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Coolant system vent tube....thing...

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Old Dec 31, 2005 | 01:44 AM
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Default Coolant system vent tube....thing...



By the upper radiator hose, the smaller black hose connected near the water pump, about an inch to the driver's side of where the upper rad hose connects. Is that the vent tube?

It connects to the radiator...which I'm guessing is right, right?
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Old Dec 31, 2005 | 01:51 AM
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From: Schiller Park, ILL Member: #317
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Are you talking about the line that goes to the throttle body? That's the TB coolant line.....brings coolant into the TB housing.
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Old Dec 31, 2005 | 01:59 AM
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No, I mean the thing that uh...makes the air bubbles come out. I forgot what it's called. The thing that goes to the throttle body is on the top of the TB, from what it looks like. I mean the black hose underneath the TB. It connects to a series of pipes that connect to the heads.
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Old Dec 31, 2005 | 02:10 AM
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From: Schiller Park, ILL Member: #317
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The top line on the passenger side of the TB is a fresh air line to the valve cover....to provide air circulation for the PCV system. The TB coolant lines are on the bottom of the TB.
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Old Dec 31, 2005 | 02:19 AM
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The line that that hose connects to doesn't connect to the TB though. At least I don't think it does. Let me circle it in the picture to make sure we're talking about the right thing
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Old Dec 31, 2005 | 02:22 AM
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Old Dec 31, 2005 | 02:34 AM
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From: Schiller Park, ILL Member: #317
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Yes, that hose goes directly into the TB housing.

What year car is that LS1 motor out of? I see that the head casting number is 241 which would be a late '00 or newer casting, and the TB looks to be a '98-'00 style judging by the coolant nipple, yet you mention an '02 LS1 in your sig..... did that motor come from the '02 car? If so I think that TB is from a different car......
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Old Dec 31, 2005 | 02:43 AM
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It's a 2002. And if that's not it, where's the connection for the vent tube? Should what I have connected not be connected to the radiator?
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Old Dec 31, 2005 | 02:58 AM
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From: Schiller Park, ILL Member: #317
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No, you got it right. That tube does connect to the radiator on the one end and the TB on the other. Then on the driver's side of the TB, the line connects from the TB housing to the hard lines that go towards the heads. Some people do a TB coolant by-pass though, to keep the hot coolant out of the TB housing for a cooler intake charge.

Odd thing is, I think the '01/'02 cars have a different nipple for the coolant line. What I see in your picture is a hard line coming off the TB, and making a 90 degree bend pointing straight towards the front of the car. That's the same configuration my '98 and '00 have. But, I also have a spare TB (from an '01/'02 car I beleive) that has a different pipe on it, that does not have a 90 degree bend. Odd. Maybe someone did an exchange for a ported TB at some point and ended up with an older TB on the '02 motor?
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Old Dec 31, 2005 | 03:04 AM
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So there's no other lines that I need to connect to the radiator, right?

And that's odd. Don't make me think about it too much, or I'll get scared that this thing isn't going to start...
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Old Dec 31, 2005 | 03:14 AM
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From: Schiller Park, ILL Member: #317
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Originally Posted by xthephilx
So there's no other lines that I need to connect to the radiator, right?
Do you plan to run any sort of overflow bottle? I don't see a line for that in your pic.



Originally Posted by xthephilx
And that's odd. Don't make me think about it too much, or I'll get scared that this thing isn't going to start...
Don't worry, I can't see why it having a different bend in the coolant hard pipe would make any real difference. Just strange is all.
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Old Dec 31, 2005 | 03:19 AM
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Overflow bottle isn't done yet. The line is right under the radiator cap:

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Old Dec 31, 2005 | 03:23 AM
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From: Schiller Park, ILL Member: #317
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Originally Posted by xthephilx
Overflow bottle isn't done yet. The line is right under the radiator cap:

LOL....yeah it didn't even occur to me that there was no radiator cap on the passenger side in those first pics. I guess I just assumed it was there cause that's where it is on a stock LS1 radiator. I see the nipple for the overflow line now....

Sorry, it's late and I'm tired.
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Old Dec 31, 2005 | 03:50 AM
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Thanks for your help.
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Old Dec 31, 2005 | 10:11 AM
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Originally Posted by xthephilx
No, I mean the thing that uh...makes the air bubbles come out. I forgot what it's called. The thing that goes to the throttle body is on the top of the TB, from what it looks like. I mean the black hose underneath the TB. It connects to a series of pipes that connect to the heads.
It's called a steam vent line and it recirculates steam from the heads back through the radiator where the lower temp of the coolant turns the steam back to liquid.

Be careful when hooking the lines to the radiator. It's looks like you don't have a stock radiator, as the fill cap is on the driver's side rather than the passenger side. Make sure the steam vent line hose goes directly into the radiator and not into the overflow tube directly below the radiator cap.

A shop reversed the lines on my car which caused overheating problems for obvious reasons. Why, because the steam had no where to go except to the radiator cap, where it was restricted until the radiator cap opens (which vents overflow into the overflow tank).

In addition, the inlet line from the steam vent was connected to the overflow (wrong), so any expanded coolant above the steam vent inlet was venting off into the overflow tank. So the overflow was getting steam from the steam vent line and expanded water from the radiator.

A very simple mistake but stupid on the installers part. I discovered the mistake when I removed the radiator cap and saw bubbles coming from the steam vent line into the radiator cap overflow hole. Coolant should go out of the hole to the overflow tank rather than having coolant come into it.

If you don't have the steam vent inlet in your radiator (a V6 radiator), then I would have one installed. I wouldn't run the car if the steam is recirculating back to the engine rather than into the radiator.

Just make sure you don't vent it into the overflow tank, like they did on mine.
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Old Dec 31, 2005 | 11:09 AM
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From: Schiller Park, ILL Member: #317
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Originally Posted by dlandsvZ28
It's called a steam vent line and it recirculates steam from the heads back through the radiator where the lower temp of the coolant turns the steam back to liquid.

Be careful when hooking the lines to the radiator. It's looks like you don't have a stock radiator, as the fill cap is on the driver's side rather than the passenger side. Make sure the steam vent line hose goes directly into the radiator and not into the overflow tube directly below the radiator cap.

A shop reversed the lines on my car which caused overheating problems for obvious reasons. Why, because the steam had no where to go except to the radiator cap, where it was restricted until the radiator cap opens (which vents overflow into the overflow tank).

In addition, the inlet line from the steam vent was connected to the overflow (wrong), so any expanded coolant above the steam vent inlet was venting off into the overflow tank. So the overflow was getting steam from the steam vent line and expanded water from the radiator.

A very simple mistake but stupid on the installers part. I discovered the mistake when I removed the radiator cap and saw bubbles coming from the steam vent line into the radiator cap overflow hole. Coolant should go out of the hole to the overflow tank rather than having coolant come into it.

If you don't have the steam vent inlet in your radiator (a V6 radiator), then I would have one installed. I wouldn't run the car if the steam is recirculating back to the engine rather than into the radiator.

Just make sure you don't vent it into the overflow tank, like they did on mine.
What is shown in the pics above is hooked up exactly as it should be as per a stock LS1. There is a nipple coming off the lower passenger side of the TB housing that hooks directly to the radiator via a small black hose (as shown). Another black hose hooks the nipple on the drivers side of the lower TB housing to the hard pipes going towards the heads.

The nipple for the overflow bottle appears to be on the drivers side just under the radiator cap pointing out towards the fender on xthephilx's setup becuase he is not using a stock LS1 radiator. That is the nipple that should be hooked up to an overflow bottle.

As far as I can tell by the pics, everything looks fine.
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