Car over heating after radiator flush.

[Devin Wright]

So, I think I know what the problem is but I'm not 100% sure. So, I bought some 50/50 Valvoline coolant to do a flush on my radiator because winter is setting in. I looked at the coolant and it's for Asian cars. I was watching my dad pour it as I have a messed up wrist and can't. And it looked like it was kinda redish in color from my angle. So, I turn the engine on and let it idle, and once it starts heating up, I notice it's going higher then it normally does. Ya know how when a car gets to normal operating temperature how it's generally in the middle of the engine temp gauge? Well, for my car, for some reason it only goes about a quarter of the way up instead of two quarters or halfway. When it started overheating, it was going above the halfway mark. The model number of the coolant I used is: 871668. What is a quick fix to this? If I was just to put some distilled water in it would that hold me till I can get some proper coolant? I'm low on money and the grocery store I work at I can get two gallons of distilled water for like $1.80. Winter is starting to set in here in North Carolina, so, I'm kinda feeling somewhat worried here. This is my only car and I REALLY depend on it. Also, I've looked up what ford requires for coolant and I know now what to get. My dad told me that "coolant is coolant." So I was under the impression of that as well. Guess I was wrong or I really messed something up here.

My car is a 1995 Ford Explorer XLT.

 

[BKennedy]

Coolant is not coolant. You need the type that your vehicle calls for. Flush the coolant that you put in out, then put the right type for your vehicle. You also probably need to burp the system to get all the air out of the hoses. Common with Explorers. As it is heating up, squeeze the upper radiator hose several times. If its easy to squeeze, keep squeezing until you push the air out.

 

[Devin Wright]

Coolant is not coolant. You need the type that your vehicle calls for. Flush the coolant that you put in out, then put the right type for your vehicle. You also probably need to burp the system to get all the air out of the hoses. Common with Explorers. As it is heating up, squeeze the upper radiator hose several times. If its easy to squeeze, keep squeezing until you push the air out.

So, me using the wrong coolant is what's causing the overheating right? Or is it the air bubbles? I put some radiator flush in my radiator with some tap water to flush it. And while it was flushing it was overheating. I forgot about that. Could air being in the system cause it to overheat?

 

[BKennedy]

I don't use radiator flush because I think it causes more harm than good. After you run the flush, you need to get it all out of there before adding coolant. You might have loosened some gunk that has your thermostat clogged. Air in the system can cause overheating, but the wrong coolant is bad for your seals and hoses.

 

[1998Exp]

Coolant is coolant, as far as cooling is concerned. In fact, water cools better than any coolant (not that I would advise you to put pure water in the system...) As someone already stated, your overheating is due to air in the system, or perhaps an obstruction. Could also be bad thermostat. You need to stick with the manufacturer's recommendation to prevent deterioration of gaskets and possibly other components.

 

[96eb96]

Dad is wrong. Coolant isn't coolant. You ideally want Valvoline™ ZEREX™ Original Green Antifreeze / Coolant : Product Catalog - Valvoline®
or
https://www.autozone.com/antifreeze...onventional-antifreeze-and-coolant/540722_0_0
or
Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

Next best would be Prestone universal coolant which is a compromise but works in most cars. That being said, it is unlikely the BRAND would cause overheat.

Make sure you flush the coolant out FULLY before adding another type. Maybe 3 or 4 runs with tap water.

Also, you have the OHV engine like I do, you have to run it with the radiator cap at the first setting, let it warm up, then top it off. You may have to check again after a few trips to make sure it is full. The service/owners manual says it could drop a cup up to 7500 miles after a coolant service(just quoting what it says), so it is good to add a cup more to the tank and keep an eye on it.

If it is only going up 1/2 way, you probably need a new theromostat. Mine used to fluctuate, because I believe it had small cracks in the head. It sits just under the icon now, 191 deg F.

 

[XLTrunner]

Another trick to getting the air out of the system is to simply get the front end up in the air as you warm it up with the cap either on the first setting or off (air rises to the highest point). Been doing that for decades on my vehicles and have never had a problem bleeding air out of the system.

I, too, would strongly recommend replacing that coolant with the traditional Prestone-type as soon as you can afford it. I have no idea what these new formulations would do to your engine over the long term if left in there (I still have bad memories of GM's Dex-Cool debacle). Personally, I don't think you need to push the panic button and park it until you do change it, though. Just put it on your priority list to get it done as soon as you can manage the necessary funds.

