A couple of weeks ago I flushed my radiator and replaced the coolant with a mixture of about 60/40 anti-freeze/water. Now after the van gets warmed up, coolant is bubbling out the top of the plastic fill container. It stops bubbling after everything cools down and I end up with low coolant. I have been putting the same mixture back in to top everything off. The van is NOT running hot, the water temp is normal. I'm wondering if I damaged the radiator cap or something when I flushed the system? Could this be the problem? This is a very annoying (and embarrasing) problem for my wife when she drives to work.
AMD Rules
07-12-2004, 06:43 AM
Did you inadventently overfill the plastic reservoir? The fill line is meant to measure the liquid height when the engine is hot. If you're radiator cap was loose/damaged it may 'boil' sooner due to a lack of system pressure, but unlikely. When you flushed the system did you replace the thermostat with the proper kind, inserted in the proper orientation? Did the sytem get vented properly (possible vapor lock)?
Alpo
07-12-2004, 07:29 AM
AMD,
With the radiator full, I filled the plastic reservior up 'till just below the MAX fill line. So, is this too much?
Last Friday evening, I replaced the radiator cap with a new one. That's the cheapest place to start. We drove the van a lot this weekend and everything seems to be working properly so far. If it starts acting up again, I think I'll re-flush the system and maybe change the thermostat. Maybe some crud is clogging things up. I didn't replace the thermostat last time.
AMD Rules
07-12-2004, 06:18 PM
If you were between the MIN and MAX lines on the overflow reservoir you should have been just fine. I typically fill the rad with 50/50 mix, then run the engine with the cap off until all of the bubbles have stopped appearing. You can watch the liquid level drop as the air leaves the system. Then as it heats up afterwards it will begin to rise again. Just before it overflows the rad I put the cap back on tight. Add a bit of 50/50 mix to the reservoir , and then I check it again for the next few days.
Out of curiosity, why did you choose 60/40 mix? Is that what is recommended for you model year?
Hopefully the cap was the problem. Sounds like you've got the problem solved.
Alpo
07-13-2004, 07:52 AM
Well, I think you're right. I believe the cap fixed the bubbling problem. At least it hasn't happened since I installed the cap. However, (gosh I hate that word) I believe all the pressure in the system caused a little leak around the middle freeze plug. It only leaks when the engine is running. How hard is it to get that little bugger out and replace it. Do I dare use Stop Leak?
six pack
07-14-2004, 09:38 PM
If a frost plug is leaking I would replace it.
Sounds to me like you had an airlock in the system that worked it's way out.
Coolant should be at the max line with the engine hot, and not be below the min line when engine is cold.
Alpo
07-15-2004, 07:21 AM
Thanks Six Pack,
Lukily, it's the middle freeze plug that is leaking and I think it'll be fairly easy to get to. It's just a matter of when......
