Coolant Overflow flow flow flow...

[EBInterceptor]

I've read some other posts regarding this issue, but couldn't find anyones that really satisfied me. So here's my story...

Went to Carquest to pick up a few parts. PCV valve and gas cap (have CEL for P0455 so I'm trying to fix that these days as well). Then I drive over to NAPA and snag some Bosch Plat 2 plugs which is probably a mile away. Then I drive about half a mile back and stop in at Home Depot for some Teflon tape. When I come out I see a huge puddle on the ground. I didn't notice that when I parked but thought I must have missed it. Noticing it's green, I check under the X and sure enough it's mine. I move the car about 100 ft. further out in the lot and pop the hood. The coolant reserve tank blew open and is leaking coolant all over my engine. Someone else mentioned a burnt fluid smell in another post, I think it smells like fish. Luckily I have my Haynes with me and try and trouble shoot.

Regarding the thermostat, I check the upper radiator hose and it was hot along with the engine which means it's not stuck closed according to haynes.

Once coolant emptied I noticed there was crap in the resevoir like dirt. So I think it needs a flush. But don't know if that is really connected to the fact that it overflowed.

I let it sit and went into another store nearby to kill time. I came back out and noticed the upper radiator hose had collapsed. Which I never noticed it was collapsed before. Start the engine and it opened back up which would mean that the pump is working.

Noises: When I first came back out I heard some strange noises, but the stopped and I couldn't hear them again. I did stop again to cool the engine down again on my drive back. There was an excessive amount of clicking from what seemed to be coming from the upper radiator near the drivers side. Sounded like some plastic parts being flipped open and closed repeatedly.

I have not checked the radiator cap to see if it's faulty. Don't know how to test if it's gone bad. I read that there are 3 pressures, 13,16, and 19 psi? Would 16 be the way to go if it's bad?

I need a new temp sending unit I know, it's coming tomorrow sometime. A day too late I think. So I didn't know my engine was running hot until it was too late. Would it be a cause for it to overheat like that? Because the coolant ECT is good still as far as I know.

Another thing I noticed was that when I stopped and the tank would fill and overflow, the coolant was smokin' hot, literally.

So I just don't know what to go about doing on this. The fan spins freely. Some tension, doesn't seem excessive at all. Anyone know what I should go about doing first or have any insight on the information that I gave? I have not filled the coolant back up yet, because my vehicle is still cooling down. Outside temps are in the 80s-90s. And this is just a little more necessary work that I wanted to do on my day off. I was just hoping to do a few minor fixes rather than spend the day troubleshooting.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[DMan446]

How many miles you have on it?

I had a similar problem with an 85 thunderbird. It turned out the thermostat would intermittenly stick, causing the engine to get really warn to hot. Then warping my heads, which i was unaware of. So cylinder blow by was filling the water jacket with air causing all my coolant to flush out of the radiator.
Filled the entire cooling system with a cold engine, drove 2 blocks and it was bone dry. The funny part of it was it never ran funny or missed or anything.

 

[Gid-Er-Dun4x4]

make sure you didnt fry the bearings in the water pump i did that in my b ronc and in the trans am

 

[EBInterceptor]

My temp sending unit is due today, so at least I'll know when they engine is running too hot rather than finding watching my coolant spill over after it sits. I'm going to flush the coolant and fill it back up and start with that. Not sure how much coolant was in before so it may have been low, I"m not sure. Oil change is coming up in about 500 miles, so I may go up to 10w30 (normally I run 5w30 in the winter). I'm going to try one thing at a time though so I'll know which variable fixed the problem. 72,800 miles by the way. I'm going to check the pump out more closely today and double check the fan/clutch.

 

[LStoudenmire]

Had the very same thing happen to me, as well. I would change the cap first, then the thermostat. While changing the thermostat, I would go ahead and flush the system with water with no chemical flush. Then if that didnt work, do the chemical flush.

In working to resolve my overflow problem, I flushed with chemical flush and ended up having to replace my radiator due to it flushing out some deposits, and it really turned out to be the thermostat. I had discounted the thermostat first, because I had just had it replaced a year ago.

 

[EBInterceptor]

I'm currently in the process of the flush. I drained the coolant and flushed everything out with water, including reverse flushing it. Did I screw something up? Because I added fluid up the the top of the radiator cap, and ran it with the top off (that's what I thought Haynes said to do) and added it to my resevoir to the line. While I was running the engine it all flowed out, and I shut my engine off after the upper radiator hose started getting warm, and all my fluid started pumping back out the cap. I just don't understand this process. Am I suppose to add fluid as it's running, or turn it on after I add the fluid? My coolant was really dark, so I thought that it should be emptied out and start new. But now I'm getting frustrated with loosing all this fluid all over my garage floor. Another thing is that my heater is blowing cold right now too. My temp sending unit won't be here until tomorrow now, so I'll have to pick up a thermostat tonight and I'll change those both out at the same time. I might as well change it while I'm down there.

