Cooling system pressure

[keba]

Hello Everyone,

I reecently had leak issues with my radiatior(would overheat to 3/4ths at a standstill,and jumped once to red) . I switched out the old one with a proline Plastic-Al type and refilled the coolant(and let it run with the cap open for 30 min).Previous to this I changed the old thermostat and put itn a 82C stant.

With these mods the overheat problem seems to have gone away ,but not completely I think.(the radiator pushes out and sucks in fluid quite well)

The gauge warms up and stays at half while moving,but in a light or at a standstill it goes to around 65 % from the bottom at which point the fans kick in and keep it around there.

There is also a faint coolant smell ,and the bothersome part is ,my upper radiator hose is quite hard as if it were just about to blow any moment.Is this normal?

are there any tests that will quickly tell me what this is ?or am I just being paranoid?

Thanks,
Keba

96 camry LE 4 cyl auto 157K

[jhbhatia]

how was your last oil (in terms of your oil change) milky?

have someoen drive behind you when you drive, see if water seeps out of your exhaust when your driving...

to me it could be you head...but then again, it could be anything from a micro-crack on the radiator (that put us paranoid a while back).

[keba]

My oil change was about 2000 miles back.oil is clear till date.
Also ,thestatnt thermostat had no jiggle valve,but the previous one in there did have one.could that be a reason?

is the temp gauge supposed to be at half?

[Doctor J]

Do a block test to make sure that exhaust gases are not leaking into the cooling system.
The fans should start when the needle just before midpoint, so swap the fan switch.
Next, check the radiator cap.
The signs/symptoms of leaking exhaust into coolant system:
abnormally quick pressure build up in the cooling system;
boil-over;
moderate overheating while idling in gear.

[Doctor J]

The jiggle valve helps to bleed the air upon fill-up. Also some aftermarket thermostat designs may affect the fan switch operation.
I got one brand new OEM from wrecking yard.

[keba]

ok I went back and inspected the thing again.no leaks anywhere .

I then drained the readiator fluid and refilled it to make sure that the air bubbles are gone.

The whole thing heated up and then started bubbling but is it suppoesed to stop?

There was steady swirl of small bubbles. again no symptoms ,no frothy coolant or milky engine oil.

I looked for a coolant temp switch at autozone (24.99 .....ouch).Anyway if it wil fix the problem I guess thats my only way out.

what kindof stuff can i borrow at autozone to eliminate other sources of problems??


Thanks,
keba

[Gary_602Z]

Originally Posted by keba

I then drained the readiator fluid and refilled it to make sure that the air bubbles are gone.




Thanks,
keba

^ This does not make any sense to me, draining it would just introduce more air if that was the problem!

Gary

[atobe]

my car's been having the coolant smell for the last year ever since i changed my radiator.....don't worry about the smell.. if it's not leaking or missing fluids it shouldn't matter

[Rdizzle]

sounds like you might have a hot spot on your head. That happened to a friend and caused his coolant to boil in small sections. athe coolant smell could be vapor leaking through micro cracks in your system.

[Doctor J]

The whole thing heated up and then started bubbling but is it suppoesed to stop?

There was steady swirl of small bubbles. again no symptoms ,no frothy coolant or milky engine oil.
Thanks,
keba[/quote]
The radiator shop can do a block test or, better, the smog testing facility can place a probe above the radiator filler neck and "smell" the bubbles. 15 ppm or higher HC reading indicates exhaust leak in cooling system.

[Doctor J]

All signs of exhaust leak into the cooling sytem.