Still boiling over. I'm frustrated....

[geosnooker2000]

And getting depressed. I'm running out of Summer before school starts and my daughter needs this truck for commuting.

It's a '93 Explorer Sport manual tranny.
My main job I just finished (as some of you know) was a head gasket job that turned into replacing the heads (remanufactured from these guys http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/REBU...rQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_1964wt_937)
because they were both cracked. After about 1 hour of a bad miss on an undetermined cylinder due to a clogged injector, it started running perfectly....... and then over heating. The same problem I had to begin with. I felt stupid after realizing I was running straight water and no thermostat. So yesterday I added almost a full gallon of full strength antifreeze. Of course there was room. I had just finished taking it on a 15 mile round trip to test the radiator. As usual it boiled over when I got back home (this normally only happens after the engine is turned off).

So as I said, I added the nearly 1 gallon and the new Thermostat. This morning I set out for the Mall, a 30 mile trip each way, at 10:30am. It was roughly 92 F. The temp gauge bounced around like it will do when it is working the air bubbles out, but it still seemed too high. When I arrived at the mall, it boiled over.

I didn't panic. I just checked it when I came out of the mall 2 hours later to find that the radiator was full and the overflow tank was completely empty. It had all sucked back in like it's supposed to. I added some cold water to the overflow tank up to the "cold fill" line and started home. It was +/- 100 F

I was very happy at first because I saw this time the temp gauge was rock solid at the "N" and didn't move for the first 10 minutes home. All the air bubbles were def. gone. Then it started to rise ever so steadily all the way home. There were no fluctuations. It was just a slow steady rise until I had to stop 15 minutes from home to let it cool down.

Guys, if it's not cracked heads, what could it be? I have flushed the crap out of this thing 3 or 4 times over the past 2 months trying to get all the "liquid copper" and rust out, and I thought I did a pretty good job. Could this be the symptoms of a worn impeller on the water pump? Any other ideas?

Or am I going to have to pull these freaking heads and get the shop to magnaflux them?

 

[Joe Dirt]

Is there oil in the antifreeze/vice versa? Is the system being 'burped' or are you just using the overflow bottle? Are you absolutely positive the thermostat is opening? What is the upper rad line doing when hot? Is it hot as well, and is it firm?

 

[geosnooker2000]

Is there oil in the antifreeze/vice versa? Is the system being 'burped' or are you just using the overflow bottle? Are you absolutely positive the thermostat is opening? What is the upper rad line doing when hot? Is it hot as well, and is it firm?

First off, I love your sig.

There is no water in the oil. I don't think there is oil in the water, but not sure if it is easy to tell.

As far as the burping issue, what i do is fill the radiator, and actually force the hose to semi-seal off the cap hole so it somewhat forces water beyond just the radiator. Then I start the engine and wait for the thermostat to open, thereby dropping the water level in the radiator. Then I keep filling little by little until it starts to expand to more than what the radiator will hold. Then I put the cap on and fill the overflow tank about 3/4 full.
From there it usually takes about 3 or 4 drive cycles for all the air to burp naturally out of the system through the overflow tank.

I'm wondering if a key to this whole thing is the fact that it ONLY boils over AFTER the engine has been turned off. What does that indicate? Or does it not indicate anything in particular?

As far as the upper hose, I don't know. I will test that tomorrow morning.

Thanks for talking to me, Joe. I'm really getting depressed about this, like I can't do anything right. Like it will never get done.

 

[geosnooker2000]

Ok guys,
I just went down to O'Rileys, and the guy was shocked at how easily the rad. cap twisted off. He said you are supposed to have to put more down pressure than that to turn it. I replaced this radiator about 3 or 4 years ago, and noticed when I did that the cap was looser than I thought it should be, but it WAS the correct cap, as I have replaced the cap 3 or 4 times since then, and they all felt the same. Could the neck of my radiator be too deep? I bought it (I think) from 1-800-radiator and it came by UPS to my house. Has anyone else had this problem with aftermarket radiators?

 

[geosnooker2000]

Well, I went to 1-800-radiator (they happen to be local) and dude (who it turns out I knew from out daughters taking dance together.... small world) gave me a new radiator cap. That seemed to help a considerable amount. BUT. It's 82 and overcast here today. Not 101 with a 110 heat index. We'll see how it does Sunday when it's supposed to get hot again. I'm still all but convinced I need to replace the water pump and the radiator and every radiator hose so my truck has no more excuses. Know what I mean?

