Update on cooling issues...more info....

[smokediver27]

Ok...finally had enough of wondering about the bubbles in my coolant, so I went to Napa and bought a combustion leak detector for 50 bucks. Basically, what it is,,is a rubber seal that you put on top of you radiator, connected to a glass vile with a liquid substance you put in, this substance is blue, but turns yellow when it comes in contact with products of combustion. So I do the test per the instructions, and I have NO evidence of products of combution in my radiator, I even made sure the test wasnt deficient by sucking up a little air next to my tailpipes, and the liquid turned yellow immediately....

Also, another thing I noticed is that when the upper rad hose collapses it is usually at idle, then if I punch the throttle, the hose loosens up, and the car cools back down from the R in Normal to below the O.

Still have tiny air bubbles in the cooling system when I try to burp it with cap off,,,I still have no earthly idea where they are coming from....any more ideas guys????

 

[mytight95]

intake leak? is this possible. surely you guys will chip in on this one.

 

[urban96]

almost sounds like you have blockage in the hose or something... new thermostat? maybe try drilling 2 small holes in it

 

[smokediver27]

I do have the two small holes drilled,,,would a blockage in the RAD cause the water pump to pull air instead of water,,,,,,??? Just a theory,,,I'm gonna buy one more new thermostat today, and take the rad completely out and clean it, and see what happens. Also, got me thinking about the intake leak, would it be possible to get air into you Radiator by an intake leak,,I figured if there was a leak the coolant would just come out??

 

[fastf50rd]

I had the EXACT same issues. I did the EXACT same tests, and it still ended up being my headgasket. I let it go for sooooo long hoping that it wasn't. I went through a rad., water pump, a few t-stats before i finally decided to pull the heads. Never had a cooling issue since. My advice is just buy some sick heads and fix the problem plus gain hp. Good luck
-Matt

 

[smokediver27]

Ok, so whats the danger of continuing to drive it????

The car does not overheat, just warms up to the M and then goes back down..
The car does not ping.
The car does not smoke
Uses very little oil
Compression Tests are within normal limits.
No exhaust gases present in coolant.
No coolant present in oil.

Only problems are the collapsing upper hose, and the tiny air bubbles in coolant.

The only thing left I can try is the leak down test, trying to locate an affordable tester right now.

Are there any other ideas out there... or should I just start getting prepared to tear it down..(really hate to spend the money right now)???

 

[HoofnIt]

Could it be sucking air from the hose that goes into the overflow tank? Is you upper radiator hose old and thus collapsing? Just throwing it out there.