Heater not working and coolant keeps disappearing

9

92GTGUY

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Apr 30, 2001

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Jan 27, 2004

#1

• Jan 27, 2004

• #1

My heater doesn't work anymore so i checked my radiator and it was about half full, so i filled it back up, and my heater worked for a while then it quit blowing hot air so i checked my radiator again and it was half full so i filled it again, and hot air, then the air went out again and i noticed that a small amount of smoke was coming from under the hood, i checked it out and the radiator cap was smoking a little, but it was just buring antifreeze(white smoke smells like corn syrup), any ideas? I'm clueless, could it be something is clogged or not opening?

 

IndyBlk5.0

New Member

Nov 24, 2003

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New Whiteland, IN

Jan 27, 2004

#2

• Jan 27, 2004

• #2

is your floorboard wet on the passenger side? are you buring the white smoke out of the tail pipes? notice any other leaks?

 

bock

Founding Member

Jan 7, 2002

648

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19

Montreal,Qc

Jan 27, 2004

#3

• Jan 27, 2004

• #3

If your coulant go down and dont leak on the ground...

It can go in your oil.... chek if your oil level go up.... can ben cause by a blown head gasket or a crack head.

It can go out by the exhaust ,a white smoke will cause from the exhaust tip...again cause by a blown gasket or a crack head.

Your coulant IS gooing somewere, its not disapering...

 

IndyBlk5.0

New Member

Nov 24, 2003

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New Whiteland, IN

Jan 27, 2004

#4

• Jan 27, 2004

• #4

i had a mixture of problems, blown head gasket / blown heater core/ leaky hose but thats just me

 

Trojan Horse

Founding Member

Jan 7, 2001

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MO

Jan 27, 2004

#5

• Jan 27, 2004

• #5

92GTGUY said:

My heater doesn't work anymore so i checked my radiator and it was about half full, so i filled it back up, and my heater worked for a while then it quit blowing hot air so i checked my radiator again and it was half full so i filled it again, and hot air, then the air went out again and i noticed that a small amount of smoke was coming from under the hood, i checked it out and the radiator cap was smoking a little, but it was just buring antifreeze(white smoke smells like corn syrup), any ideas? I'm clueless, could it be something is clogged or not opening?

Click to expand...

Your heater will not work when you get too low on coolant. Is the radiator cap leaking? Is your overflow tube hooked up and is the tank intact? If your car has A/C, your heater core could be leaking and draining the leaked coolant through the condensation drain to the ground. Like suggested above check your oil level and exhaust for indications of a blown head gasket.
Good Luck.

 

9

92GTGUY

Founding Member

Apr 30, 2001

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Jan 27, 2004

#6

• Jan 27, 2004

• #6

i infact just changed my oil today, and i'm glad to say there was nothing in the oil, no coolant or anything, it must be leaking out of the cap because i don't have any leaks in the radiator itself, i also put some of that radiator flush stuff in there and drove my car from my shed to home, and when i turned off my car, i could hear this noise that sounded like big gulps of water or coolant either going into or out of i think my overflow tank? If my cap was leaking would that explain why it is burning up the coolant.

 

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

Mod Dude

Feb 18, 2001

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Jan 27, 2004

#7

• Jan 27, 2004

• #7

Arer you rtunning the engine when you refill the rad or just fill it and shut it and start. If you are doing that then you might not be filling the radiator all the way

Open the cap and start the engine and turn heater to MAX. Now fill the radiator with the engine running and wait til it's 100% warmed up. When it's warmed up and the engine running and the radiator full THEN you can put the cap on.

 

9

92GTGUY

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Apr 30, 2001

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Jan 27, 2004

#8

• Jan 27, 2004

• #8

i am wondering if the mix between water and coolant is off would that have alot of effect on why the air isn't very hot, and i thought maybe thats why i saw smoke coming from the cap, it might be water burning off???

 

8

87gtconv

ragtopman

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Feb 11, 1999

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Southern Calif

Jan 28, 2004

#9

• Jan 28, 2004

• #9

If you have your heater on max flow and you dont smell antifreeze then your heater core is good. Mine broke and it smelled pretty bad and left a very miserable film on my front passenger side windshield. Make sure you fill your radiator all the way up and get rid of those pesky air bubles. If your thermo and cap are elderly I would replace them as a normal maintenace item every 3 years or so!

 

9

92GTGUY

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Apr 30, 2001

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Jan 28, 2004

#10

• Jan 28, 2004

• #10

would it matter if i left the cap off the over flow tank? Also what could cause the gulping noise i hear after i shut off the car, after driving the car with the heater on for a while?

