Bleeding the radiator - overheating and no heat
10-17-2006, 04:10 PM
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Bleeding the radiator - overheating and no heat I am having a hard time figuring out wht the heck the deal is with my cooling system. My car still runs hot in traffic or at idle and has no heat. It blows cold air and the vents appear to work normally. I have used a Prestone flush kit which did not help. I did use 50/50 Dexcool/water after the flush. I also replaced the tstat and the waterpump is only a few months old.
This whole issue began because I had no heat, but my car was not running hot at all. So I decided to flush the system and change the tstat. After that I had heat for a day or so and then no heat. The crazy thing was that immediately after changing the tstat and doing a flush the car started running hot.
I am thinking that there may be air in the cooling system. I tried to bleed the system but the coolant level never dropped after the system heated up and it began bubbling over with the cap off at around 210 degrees. I also removed the small hose that runs from the top of the radiator (near the cap) to the passenger side of the throttle body while the car heated up during the bleeding process. Lots of hot coolant ran out from both ends but the coolant level in the radiator never dropped. The fans kick on and seem to work fine. The temp drops if you give it gas when idling or if you are driving at any speed. There is never heat out of the vents at any time.
I should also mention that the top radiator hose is pretty hot and is mostly hard (it has a little give when squeezed), the bottom radiator hose is cold and it gives a lot when squeezed, one of the heater hoses that connects to the waterpump is fairly hot while the other heater hose that connects to the waterpump is cold. Hope that helps provide some more feedback. THANKS.
Any ideas on what I should test next? Also did I bleed the system correctly? Thanks.
This whole issue began because I had no heat, but my car was not running hot at all. So I decided to flush the system and change the tstat. After that I had heat for a day or so and then no heat. The crazy thing was that immediately after changing the tstat and doing a flush the car started running hot.
I am thinking that there may be air in the cooling system. I tried to bleed the system but the coolant level never dropped after the system heated up and it began bubbling over with the cap off at around 210 degrees. I also removed the small hose that runs from the top of the radiator (near the cap) to the passenger side of the throttle body while the car heated up during the bleeding process. Lots of hot coolant ran out from both ends but the coolant level in the radiator never dropped. The fans kick on and seem to work fine. The temp drops if you give it gas when idling or if you are driving at any speed. There is never heat out of the vents at any time.
I should also mention that the top radiator hose is pretty hot and is mostly hard (it has a little give when squeezed), the bottom radiator hose is cold and it gives a lot when squeezed, one of the heater hoses that connects to the waterpump is fairly hot while the other heater hose that connects to the waterpump is cold. Hope that helps provide some more feedback. THANKS.
Any ideas on what I should test next? Also did I bleed the system correctly? Thanks.
10-18-2006, 11:12 AM
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I flushed heater core and the rest of the cooling system this morning and all is good so far. Now I can drive my car for another month or so without freezing my butt off before the snow here in Michigan forces me to drive my beater. Thanks for the replies.