help..coolant change problems and now overheating

[ftexplorer]

Hello, I changed my coolant the last time and never had this issue. I drained the current fluid at the drain valve and about 2.5 gallons came out. I went to refill the tank to do a flush and barely any filled into it, so I started the car figuring it would suck some into the system and I can add more. It immediately started to trickle out, so I stopped the car. I figured it I would put the radiator cap back on to let it suck it in through, and then the car had issues starting. I finally got it to start and kept it on for a minute. I removed the cap and the same amount was there. So I figured I would will up the reservoir with water and if it needed some it would pull it from there. The car ran to normal temps and the heater was turned on. All that was blowing was cold air and the car was starting to move to the H on the temperature gauge, so I shut off the car. I turned it back on without heat and it was fine until the heat was turned on again.

My heater doesn't work and I don't know if the flush solution even made it through the system without the heat turning on. I have a few questions.

1. Is my thermostat shot since the heat doesn't work and the overheating issue? If not, what else could cause this problem?

2. Did the flush solution make it through the system? If not, do I have to fix the heater issue before the flush can go through?

3. Why would the car have had a hard time starting when I turned it off the first time? Is this a bigger problem that needs to be looked at?

Any help you can provide would be really appreciated as I would like to get this car running again and today if possible.

 

[KPT]

There is probably air in there.

You need to run it with the cap off. When it gets to normal operating temp the t-stat will open. You should see the coolant level drop when this happens.

 

[ftexplorer]

The car did get to normal operating temperature, and that's when I put the heat on. It blows cold. So my guess is the thermostat is stuck causing the heat not to work and the car temp gauge to get right up to the hot line. The car has cooled a bit since, and I popped the radiator cap. The water level is lower. I could add more water and try again, but if the thermostat or something else is the problem I need to fix it.

Any other suggestions?

 

[lander]

Check the return rad hose...does it get warm/hot? If not, then the t-stat is stuck...replace it.

 

[ftexplorer]

I wanted to add some other observations. The car will move to overheat without the heater turned on. The top radiator hose does not get hot. It gets warm.

 

[my98nnj]

You still have air trapped in the system. The engine needs to run at a higher idle with the rad. cap off. Rev it a few times, watch the temp, do not let it overheat. Once the air purges out it will pull the coolant in and everything should go back to normal.
No heat = no coolant flow. The t-stat does not block the flow through the heater core, so that's not your problem.

 

[lander]

Put the truck up on ramps if you have them...otherwise improvise (safely) to get the front at an angle. This will allow the air to naturally rise to the highest point, which will then be the radiator cap. Just let it sit at idle with the heater on and the system should eventually burp.

However...I'm still not convinced the t-stat isn't in wrong or that the new one was bad. The return hose should get hot, not just warm.

 

[ftexplorer]

The overheating issue was caused by a bad thermostat. The thermostat looked like it was tuck closed (it was almost touching the bridge). It was a Motorcraft thermostat that was replaced about 3 years ago. I ended up getting a Stant at Advance. I didn't leave the cap off to burp it after replacing the thermostat because the past few times including this morning fluid only leak out all over that section of the engine. I made sure the reservoir had enough water to suck it in if needed. I'm going to do one more flush and try the funnel method again now that the system is working. Thanks for everyone that contributed and hopefully I can get this thing working today.

 

[rego]

Thank you for posting the fix. That doesn't happen often enough. It's usually the most important post of the whole thread.

 

[lander]

The overheating issue was caused by a bad thermostat. The thermostat looked like it was tuck closed (it was almost touching the bridge). It was a Motorcraft thermostat that was replaced about 3 years ago. I ended up getting a Stant at Advance. I didn't leave the cap off to burp it after replacing the thermostat because the past few times including this morning fluid only leak out all over that section of the engine. I made sure the reservoir had enough water to suck it in if needed. I'm going to do one more flush and try the funnel method again now that the system is working. Thanks for everyone that contributed and hopefully I can get this thing working today.

As I suspected.

 

[ftexplorer]

I wanted to leave another comment. The whole burping process by leaving the radiator cap off did not work for me. All that happened was coolant spilled all over the place. I found it better just to fill the radiator to the top and put some water (if flushing) in the reservoir. This way the water is pulled from the reservoir if needed and you can see the air in the system coming out of their as well.

 

[TheJackal]

I wanted to leave another comment. The whole burping process by leaving the radiator cap off did not work for me. All that happened was coolant spilled all over the place. I found it better just to fill the radiator to the top and put some water (if flushing) in the reservoir. This way the water is pulled from the reservoir if needed and you can see the air in the system coming out of their as well.

I found this to be the case as well. Driving the 15 or so miles to school the next morning got the air out. Running the engine with the cap off resulted in coolant everywhere, and very little getting accomplished.

My fan clutch is bad and causes the engine to run on the cool side.