 

[koda2000]

All coolant is NOT the same. The coolant you put in (red colored) would not have caused the engine to overheat, but it's the wrong coolant for your vehicle.

As other's have stated, you have/had air trapped in the engine and that's what caused the overheating. Ford should have installed a bleeder valve to help get this trapped air out, but they didn't. Typically once it overheats the air gets expelled (along with some coolant) and then you can add coolant once things cool down and be okay, but that's a dangerous way to try to get the air out, as you can blow a head gasket. Follow the advise given regarding raising the front of the vehicle and leaving the rad cap loose/off.

I'd get that red stuff out of there ASAP (as much of it as possible - followed by multiple water flushes) then refill with the recommended 100% green coolant, because you can't get the water that remains in the engine block out. Run the engine to get it up to operating temp. When done, test the coolant with a tester to see if you have adequate protection, but it should be about right (-34F or so).

As your temp gauge seems to be reading low (at 1/4 way up), I'd also also install a new thermostat (190-195 degree) as your temp gauge should normally be reaching near 1/2 way up.

 

[Devin Wright]

All coolant is NOT the same. The coolant you put in (red colored) would not have caused the engine to overheat, but it's the wrong coolant for your vehicle.

As other's have stated, you have/had air trapped in the engine and that's what caused the overheating. Ford should have installed a bleeder valve to help get this trapped air out, but they didn't. Typically once it overheats the air gets expelled (along with some coolant) and then you can add coolant once things cool down and be okay, but that's a dangerous way to try to get the air out, as you can blow a head gasket. Follow the advise given regarding raising the front of the vehicle and leaving the rad cap loose/off.

I'd get that red stuff out of there ASAP (as much of it as possible - followed by multiple water flushes) then refill with the recommended 100% green coolant, because you can't get the water that remains in the engine block out. Run the engine to get it up to operating temp. When done, test the coolant with a tester to see if you have adequate protection, but it should be about right (-34F or so).

As your temp gauge seems to be reading low (at 1/4 way up), I'd also also install a new thermostat (190-195 degree) as your temp gauge should normally be reaching near 1/2 way up.

Another trick to getting the air out of the system is to simply get the front end up in the air as you warm it up with the cap either on the first setting or off (air rises to the highest point). Been doing that for decades on my vehicles and have never had a problem bleeding air out of the system.

I, too, would strongly recommend replacing that coolant with the traditional Prestone-type as soon as you can afford it. I have no idea what these new formulations would do to your engine over the long term if left in there (I still have bad memories of GM's Dex-Cool debacle). Personally, I don't think you need to push the panic button and park it until you do change it, though. Just put it on your priority list to get it done as soon as you can manage the necessary funds.

Dad is wrong. Coolant isn't coolant. You ideally want Valvoline™ ZEREX™ Original Green Antifreeze / Coolant : Product Catalog - Valvoline®
or
https://www.autozone.com/antifreeze...onventional-antifreeze-and-coolant/540722_0_0
or
Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

Next best would be Prestone universal coolant which is a compromise but works in most cars. That being said, it is unlikely the BRAND would cause overheat.

Make sure you flush the coolant out FULLY before adding another type. Maybe 3 or 4 runs with tap water.

Also, you have the OHV engine like I do, you have to run it with the radiator cap at the first setting, let it warm up, then top it off. You may have to check again after a few trips to make sure it is full. The service/owners manual says it could drop a cup up to 7500 miles after a coolant service(just quoting what it says), so it is good to add a cup more to the tank and keep an eye on it.

If it is only going up 1/2 way, you probably need a new theromostat. Mine used to fluctuate, because I believe it had small cracks in the head. It sits just under the icon now, 191 deg F.

Coolant is coolant, as far as cooling is concerned. In fact, water cools better than any coolant (not that I would advise you to put pure water in the system...) As someone already stated, your overheating is due to air in the system, or perhaps an obstruction. Could also be bad thermostat. You need to stick with the manufacturer's recommendation to prevent deterioration of gaskets and possibly other components.

I don't use radiator flush because I think it causes more harm than good. After you run the flush, you need to get it all out of there before adding coolant. You might have loosened some gunk that has your thermostat clogged. Air in the system can cause overheating, but the wrong coolant is bad for your seals and hoses.