 

[ld50]

I have had issues with mine in the past.
One thing I noticed was alot of mud, dead leaves and crap had settled in between the rad and Ac cooler(evaporator?) but you replaced the rad recently so...

You can get a higher performance aftermarket rad, or if you have an auto trans, you can get an aftermarket tranny cooler (might be putting alot of heat into your rad and affecting it`s effectiveness.) These are usually added when towing and such. -I have a standard tranny, I didn't do any of this.

-Boiling over
On a hot day, with my temp guage running at about 3/4 or higher WITHOUT ENTERING THE RED, my rad will boil over into my overflow everytime I turn it off, but it is sucked back in and I don't seem to lose much volume. I can hear it go shwswkswhswkshwsshkkkwshsskwssss. That`s what the overflow is designed to do.

My truck always seems to start running hot on hot days, I have starting running "water wetter" in the coolant because it is supposed to improve cooling and I also removed the rubber from the lip under the back of my hood to try to allow as much airflow across the engine as I can. I also flushed like crazy at one time, but I suspect the channels inside the engine are a little corroded from age, which may have narrowed them. I too changed radiators out when it first started acting up but it didn't do anything, I still have the old rad in my garage actually, cuz it was probably ok.
I also replaced the fan clutch, not sure if you have mentioned that but it can be an issue.

I haven't had to pull over and let it cool for a long time but I don't know what specifically made it better..

 

[geosnooker2000]

I have had issues with mine in the past.
One thing I noticed was alot of mud, dead leaves and crap had settled in between the rad and Ac cooler(evaporator?) but you replaced the rad recently so...

I haven't changed out my radiator in over 3 years (thinking about doing it now) but I did just do a head replacement, which required removal of the radiator, so I cleaned all that crap out at that time.

You can get a higher performance aftermarket rad, or if you have an auto trans, you can get an aftermarket tranny cooler (might be putting alot of heat into your rad and affecting it`s effectiveness.) These are usually added when towing and such. -I have a standard tranny, I didn't do any of this.

I, to, have a manual on this '93 sport I'm working on. This is for my daughter. My personal DD is the '96 in my profile (that needs a new tranny).

-Boiling over
On a hot day, with my temp guage running at about 3/4 or higher WITHOUT ENTERING THE RED, my rad will boil over into my overflow everytime I turn it off, but it is sucked back in and I don't seem to lose much volume. I can hear it go shwswkswhswkshwsshkkkwshsskwssss. That`s what the overflow is designed to do.

When I say "boil over", I talking about all the way. Like blow the top off of and out of the overflow tank. It's not supposed to do that.

My truck always seems to start running hot on hot days, I have starting running "water wetter" in the coolant because it is supposed to improve cooling and I also removed the rubber from the lip under the back of my hood to try to allow as much airflow across the engine as I can. I also flushed like crazy at one time, but I suspect the channels inside the engine are a little corroded from age, which may have narrowed them. I too changed radiators out when it first started acting up but it didn't do anything, I still have the old rad in my garage actually, cuz it was probably ok.
I also replaced the fan clutch, not sure if you have mentioned that but it can be an issue.

I'm not sure if mine is ok or not. There is resistance. It doesn't "free spin" when it's cold, but it doesn't seem locked up when it is hot either.

I haven't had to pull over and let it cool for a long time but I don't know what specifically made it better..

Thanks for the thoughts. Good luck with yours.

 

[ld50]

I'm not sure if mine is ok or not. There is resistance. It doesn't "free spin" when it's cold, but it doesn't seem locked up when it is hot either.

That can be an issue. I`ll tell you right now though, you need a special set of narrow wrenches to undo it from the front. They were pretty expensive so I asked at the local garage to borrow a set, you could even swap it right there if they lend them to you.

 

[geosnooker2000]

Well, It was plenty hot today (100 with a 108 heat index) and I drove for an hour solid, and it didn't boil over when I got back home. I'm still going to replace the radiator and the water pump and the lower hose, and put a helicoil in that stripped Tstat cover bolt hole, but I guess that radiator cap was a big factor. I just want it to be RIGHT.