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3L Cooling System Issue....

C

CKtour98

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Mar 2, 2003
Messages
1,625
Location
Hamilton, ON
I put in an 04 full 3L. With the car idling for 10 minutes, the small hose off the reservoir to the thermostat is hard (good sign) but my upper rad hose on the driver side is SOFT, all it does is get very hot but I can squeeze it no problem, even after the fans have kicked on and turned off 3+ times its not hard?

Whats my issue here? Ive had the reservoir cap off trying to bleed it and nothing seems to work, even putting the fans on high and idiling wont do nothing. Inside the car there is plenty of heat when its on, and after 10-15 mins the coolant reservoir started to have steam comnig out but wasnt boiling.

Bad thermostat? Bad waterpump? The hose off the bottom of the waterpump to the firewall is also soft...maybe a bad waterpump belt, if not the pump...?
 
Also the car didn't overheat after idiling for 20 mins or so. The temp needle was in the normal range where I remember
 
So what's the problem? If the car isn't overheating and the fans are turning on normally there doesn't seem to be a problem. Leave the coolant tank cap on when you let the car get up to temp or the coolant will expand and overflow out of the tank. Pressure in the system builds up only when the cap is on. The hoses won't be firm with the cap off.
 
Hmm okay ill try that tonight. Ill just let it idle with the cap on until it reaches operating temps when the fans kick on. My concern was how the small hose from reservoir to the metal housing/tstat was firm but then the driver rad hose going to the same spot was sodft with no coolant in it, but I guess myabe cap on to build pressure may work.


Should I have the hvac on while I do this? What setting?

Also, how will I know when the tstat would open?
 
And I guess I am also hoping that my waterpump is working since the line off the bottom is soft and not hard too. What way could I tell if its working or not? I will let it run for longer with the cap on and see if it builds pressure first
 
Cap on seems to have fixed it....the hoses arent rock solid hard but are more firm, and i drove the car all night tonight and the temp guage didnt move at all so everythings seems to be good! thanks blackcoog :)
 
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