tuner-automotive Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 I did the search and thats how I filled the raiadtor the sencond time. I just did a Tbelt job myself . Belts , pulleys. water pump, Thermostat. Everything went smooth. I filled the radiator and lets it run with cap off until the fans came on. Then let it sit over bite and topped it off. Started it up today and drove the freeway to work. Looked in rearview mirror and saw whitesmoke coming out from under the car. Looked at thermostat and it was on the H. Noticed no hot air coming from vents. Popped the hood and noticed the lower radiator hose was cold and also sucked in, like a vacumn. Released the pressure from the raiator by way of rad cap and that relieved the lower radiator hose being sucked in. Started car and limped it home. I had to pull over numerous times to let it cool as i didnt want it to OVERheat. Pulled in the garage and drained the fluid again. This time I followed the directions found here in USMB. Car idled great and didnt overheat until........ I got on the hwy and it got almost up to the H again. Im getting hot air from the vents and blowing the fan cools the engine. Im not smoking out the back. Upper hose is hot. Lower hose is cold. Radiator cap is cold. Allthe lines going to the heater coil are warm. But the upper radiator hose you can hear the water boiling. Whats up??? Tstat seemed good and fluid was added correctly. FYI - I did all the work myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svxpert Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 <<Pulled in the garage and drained the fluid again. This time I followed the directions found here in USMB.>> theres alot of bad information going around. can you be more specific on how you re-filled the coolant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Did you replace the thermostat along with the water pump (I see you said it seemed good). Otherwise if it wasn't doing this before the work was done, sounds like either air trapped in the system or the new water pump isn't up to snuff. Was it an OEM pump? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuner-automotive Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 I drained the radiator via lower hoses. I then tilted the rear of the vehicle up and drained the block from the top hose. Then I removed the thermostat and drained there. I used a aftermarket thermostat that came with my Tbelt kit. Ive used these kits in the past and also installed the water pump from the kit aswell. put the car back on the ground and then filled the block thru the upper hose then installed the hose. Then I slowly filled the radiator thru the cap. Started the car for 1 fan cycle and then reinstalled cap and drove. Now the upper hose is warm , lower is cold and it sounds like its bubbling in the upper hose and tries to overheat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Are you sure the aftermarket thermostat is installed in the right direction? The OEM thermostat is long enough that it can't be installed backwards at least not easily, but the aftermarkets are shorter and might be able to go in the wrong way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quidam Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Sounds to me like the thermostat is stuck. The lower hose collaspsing is probably from the water pump suction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Also maybe double check the thermostat for full opening in nearly boiling water. I turned my old stant thermostat into a 'blank' for testing purposes. The gasket still stays in place to prevent leaks between the water pump and thermostat housing. If you do this to your old thermostat, and run that, and still get the overheating, then you can rule out the thermostat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuner-automotive Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 Stupid question maybe. Which was does the thermostat go into the housing? Does it go with the springs in first or the other way? I have the short version of what I se above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 The part with the spring goes into the water pump. It needs the hot coolant coming back from the heater core and throttle body bypass circuits to hit the springed/thermostat part so it can open. Otherwise I don't think it will open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuner-automotive Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 Oops, there it is. Its upside down. Now I gotta limp it home 7 miles on the freeway , total of 10 with an upside down thermostat. Prey nothing fails. Luckily its an ambient temp of 45 deg here today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Drive it with the heater on full heat max speed might help, or, well, not hurt anyway.... heat: --> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuner-automotive Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 Yup ,here I go:eek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Just don't let 'er overheat; no need to add headgaskets to the job! I'm doing this same work on my '96 2.2L right now, and I was putting the thermostat in backwards too. Fortunately the oem wouldn't fit backwards though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuner-automotive Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 Got it home and therm was upside down . Flipped it but still car runs hot . No hjeat on lower rad hose but H2O pump is working as i have pressure in the system. Heater is blowing hot and fans are kicking in. Im stumped unless i still have air in the line? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 Are you sure that thermostat is good? Test it in hot water and see if it is actually even opening, or run without t-stat to see if it still overheats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuner-automotive Posted November 9, 2007 Author Share Posted November 9, 2007 OK , I let it cool for an hour and then removed the rad cap. Added alittle more coolant, and squeezed the upper hose to help release any air and i actually got quite a few bubbles out. Topped it off and let it idle for about 25 min. It actually held temp. Didnt overheat and the gauge read a constant mid way for the whole 25 min. I guees its fixed now. Thanx all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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