 

ECU5.0

Banned

Jan 10, 2004

1,803

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raleigh, nc

Jan 28, 2004

#11

• Jan 28, 2004

• #11

hmm...could be your radiator pulling more antifreeze from your overflow...or pushing some out...id just go ahead and replace the cap.

 

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

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#12

• Jan 28, 2004

• #12

92GTGUY said:

Also what could cause the gulping noise i hear after i shut off the car, after driving the car with the heater on for a while?

Click to expand...

Air in your cooling system.

I'm guessing you are not making sure the system is funn before you cap it. Go reread my post above and make sure you get ALL the air out of the radiator first.

When there is air in the system, it tends to accumlate in the heater lines since they are high on the engine. You get no heat and gulping

 

squeeeg

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Jul 4, 2000

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Michigan

Jan 29, 2004

#13

• Jan 29, 2004

• #13

My guess is that it is a leaking heater core and it is comming out of the weep hole or it is going into your oil. check those 2 things

 

Cue-Ball

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Jul 22, 2003

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Kirkland, WA

Jan 29, 2004

#14

• Jan 29, 2004

• #14

Sometimes you'll have a leak that won't leave a puddle on the ground. My car had a leak from the hoses that run through the throttle body to the EGR. Even though there was a leak, i could never see a puddle because the coolant would burn off on the hot block/heads before it could ever drip. I could smell the coolant, but couldn't find the leak. Took me forever to finally find it and replacing it was not much fun since the leaky hose runs to the very back of the intake manifold.

Check your drain hole in the firewall and all of the hoses that route coolant to the heater core and EGR area.

 

siege

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Feb 23, 2003

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Peoria, AZ

Jan 29, 2004

#15

• Jan 29, 2004

• #15

hmm I get the gulping noise as well. I guess I'll try filling it with the car running, but I can't turn on my heater cause my blower is bad and barely works for a couple minutes then starts smoking....mustang5l5, will your method work even though I won't have the heater on?

 

9

92GTGUY

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Apr 30, 2001

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Jan 29, 2004

#16

• Jan 29, 2004

• #16

ok i think the system is full, i took off the cap and started the car and let it run with the heater on max, i would make sure that the level of coolant would be at the top of the radiator then all of a sudden it would go down about 6 inches, and then about 10 sec's later it would jump up again to the top and start to flow into the overflow tank. does that mean its full??

 

8

87gtconv

ragtopman

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Feb 11, 1999

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Southern Calif

Jan 29, 2004

#17

• Jan 29, 2004

• #17

No it means it still has air in the system It should not jump around once the thermo is fully opened!

 

9

92GTGUY

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Apr 30, 2001

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Jan 29, 2004

#18

• Jan 29, 2004

• #18

how long does it usually take to get all the air out?? I also noticed that when i'm driving, it seems that when i'm pushing on the gas the air is hotter, and when i'm sitting at a light it gets cooler. Does this mean anything? I also noticed that the air is alot warmer when i have it set to MAX air, as compared to when i have it set to VENT the air is cooler? Mean anything. And does it matter what the mixture of water to coolant is??

 

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

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Feb 18, 2001

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Jan 29, 2004

#19

• Jan 29, 2004

• #19

siege said:

mustang5l5, will your method work even though I won't have the heater on?

Click to expand...

yes

 

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

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Feb 18, 2001

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#20

• Jan 29, 2004

• #20

92GTGUY said:

ok i think the system is full, i took off the cap and started the car and let it run with the heater on max, i would make sure that the level of coolant would be at the top of the radiator then all of a sudden it would go down about 6 inches, and then about 10 sec's later it would jump up again to the top and start to flow into the overflow tank. does that mean its full??

Click to expand...

Nope, you still have air in the system.Try it again. It might take a couple times to get it all out. That means you will have to do the procedure, then go for a drive, come back and let the car cool down and then do it all over again.

What you want to do is wait til the thermostat is fully open. That's when the coolant level probably dropped. Once it's open, get a buddy to hold the gas down so the car revs to 2000RPM. That should get the water pump spinning strong enough to push the coolant around fast enough to flush out any air. When the car has been warmed up for a bit and you are sure there is no more up and down surging (you'll prob see the coolant rise up and start to overflow as it gets hot and expansion sets in). Then put the radiator cap on, make sure the overflow is FULL HOT and go for a drive. Come back and let the car cool off and then crack the radiator and take a look. It should be at the top. When the coolant cools it sucks water in from the overflow. You really need to watch the level in the overflow because if it runs dry it will suck air and you are back to the beginning of the prob.

Just do it once or twice and that should get all the air out. If you still have no heat..the prob lies elsewhere