cooling system problem help
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Senior User
Joined: Aug 2004
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From: Cave Creek
cooling system problem help
My radiator keeps busting pin holes in it!! The radiator is a 2 years old the engine never gets to operating temp and the few times it does a new pin hole in the radiator. thermostat is new new water pump new water neck I can't figure it out help!!!!!
MSEE
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 10,386
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From: Austin, TX
Either the cooling system is over-pressurizing, or the radiator is poorly manufactured. How old is the radiator cap? Are there any signs of compression entering the cooling system, such as milky oil as seen with a bad head gasket? What are you using to verify operating temperature (hopefully not the stock gauge)?
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Joined: Aug 2001
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I have a friend with a 65 Dodge Coronet that encountered the same thing. The radiator was just a piece of crap. Replaced it and the problems went away.
Either way though, as long as the pressure cap is under 16-18 LBS and the t-stat is 195 or less you shouldn't be having any problems. If the engine was generating that much heat it just plain wouldn't run I would think.
Do check for bubbles with the engine hot and the radiator cap off just to make sure the head gaskets aren't blown.
Josh
Either way though, as long as the pressure cap is under 16-18 LBS and the t-stat is 195 or less you shouldn't be having any problems. If the engine was generating that much heat it just plain wouldn't run I would think.
Do check for bubbles with the engine hot and the radiator cap off just to make sure the head gaskets aren't blown.
Josh
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Senior User
Joined: Aug 2004
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From: Cave Creek
Old radeator had the same probum that's why I replaced It, thermostat I think is stuck open but its a 185,oil is not milky, yes I am using the stock gauge its new and so is the senser,
MSEE
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 10,386
Likes: 35
From: Austin, TX
If (read: if) it's over-pressurizing, it's overheating which wouldn't point to a stuck open thermostat. If this were me, I'd install a mechanical gauge to find the true temperature. How do you know it's stuck at 185 if all you're using to measure is a needle that points between L and H? See what I mean? Just because the thermostat is a 185 degree thermostat and the gauge is in the "normal" range does not make it safe to assume the engine is actually running at 185. You need to know actual numbers to know what's actually going on. My advice to you is to install a mechanical gauge to know what your coolant temperature actually is. That's something I think everybody should install on their truck anyway. If you do that, and find it really has been stuck at 185, then that's great. But until you have an actual reading like that, you don't know what temperature your coolant is.
It's also possible that the last radiator was either really old, or equally poorly manufactured. You also didn't mention anything about the condition of your radiator cap, which you should have replaced at the same time you replaced the radiator.
It's also possible that the last radiator was either really old, or equally poorly manufactured. You also didn't mention anything about the condition of your radiator cap, which you should have replaced at the same time you replaced the radiator.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2007
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!
why anyone drives any vehicle without a mechanical gauge is really beyond me. As for your problem, could be exhaust purging into the system and over pressurizing the system, however, if you have a 13-16 pound cap on it should push coolant through the cap and into the reservoir NOT blow the radiator unless it's just a junk radiator to begin with. My 5-speed plymouth voyager has a cracked head somewhere thats letting exhaust pressure into my cooling system, As i drive it pressurizes the system to the extent that coolant is forced through the 13 lb cap and into the reservoir tank! Every few days I blow it back into the rad and hit the key. Has been doing this for 50k miles. In short, get a mech gauge, and a cap thats about 13 lb (no need for a 18lb!).
