Radiator Help
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Posting Guru
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Radiator Help
ok, well here is my problem. I just finished flushing my radiator. As of now i have 2 gallons of Antifreeze and 1 gallon of water=3 gallons total. My radiator should hold about 6 gallons. As of now i either have one hell of a block in my Rad. or a big bubble. I let it idle for awhile to try to work the bubbles out and im still stuck with only 3 gallons in it right now. I believe around 4 gallons came out when i emptied it. Should i just pull the whole thing and get it boiled or does anyone have a better method of getting any air out of the system.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 868
Likes: 3
From: New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
Are you letting it get hot enough to open the thermostat? you can see this by leaving the cap off and watching for the coolant to start flowing. You can heat the engine up quick by blocking off the rad with a piece of cardboard. If it's flowing good the lines for the heater core will heat up to tell you the thermostat is opening. You can't remove the air on the engine side if the thermostat doesn't open. That would certainly account for your missing gallon of coolant.
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Posting Guru
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Ill replace the thermostat tommorow if i have a chance, for now its just going to sit there, and maybe by some magic chance tomorrow the level will have dropped.(yeah right..) and rriley, what engine do you have?
Laughing Gas
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 868
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From: New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
There is no need to change the thermostat yet, it just needs to get hot enough to open, if it didn't open at all the truck would overheat in about 5 miles of driving. It takes a while at idle to get the engine hot enough to open the thermostat to allow the coolant to cycle, longer because the cap is open , but that is the best way to se if there is air in the system and to check to see how well the coolant is flowing. The capacity of the cooling system incl's the amount the engine will contain, and in this case it will hold about 2 gallons even with the rad removed. The rad can contain anywhere from 2 gallons to 4 gallons depending on core size. I'm not trying to insult your intelligence but I belive too much info is better than not enough.
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No harm no foul, as i stated in my OP i let it idle, i however did not state that i COULD see coolant moving. It was however the thermostat and a combo of a stubborn bubble. The thermo was stuck halfway closed. I got the bubble pumped out with a pump(that was a fricking mess!). The rad. happily hold 6 gallons of coolant now. And to rriley, newer more efficient radiators are known to need less coolant, my radiator however is the original and is a SUPER DUTY rad. Another possiblility for you is that you did not get all of the coolant out of the block which resulted in just having to put 4 gallons in yours, I however pumped the whole system. Anyone have any opinions on aftermarket Rads?
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When I have drained the radiator into a 5 gallon bucket it has never gone more than halfway, usually 1/3rd of the way full.
Josh
Josh
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