dfb
Active Member
- Joined
- January 4, 2008
- Messages
- 50
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- City, State
- Gardnerville nevada
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 96 Explorer
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?????