully explodes and shears the belt...**** never surprises me any more.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

There's no way to tell. Was the car overheating? If coolant wasn't flowing through the engine, you'd see the temperatures go up.

How long was it between the time when you shut off the engine and the level in the radiator dropped?

How much fluid is in your expansion tank? Is it above the "High" mark?

If your cooling system is stock, (and you still have that throttle body vent tube in place) it will bleed itself - when the pressure cap is on. (It may take 2 or 3 heat cycles to get all of the air out.) As the car heats up, the fluid in the radiator expands and presses any air out through the expansion tank. After warm-up, any air will collect in the radiator and will be expelled during the next heating cycle.

Why did you start this bleeding excercise in the first place? Did you notice air in the radiator through the normal course of driving? If so, you could have a problem with the system. (Bad water pumps can pump air in to the engine, etc.)

02 NHRA

I satrded this because I have no knowlage of previous owner(s) and what their tendencies were when it comes to upkeep. I have done this before on other vehicles...I don't get why the LS1 is being such a hitch about it lol.

So I pulled the thermostat before the Regal decided it wanted some attention, and tested the old and a new one in a pot of water...both opened.

The car never gets over 210 while sitting in the driveway doing all this, and the coolant dropper almost instantly when the engine is shut off. And surely I let it idle long enough to open...I didn't let it sit long enough to boil coolant either. It has a brand new water pump, new thermostat (haven't decided to use it or return it yet). So it should do what its supposed to...should.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Your test lines up with what I was thinking. Unless you had overheating before, its doubtful that a thermostat would go bad during a flush.

When you took the pressure cap off originally, did you have any air pocket in the radiator? If not, I'd suggest making sure the expansion tank is properly topped off, filling the radiator, putting the cap on, and then running the car through a heat/cool down cycle and see what happens.