Sorry if that looks spammy, but I wanted everyone to see this update and I had no better idea how to do it. But, for some reason the cars not overheating anymore. So, that's a massive plus. Just randomly stopped overheating. Drove it too work and back today and it drove fine. Kept overheating twice for me last night, then my dad comes out there, starts it and lets it sit in the drive way as I literally had did with me in the passenger seat and it doesn't overheat. Literally story of my life guys and gals. Somethings not working for me, though I'm doing it correctly, someone comes around, does the exact same thing I'm doing, and it works perfectly fine. But, eh, besides my life story, I'm going to get the proper coolant in there about a week and a half from now when I get paid again. Still can't believe I wasted money on the wrong coolant .-.

 

[XLTrunner]

Your truck didn't just "randomly" stop overheating. As Koda explained, it appears to have burped the air bubbles out after it overheated a few times. Glad to hear you're at least up and running.

If I may offer some advice...do not live your life thinking you have a dark cloud hovering over you. That's complete b.s. Life is about learning; oftentimes thru trial and error. When attempting something new....take time to think about how to tackle it, do some research, ask questions, pay attention to details and be patient. If you make a mistake, back up and review what you did or didn't do correctly and try it again. In those instances where you think you did something correctly only to have it fail...and, then someone else came around and did it the same way and succeeded...I can almost guarantee that in most cases, they did something just a little bit differently that you didn't notice. Experience builds confidence...and, now you've learned something new about your Explorer's cooling system. Good luck!

 

[koda2000]

Your truck didn't just "randomly" stop overheating. As Koda explained, it appears to have burped the air bubbles out after it overheated a few times. Glad to hear you're at least up and running.

If I may offer some advice...do not live your life thinking you have a dark cloud hovering over you. That's complete b.s. Life is about learning; oftentimes thru trial and error. When attempting something new....take time to think about how to tackle it, do some research, ask questions, pay attention to details and be patient. If you make a mistake, back up and review what you did or didn't do correctly and try it again. In those instances where you think you did something correctly only to have it fail...and, then someone else came around and did it the same way and succeeded...I can almost guarantee that in most cases, they did something just a little bit differently that you didn't notice. Experience builds confidence...and, now you've learned something new about your Explorer's cooling system. Good luck!

Excellent life advice.

OP - keep in mind, when you replace the red coolant with green you're most likely to go through the same overheating issues. If you said which engine your truck has I missed it, but this phenomenon is pretty normal with the SOHC engine. Air just gets trapped in the upper part of the engine and needs to get "burped" out. Following the suggestions given on raising the front end and leaving the radiator cap off/loose should help. The problem is that air gets trapped under the thermostat and then it doesn't open (because it's not submerged in hot coolant). When things get really hot, the steam causes the t-stat to finally open and then a volcano of hot water, steam and coolant will be belched out. Usually once is enough, but depending on how much air was trapped it may take multiple burps to get all the air out.

I really like dealing with mechanical issues, because they are always totally logical as long as you understand what's happening and why.

 

[BKennedy]

Partial quote;

I really like dealing with mechanical issues, because they are always totally logical as long as you understand what's happening and why.

Especially if you are dealing with a GM product. For instance; why did the engineers create engine mounts that a 1/4" too long to allow someone to remove the alternator on a 2008 3.6L equipped Saturn Vue without removing the passenger side engine mount, or pulling the radiator? Its still logical, its the engineering that is flawed. The fix is pure logic. I had to figure out the least intrusive way to get the alternator out.

If I was in charge of the engineering department of a vehicle manufacturing company, I would have a crusty old-school mechanic wandering around the department. When he saw some young kid on a computer come up with something that would be a nightmare to work on, he would kick them soundly in the crotch and tell them to do it over while they are curled up on the floor.

 

[96eb96]

Sorry if that looks spammy, but I wanted everyone to see this update and I had no better idea how to do it. But, for some reason the cars not overheating anymore. So, that's a massive plus. Just randomly stopped overheating. Drove it too work and back today and it drove fine. Kept overheating twice for me last night, then my dad comes out there, starts it and lets it sit in the drive way as I literally had did with me in the passenger seat and it doesn't overheat. Literally story of my life guys and gals. Somethings not working for me, though I'm doing it correctly, someone comes around, does the exact same thing I'm doing, and it works perfectly fine. But, eh, besides my life story, I'm going to get the proper coolant in there about a week and a half from now when I get paid again. Still can't believe I wasted money on the wrong coolant .-.

We were all you at one time. Years down the line you will pass the torch and give the coolant lecture to someone else! Knowledge is power, saves you money and keeps your ride very reliable.