Radiator won't draw from reservoir

[cemeteryman]

Hi - Just had dealer put in new radiator/thermostat/all new hoses - went on 1,500 mile trip thru mountains and 50 miles from home heat guage started to go extreme. Added a little to reservoir-it was not empty. From then on guage up and down-using A/C made no difference. Made it home last 20 miles guage was right on but still will not draw from reservoir. Any suggestions?

 

[koda2000]

Hi - Just had dealer put in new radiator/thermostat/all new hoses - went on 1,500 mile trip thru mountains and 50 miles from home heat guage started to go extreme. Added a little to reservoir-it was not empty. From then on guage up and down-using A/C made no difference. Made it home last 20 miles guage was right on but still will not draw from reservoir. Any suggestions?

Either the hose to the reservoir is blocked, or the rad is sucking in air from somewhere. Disconnect the hose from the radiator and try blowing through it.

 

[PAExplorerXLT]

Air lock? I have had this happen to me when there is air in the system. Not sure the Explorer has bleed valves but haven’t seen any.

 

[cemeteryman]

radiator hose from reservoir

I did take off hose & blew thru it - everything was fine that way - the hole where hose attachs to radiator is so small less than pencil lead size - I wonder if that is a concern

 

[cemeteryman]

radiator reservoir hose

I Forgot to say thanks for replies - I ran vehicle about half and hour after filling everything up - no leaks so where did the original antifreeze go?

 

[JusTheUsual]

Head gasket leaking possibly

 

[cemeteryman]

Head gasket leaking?

Thanks Just the Usual - what would be the symtoms of head gasket leaking?

 

[PAExplorerXLT]

I had a head gasket go in a Chevy engine because of overheating. It will run rough, hard to start and low on power. In your case I wouldn’t think head gasket failure yet. There is supposedly a mixing of oil and coolant and foaming on the inside of the oil filler cap.

 

[JusTheUsual]

could be the water pump also

 

[Tech By Trade]

Bet ya its all sitting in the top of the valley where you cant see it.

 

[cemeteryman]

Thanks for the suggestions

I've been too busy at work to check out much of anything - just refilled everything and now I need to drive it awhile to look for any leaks. As of now no foaming of oil on dipstick so I will update when I see something out of the ordinary. May get to drive it an hour tonite. Again thanks for the replies.

 

[cemeteryman]

Radiator level OK for now

After drilling line by radiator cap about 1/8" opening which connects hose from reservoir I have no problems after driving about and hour 3 different times. All I know is it must have gotten small piece of gunk plugging small hole into radiator by the cap and caused the overheating and failure to draw from reservoir. Anyway thanks for all suggestions and hopefully its good to go.