linuxrunner

ok, yesterday i flushed my coolant system and it was bad. When i refilled it i ran it with the cap off the get all the bubbles out and when they seemed to stop i shut it off. 4 hours later i checked the level and it was still up to the cap. So i drove around and it was all good except for that pretty much as soon as i turned it on the temp guage went right in the center, no warm up time. Also my heater came right on as soon as i started it nice and hot. Then after driveing for about 10 minutes the temp started to climb. Well i shut it off long before it got close to the red as i don't want to change and HG this week. Sat for 5 minutes and started it up and temp was normal. Drove 3 minutes and started to get hot again so i shut it off and waited. Then drove the minute or two home and went to bed.

Now this morning i wake up and check the coolant level and it is full up to the cap. So i run it for about an hour with the cap off waiting for the gushing of coolant to stop but it never does. how long should this take, i have lost most of the coolant i put it, but level is still full up to the cap... what now?

USAtruck6

You have to bleed your radiator.

linuxrunner

any suggestions on how to do this? I have done this on other cars with a little air purge plug on the top right side of the radiator but this does not have anything like this. Thanks for the help

navyredneck

I'm not familiar with the 22RE. However, I had same problem with the 3vze when I flushed my radiator. I called a mechanic friend of mine and he told me to squeeze the upper radiator hose (big fat one on top). I did that and was able to 'burp' the hose and get a ton of air out. I kept doing that and adding more water. Once I did that, no more high temps!

Yeah, first time I saw the high temp all I could think about was my headgasket...

linuxrunner

Yeah, that is what i have been doing. Only it burped out like a gallon of coolant and i have so far added about 2 cups of water. What gives?

linuxrunner

sorry for the bump, but when i woke up at 9:00 this morning i figured i could figure it out by 6:00 tonight... Well it's 3:00 now and i have to be somewhere pretty important in 3 hours. I am out of ideas and have been squeezing the top tube for 3 hours but it seems to just fill right back up with air. Please i need to have this figured out in the next 3 hours if possible. trying to call friends for a ride right now.

mr toytech

get the front off the truck up in the air. fill hole higher than the rest off the sysytem and then fill the coolant squeezing the hose as you fill. should take about 2 gallons total on a drain and refill.

Rev.

If you drained and flushed correctly, I would say you wouldn't have a problem and things should be fine. I'd check your fan clutch, and look to see if you water pump it working right and also check your thermostate. If everything is good, drain and start the process again. Always check the easies first. If that doesn't get it you may have losened stuff in your radiator and it could need a replacement.

TNRabbit

I would suggest checking the thermostat for proper opening temp. Remove & place on the stove in a pot of water. Using a thermostate suitable for boiling water, check what temp the Tstat opens (s/b @ 180-190 dgrees F). Also, there is a ittle "tit" in a small hole on the Tstat; clip it off with a pair of wire cutters. That should solve any "burping" issues you may have with air pockets.

linuxrunner

ok, drained and refilled as well as tested the thermostat and it works fine. now it stays cool enough to drive but still heats up and temps flux wildly. I still have air in it because if i let it cool off a little and squeeze the top rad hose it is half empty and i can hear the water splashing around which means air. Only when i open the top that coolant is right up to the cap. I will try the little thing on the Tstat to bleed the air out tomorrow i just can't figure out how to get the dang air out of the system becuase it won't rise up to the top of the rad.

gohawks

One thing that helped me get air out of the system after flushing the coolant was to run the vehicle with the front of the truck higher than the back (on an incline). Then I put the cap of the radiator in the first position (not all the way on, but not just sitting there either).

Get in your truck and rev it a little bit...keep an eye on the temp gauge. Try to work the air out in this fashion.

This worked for me, however mine was never overheating when I had air in the system.

Is something clogged? Might have to try backflushing to make sure some of the gunk isn't clogging up the system.

surf4runner

air trapped in the heater core?
turn the heater on when 'burping' it too

linuxrunner

ok, i figured i would replace my cap since it was pretty bad looking and my hoses upper and lower looked really bad to so i drained and replaced. then refilled and i think i was able to get alot of the air out the second time i filled it, the upper hose has much less air in it and is more firm. But when driveing if the read zone is 100% then temp wise it sits right at 75% and rarely moves. I also can get no more air out of the system or coolant in. Could i have killed my T-stat when i flushed it the first time? Or if i have a blockage than how do i get it out?

space-junk

iTrader: (1)

bump... im having this problem right now...

Hadmatt54

When you are trying to purge air always have your inside temp set to hot and turn on the blower on high. There are some vehicles that just have to slowly work the air out. (My Dad's 3.8 taurus is one) Someone suggested that you put your cap on the first notch, but pressure build-up in the rad will force coolant out of the rad at this setting. Turn it past the first notch just a little bit, that keeps any pressure from blowing coolant out of the rad, but allows that pressure to vent into the expansion tank. Once you shut off the motor you should hear air bubbles entering the expansion tank, but once things cool down the coolant will syphon back into the rad filling itself. Run the rad cap at this setting for a couple of days (making sure that the expansion tank always has proper level) and the air will work itself out of the system. This usually works, but 5m-ge in my 86 pickup after changing the heater core I had to fill the heater hoses and core before I connected them in order to purge the air out of the system and get hot air in the cab.

space-junk

iTrader: (1)

thanks... i got it figured out...
i went back out and tried everything suggested, but nothing worked...
then i got to thinking, if the upper rad hose isnt getting coolant and the motor is overheating badly, maybe there is just too big of a bubble for the radiator pressure to push out... so i jacked up the front of the truck as high as the jack would go, pulled the upper rad. hose, held it straight up so it was taller than the motor, and poured about a gallon of water into the upper end...
it worked like a charm...
i think that there was just too much air in the top end of the motor, and like i said, it didnt have the pressure to purge the air on its own...
anyways, thanks guys...

RobD

When I swapped rads and did a complete flush, I had the same problem. I solved it by parking on ramps, up the incline of my driveway. The front end was way higher than the back. Best way to do it is to get the radiator cap as the highest point in the system to allow the air out.