Cooling Woes!--please help.......

[funkytrunk92]

Well I thought I was going to be able to drive my car finally, but I guess not! Heres the deal. I have rebuilt my motor once. Somehow after the first rebuild I blew a head gasket.(pressure in cooling system, milkshake in oil pan etc. )Changed the head gaskests took it for a drive , maybe 5 or 6 miles, enough to feel confident that it was fixed.

So I get in it to take it out for my first official cruise and low and behold the stupid thing overheats. The only thing I did different was turn on the heater. So I'm thinking that I have air in the system and just need to burp it.

Well after burping I start it with the front end jacked up and the cap off, After 2 or 3 minutes of running, nowhere near operating temp, it starts pumping coolant out of the radiator. I have a new water pump, new t-stat, etc. The upper hose feels cool to the touch. When it overheated the first trip, it was spewing coolant out of the overflow and the upper hose felt cool and pressured. It sound like air, but I'm not sure. At this point I am thinking another head gasket or warped head/block. Maybe it is something simple that I am overlooking since I do not understand exactly how the cooling sytem works. Could I have a faulty part?

There does not appear to be water in the oil, and there is no smoke. My next step is a compression test and to get some oil from the pan to see if there is water in the oil, not just the dipstick fooling me. It is running strong and not making any funny noises. I am very confused and just want to drive my car more than a mile. please help!

 

[Vipersix]

Try flushing your radiator. You may have something clogging the outlet.

 

[krallman]

what kind of water pump did you get. They make a reverse flow pump for when you get rid of the smog or power steering or one of those. Im not sure which way it is supposed to spin. Also did you put the thermostat in the right way. Just the simple stuff.

 

[rockytoohot]

It sounds like you have a large air pocket in the cooling system. I would recommend removing the thermostat and drilling a 1/8" hole in the side. This will allow air to escape as you fill the cooling system. I would also recommend you leave the heater core outlet hose off as you fill until coolant starts to run out. If you still have a large air pocket in the cooling system, let it run until it is done pushing out coolant, then fill the rad back up as the engine is still running. You may have to repeat the process of letting it push coolant out a couple of times. One thing you didn't mention is if when you first start the car there are small bubbles coming out in the radcontinually. This usually means you have exhaust gas getting into the cooling system.

 

[funkytrunk92]

Not sure about the bubbles, I'll check that this evening. Anyone else with other ideas? I am going to try thos listed here when I get home. I'm pretty sure I have the thermostat in correctly, but at this point I'm not sure of much!

 

[Silvers]

Check the part # of the pump, if you are running a serpintine belt you need a reverse flow pump. They should have the # they sold you on record at the parts store for warranty reasons.