Heater FIX!!!!!(Blowing Cold Air)

[dfb]

On Super Bowl Sunday, I removed the Radiator Cap on my 96 Explorer and of course water came GUSHING OUT!! !. I hurriedly put the cap back on an low an behold the heater stopped blowing out hot air.. Yesterday, I had to take a ride to Truckee California, the COLDEST place in America.. When I left my home in Carson City, it was 18 degrees outside and when I arrived in Truckee California, it was 2 degrees BELOW ZERO!!!! I thought I had air in the upper heater hose or in the heater core and it would purge itself... Well for 3 days it did not... I drove into a gas station at Tahoe and asked the guy how much to purge the air... He said, 40.00... By the time I got there MY hands and feet were numb..the heater blew ICE cold air the whole 35 mile trip..Here is what he did.... First, he removed the radiator cap and place a pressure tester on the filler neck and filled the radiator with air pressure... He asked me to start the car and try the heater... NOTHING.... He then had me turn it off and while the pressure was in the Radiator he disconnected the heater control valve..... No air coming thru the hoses...He blew air into the heater control valve and it was o.k.... Next, he tried to blow compressed air into the heater hoses going into the heater core.. The first hose he tried was plugged up with something... He could not get air into it... So he took the air hose and tried the other heater hose that goes into the heater core... WAMO!!!!! Air and a bunch of foamy junk came blowing out the hose that was plugged!!!! He ran air into the previously plugged heater hose again and air now flowed freely... He put it back together and then had me try the heater.... After being frozen to death you would not believe how great it was to have the heater blowing out hot air again....Once again he had me shut it off and removed the pressure tester...He filled the radiator with coolant and allowed it to sit for about 15 minutes to allow the coolant to drop... He did this several time before putting the cap on and sending me on my way...So if any of your heaters are not blowing hot, and the temp gauge fluctuates wildly, you may want to try the compressed air method of blowing air thru the heater core... This WORKED>>>>>One other thing... While the car was running, when I revved the engine and let off on the gas, coolant would gush out of the radiator.... Also, with the cap off when I shut the engine off, the coolant would gush out... I thought this was normal, he said, I may have a blown head gasket... NO water in the oil, no tiny bubbles in the coolant reservoir ..... It runs GREAT!!!! No white residue under the "oil filler cap"".,... Is it possible to have a blown head gasket with the only symptom of water gushing out of the radiator cap?????

 

[Turdle]

Yes

 

[dfb]

Yes

please reiterate.....

 

[Turdle]

I answered your question. It was a question wasn't it?

 

[dfb]

I answered your question. It was a question wasn't it?

Maybe I am wrong... By asking to "reiterate"" I was asking for you to further explain... Personally, I don't think so because the crack or gasket break would have to allow antifreeze to go somewhere.. Either outside the block or inside the cylinder..Also, it seems that compression would be down and anti freeze would have to be refilled every so often...This would show up as drivability issues, ie Rough idle or a miss... steam would have to come out the tail pipe or leak outside the block... Personally, I am thinking a plugged Radiator or heater core would do this as well...Yes you did answer my question, but it was as if I asked "what is a dog?" and your reply would be, "it barks"...

 

[Turdle]

Is it possible to have a blown head gasket with the only symptom of water gushing out of the radiator cap?????

^^^your question
Yes=my answer


You already had a mechanic pressure test the system and say he suspected this.

And yes-if only the water jacket area seal is gone-the compression of the engine will cause excess pressure in the cooling system with no oil-coolant mix occurring.

the 24 psi of the cooling system may not leak through the gasket "crack"-but the 150 psi compression does.
get it?

 

[dfb]

^^^your question
Yes=my answer


You already had a mechanic pressure test the system and say he suspected this.

And yes-if only the water jacket area seal is gone-the compression of the engine will cause excess pressure in the cooling system with no oil-coolant mix occurring.

the 24 psi of the cooling system may not leak through the gasket "crack"-but the 150 psi compression does.
get it?

His suspicion was ONLY based on the water "gushing" out the radiator filler neck!! So what YOU are saying is that 24 psi wont show the leak but 150 psi will.. If this is the case, the engine would MISS....The pressure was to try to purge air out, not as a pressure test... I guess they make a "chemical test" for this very reason... I will try that... But what someone else said is that if the radiator or heater core had a blockage, this would cause water to also gush out of the neck....Thank You....

 

[dogfriend]

Maybe I am wrong... By asking to "reiterate"" I was asking for you to further explain... Personally, I don't think so because the crack or gasket break would have to allow antifreeze to go somewhere.. Either outside the block or inside the cylinder..Also, it seems that compression would be down and anti freeze would have to be refilled every so often...This would show up as drivability issues, ie Rough idle or a miss... steam would have to come out the tail pipe or leak outside the block... Personally, I am thinking a plugged Radiator or heater core would do this as well...Yes you did answer my question, but it was as if I asked "what is a dog?" and your reply would be, "it barks"...

Reiterate means "to do over"

Elaborate means "to go into more detail"


Yes, its possible that you have a head gasket leak.

Or maybe you just had a plugged heater core.

To diagnose a head gasket, you can perform a compression test, or even better, a cylinder leakdown test. You can buy a leakdown tester for about $50 from Harbor Freight Tools.

 

[dfb]

Reiterate means "to do over"

Elaborate means "to go into more detail"


Yes, its possible that you have a head gasket leak.

Or maybe you just had a plugged heater core.

To diagnose a head gasket, you can perform a compression test, or even better, a cylinder leakdown test. You can buy a leakdown tester for about $50 from Harbor Freight Tools.

I stand corrected..... When you asked "if I understood?" it was... "Kinda, sorta, but not really"....English was never my strong subject.... Sounds like you did well in that course however..I am a product of the Public school system....Wish I would have gone to a private school...Thanks again...

 

[dogfriend]

I am also a product of the public school system

I wanted to add that if it is a head gasket, you may just have a small leak between one of the cylinders and the water jacket. But over time, it will get worse, so keep an eye out for oil in the water (brown foam) or worse, water in the oil (milky appearance) because coolant doesn't work very well for lubricating the bearings.

 

[dfb]

The engine has 195k miles on it... Instead of just fixing the gasket or head, I wonder what a rebuilt costs....It does not use any oil tho...

 

[Bill Kemp]

Test can be done for exhaust gas in the coolant. Had it done on my Cad. and lived to regret it. Blown headgasket....

 

[dfb]

Someone said to remove the cap when it's cold, and if it don't spew, it's o.k..