I am mind blown over this coolant issue.. two weeks ago was driving car blew bottom radiator hose off and overheated.. filled it back up put new clamp on the hose. The coolant fan was working but bearings were not sounding good. So I put new cooling fans.. filled it burped it and drove it 20-30 miles started to overheat. I couldn’t see any visible leak. Two days later same thing this time bottom seam of radiator was leaking.. thought I found problem again. Put new radiator in it.. it blew the bottom seam open of new rad. in 20miles.

I then thought cap was bad and not releasing pressure so put a new cap as well as a new thermostat along with another radiator. Was good like 40-50 miles today I pull in driveway and it’s getting hot I pop hood there’s water like in front of radiator behind front bumper. First time I thought it just was a little overfilled and burped, (great cap was doing its job) I have no idea why it’s building pressure or where it’s even leaking from. It only wants to spit water out sometimes which seems like it’s coolant overflow ifs in front of radiator thats the only forward facing thing really it’s not even close to the engine itself. Also put two new radiator hoses.. and irs recently had a water pump as well. I’ve never had an issue this crazy.. any suggestions?

have replaced:
coolant lid
radiator twice
upper and lower hoses
cooling fans
thermostat

water pump about 9mo ago.


absolutely no coolant or oil mixing..
NO visible smoke from tail pipe.

 

I'd start with a coolant pressure leak down test just to confirm there is not a blown head gasket. You might be able to rent the tool from an auto parts store. It connects in place of the radiator cap and simply builds pressure to your cap rating and holds it, if there are no leaks.

Any CEL codes? Does it show it is hot when it dumps coolant? Do you have Torque Pro App and OBD dongle? If so, you can get the real engine temperature not the fake stabilized reading in the dash.

 

no cel yes I have scanner. Seems to just Do enough coolant over 30-50 miles then I’m assuming gets air and that’s what gets hot quick. Sometimes it’ll get hot and I’ll hit gas pretty good and it’ll cool back down passing an air pocket I’m assuming.. I’ve done a combustion test and it appeared to be negative. I’m not sure it’s leaking anywhere as much as it’s building pressure from maybe engine gas but not sure why my test was negative then either. It’s damn near gotta be something with head at this point I’ve done every thing else I can imagine

 

Check the water pump itself and all the hoses that came off for the pump. Make sure no hoses were put on in the wrong spot if possible. Did u do it or someone else? Was silicone used for a gasket? Maybe got to much on the inside and clogged/blocked holes/passages.

Aathon H.

 

ive done it all. Waterpump was nearly a year ago an 20k miles ago though..I’ve Been tempted to
pop it off and replace it since it’s under warranty it would be free anyway. I do wanna say I thought the gasket looked iffy and I think I did do a thin line of silicone along it when installing the new one? I have popped off the belt to feel and spin the pulley which felt fine

 

They make a special funnel to purge modern engines. Several here use them. I'd start there. Do a coolant funnel search. You'll see.

 

I agree you might just need to bleed the coolant. If you are just using the cap method to bleed. You're just introducing more air into the system. With the funnel you prevent air into the system. As it bleeds it replenishes with fluid that's in the funnel. No air is introduced back in. Your local autoparts store may have some in stock. I've had mine for maybe 6-7 years already. Still looks brand new. I recommend everyone to have one in their toolbox. Depending on the model it can be used on multiple makes.

 

Confident it doesn’t need bled. I’ve done coolant changes a ton of times without issues burping them. Also did waterpump on this car 9mo ago. This began with lower radiator hose popping off for no reason it’s building pressure somewhere. Air in coolant will overheat pretty quickly. I can fill and run it a good 30 miles before ever having an issue.

also what do you guys think is in the system when you empty your coolant? It’s entirely full of air. Unless your pulling a vacuum and then putting in coolant you still aren’t doing a whole lot more than gravity

 

Somewhat similar story, from back in my Honda days. But my hose to my thermostat developed a big crack one COLD morning and though I did a quick chop and re-attach (crack was right at the flange of the thermostat) with a full coolant top-off, it would still begin to overheat. Had to bring it home, elevate the front end, turn heat onto 75% open/on, and used my import radiator adapter pour funnel TWICE to get all of the air out. Got to operating temp the first time, then let it cool down. Then did it all again, and then finally the pressure normalized.

No sure why, but I've read many threads on CL here with members saying they bled the system with no good results. Then tried it again and again, AND then finally it blurped all of the air out. Not a quick process apparently on these 2IS vehicles.

 

True to a point. Yes it is full of air, but it's water pump that pushes the air through once the T-stat opens. This can be a fine line between hot spots making steam and blowing the coolant right back out or taking on more coolant.

Usually one elevates the nose slightly, turns the heat onto highest setting, and rev the engine to force more coolant volume through the block.

I've had plenty of vehicles with quirks needed elevated from one direction or another. It usually doesn't take much angle to help, once you know what it is.


As for cooling this where many screw up.
The primary top off event removing / purging air is during the cool down when the system goes from a positive pressure to a vacuum and pulls coolant from the reservoir.

In short, multiple SHORT heating /cooling cycles are best. This allows that vacuum to form and top it off properly. Where mistakes are made is not fixing leaks, so it pulls in air instead of coolant and later overheats and people scratch their bits wondering why this happens... lol

 

I def have no leaks. Externally anyway. I have ordered the funnel for the hell of it too willing to try about anything before dumping head gasket sealer in it. Figure it will also help me to see if air is coming into the coolant system via the engine what what id imagine would be a ton of continuous small bubbles while running

 

All it takes to screw this vacuum fill up is a bad radiator cap. That little spring loaded flap in the center. If it has a blob of rust under it, when it heats up, coolant leaves the block for the reservoir and doesn't come back.

PS - a random thanks goes a long ways towards those chiming in to support members in need.

 

cap is brand new. Used the spill proof funnel today and 25+ min of continuous small bubbleS while running.... not sure what else could possibly be at this point except the head as I had imagined..

 

If it still continues to overheat than it is most likely the head gasket. This happened to me with a Mercedes 280. It needed a new radiator, I waited too long and by the time I changed it I blew the head gasket. It continued to overheat after that, even with the new radiator installed...

 

ya it doesn’t continue to overheat since it was
open system with the funnel but it will when it continues to spit air in the coolant and over pressurize. It over heats because it spits out water then takes air in exchange of it. That’s why it runs for a good 30-40 miles.. time to dump in the liquid magic lol aka head gasket sealer.