 

[LStoudenmire]

I dont think you screwed anything up, as mine did the same thing, until I changed my thermostat.

I didnt see you mention in your post whether you had the heater going at full blast. If not, you should turn the heat on, to open the heater control valve so that it refills with water.

I filled everything up, cranked it, then turned on my heater I believe immediately after cranking. After the thermostat opened, then I shut it off and refilled to the top of the radiator. I think that was it. Ten I just kept an eye on it for the next week or so and added a little as needed, until it balanced out.

 

[EBInterceptor]

I have the heater full blast and all the way on, the car is idling in the driveway, I'm on my way to Napa to see how my coolant change went and to pick up a thermostat. I hope I can make it there, it's about 6 miles. I'll have to take it slow and see how things go. I'm also going to pick up a radiator cap just to be safe.

 

[LStoudenmire]

Keep us posted.

 

[jgilbs]

after u get the new stat i would HIGHLY recommend testing the stat first, as i bought a defective one and it took me forever to troubleshoot because i was convinced it WASNT the stat, having just replaced it. ended up having to replace it(PITA!) and now my truck runs better and cooler than my moms 2000.

 

[EBInterceptor]

Well....I just got back, and if you look at the time stamps on my posts you can see how long it took me! 3 hours!!! I stopped at the light about 100 yards from Napa and hear my radiator clicking. Pull in and see my coolant spraying up out of the overflow tank. Get the situation stabilized. And cover my KKM with a bag (I'm worried I'm sucking in coolant through my filter). Go in and buy a thermostat and a radiator cap. Wait around FOREVER for my coolant levels to drop, only good part about that is I'm really getting familiar with my Haynes manual which I sit around and read while my X is cooling down.

I sat around and walked around town then came back to my vehicle, the coolant completely down, so I drive 2 places down get some gas, drive about 2 miles and stop at the area highschool and stop to get the coolant levels back down. Finally they drop. Drive 2 more miles, stop and wait, no dropping so I risked it and went 2 more miles to my house with no overflow....so that's good.

Something I did notice was that I wasn't getting any heat! I was trying to blow all the heat out but there was none. Then later I realized that I got some heat but it was sparatic. It would heat up for a minute then cool down without adjusting the temp. So right now I'm waiting for the X to cool down completely, I'll change the cap and the thermostat and fill it back up with coolant and hopefully I won't have any more of these problems!!! Fortunately I had yesterday and today off but I have to work tomorrow night at 4. So I'm going to do those things, and put my temp sending unit in as soon as it arrives (1 day late already) so at least I'll have something to tell me beforehand when I'm about to blow my top.

I'll be sure to test the thermostat before hand and keep y'all informed. So how do I test it? Put it in hot water and check it see if it opens?

 

[EBInterceptor]

As luck would have it they gave me the wrong thermostat at Napa. Picked up the new one and am going home to install it. If the upper radiator hose is bone dry, would that point to a thermostat stuck closed? I don't want to think about a bad water pump yet. Pump isn't leaking out of the weep valve, so I hope that's fine still.

 

[EBInterceptor]

I fixed the problem. Pretty sure it was the thermostat, though I did also change my radiator cap. So much trouble I've had to go through to fix something as simple as a thermostat. Installed it last night, let it idle for a while, and topped off the fluids, then drove to work this evening. Stopped and checked the overflow tank on the way there, and on my way back too with no overflowing, so I'm relieved thinking that I solved the problem for good. Now onto the other troubles I'm having!!! Thanks for all of the help.

 

[LStoudenmire]

Glad it worked out. May have been time consuming, but think about the money you saved by doing it yourself.

 

[EBInterceptor]

Glad that was done, but then I went back and tried to change my temp sending unit and ran into more problems. I've got a separate thread going about how I got it stuck in the hole halfway and couldn't move it. I ended up just reassembling everything and running it sticking halfway out of the hole....and surprisingly it works! So much work for nothing. I'm stressed out to the bone right now with all the problems and work I've had to do the last week. Now I'm thinking shackles and Apten to relieve some of my stress.

 

[j602]

Yeah my radiator kept up to the top of the temp. gauge, blowing steam out my A/C vents, then finally falling back down. I flushed the radiator, replaced three hoses and the thermostat, refilled and added stop leak and it runs better than ever now. Glad you got it resolved. Later.

Josh