When I had my engine work done last winter, when I got it back, I realized I no longer had a coolant overflow hose connected to my coolant overflow tank. I asked the mechanic about it, and he said that it didnt have one previously, which by the way it did, but said he really doesnt need one. Do you guys know if this is bad, that the coolant cant overflow, wouldnt this cause pressure build up and improper cooling?

 

The only problem that a lack of an overflow hose would cause is that the coolant will be lost when the coolant gets hot and expands and overflows to the ground. Get a hose and connect it to the reservoir.

 

No I dont think i was clear, there is no where it can even get out, its a confined loop where there is no longer a spot where it can come out, theres no where to put a tube, so there literally is no where the system can vent.

 

Did you have your radiator replaced when the engine work was being done?

 

What type of work did you have done that would cause the mechanic to remove the overflow tube or to capability to vent into the overflow tank? You need to be able to recover venting coolant.

Tim

 

Exactly Tim, it cant be good for the cooling system, it wont function properly. All I think happened was when he tore down the engine for the headwork, and camshaft install ect.. he must have just got to ahead of himself and forgot the detail to reinstall the overflow tube, he probably had to just install it so it would still function. But you would think when I asked him about it again that he would have reconized the problem and fixed it, but he instead said it was normal.

 

Do you mean there is no nipple on the radiator right by the cap?
It shoud go from there to the coolant recovery tank.
Maybe he broke it off and patched it with something. I hope not.
Explain - what is a confined loop, where is that line?

 

The confined loop is the entire path of the cooling system, there is no place along the cooling tubes where there is a nipple to put a tube

 

Forgive me, I may be dense, but.....
your not making yourself clear on what you are talking about.

There should be a rubber hose going from just under radiator cap to the overflow canister.
Some models also have a rubber hose/metal tube that runs from the throttle body to the radiator neck just below the radiator cap.

Without an overflow canister connected to the radiator, the system will still function the same, but if the cap releases pressure, the coolant will be all over the ground.
I don't think it will harm anything except possibly the environment or animals that may be attracted to it.

 

Yea its nice to have a remote tank, give the system more capacity. With the tank on the fender the radiator can be full right to the very top, when the coolant is heated and expands it goes to the tank, cools it is sucked back in keeping the radiator as full as possible.
Without the remote tank the radiator can not be full all the way to the very top, the empty top area is used for expansion. If to much is put in when it gets up to temp the extra will be expelled, overflowed the first time. Once it finds its own level doing so it won't happen again. At least not until someone adds to the radiator again.

If you do not have the nipple to add the tank and do not carry or pull heavy loads, do not live in a hot part of the country and have no over heating issues then I wouldn't worry about it.
If you pull heavy loads, live where its hot and see the motor does run hot then the added capacity the tank gives would be worth putting back on restoring it to factory like condition.
Without that tank you loose the top half dozen or more rows of cores and the fluid they would act on.
You say it had the remote system before the repairs? Did the guy damage your radiator some how and replace it at no cost to you? If so you should not have been charged for the radiator but the radiator he put in to replace it should have been the right one so your system would be the same.

 

I believe he did damage the radiator, its barely over a year old and I had to replace it, I think due to its inability to be able to expand and contrast properly, I will look into this further because I think it ruined the last radiator because the pressure was too much for it to handle.

 

can you post a picture, from the rear of the engine compartment looking forward, as to what you have on the radiator in the area of the cap?

Do you have a coolant recovery tank in the car? If so, what's it connected to?

 

Yes I will take a picture tomorrow in the light. I have a coolant reservoir, and it used to be set up prior to the engine work. I looked some more today, and I do in fact have a little nipple where I can connect a hose to, but i dont understand where this tube goes, I follow it down and around the AC condensor, does everyone elses do that too?

 

I'm not sure, my truck is a six, on my truck it runs over top of the fan shroud and connects to the nipple just below the rad cap, which is where it *has* to connect. If you don't have some kind of connection there - you got problems. If it's just open to the atmosphere, just get some hose the right size and some mini clamps and hook 'er up. routing is not crucial so long as the connections are airtight

 

This is what it SHOULD look like: