Cooling Problem ...........

[OLDBULL8]

Whats all this rattle on about cap pressure, overflo reservoir, head gasket, trapped air, when the top hose collapses, there is no flow or very little thru the t'stat. His bottom hose is COLD when the engine is hot, water pump, pumps the coolant from the heads down thru the radiator, out the bottom thru the lower hose and oil cooler. Something is wrong with the lower rad hose or inlet to engine. There is no flow there. Only circulation he has is, is thru the heater core. He just put in a new radiator, could it be the rad is defective, no flow thru it somehow?

Note: when the t'stat expands/opens, the copper slug closes off the bypass flow.

Edit: The flow thru the heater is from the pump back into the block, or vise versa, can't remember which.

That's what he's saying.

After 16 miles Top Hose ,top of radiator Hot. Middle and Bottom cold Bottom hose Cold

 

[OLDBULL8]

Edited the top post several times, might read it again. /\ /\ /\.

 

[Idiforlife]

It was doing the same with old Radiator that's why In have the new champion it's the diesel model. Thanks

 

[snicklas]

Since this is doing weird things, could it be something in the waterpump...........

Not this same issue, but I had a 97 Sable 3.0. It had the strange habit in the winter, as you were driving at highway speeds, in OD, the heat output would get less and less..... if you downshifted into 3rd (Drive not OD) you would get heat back. I took it in as I had 0 time to deal with anything. The mechanic knew what it was right off... (had been a Ford Shop Mechanic). It was the waterpump. The 3.0's had a lot of sand left in them, and it would eat the blades off the waterpump. It moved enough water to keep the engine cool, but not enough to push it into the heater core.

Maybe something is in the area of the pump causing a blockage and some weird pressures...... not sure.... just another point of view......

 

[BDCarrillo]

I wouldn't suspect the radiator, since it was doing the same thing with the old one. It would really help us figure this out to get the whole story out of the OP rather than hunting for breadcrumbs.

You hinted at a problem in a thread about flushing the coolant... did you observe anything odd during the flush? What exactly did you do during the flushing process?

I recommended changing the hoses during the flush... did you? Find anything in the old hoses? Gobs of goo in the old lower hose? Did you take out the block drains?

Gotta help us out here...

 

[Idiforlife]

I didnt Flush the system it was 20-30 degrees outside (didn't want ice in the engine)and i broke my tool trying to remove inverted block screws. I still have the old Radiator. I did stick the hose down the hole where the thermostat goes and it flow out of the bottom hose. What is OP?

I wouldn't suspect the radiator, since it was doing the same thing with the old one. It would really help us figure this out to get the whole story out of the OP rather than hunting for breadcrumbs.

You hinted at a problem in a thread about flushing the coolant... did you observe anything odd during the flush? What exactly did you do during the flushing process?

I recommended changing the hoses during the flush... did you? Find anything in the old hoses? Gobs of goo in the old lower hose? Did you take out the block drains?

Gotta help us out here...

 

[79jasper]

OP= original post(er)
I would look into replacing the water pump at this point.

Sent from my SM-T537R4 using Tapatalk

 

[Idiforlife]

i still have the old radiator. i will reconnect it take out termostat and flush it that way i will take it to a shop and see if the can break loose the 2 block screws. What should i use to flush ????????????

 

[Idiforlife]

When installing a thermostat always have the copper pill directed to the hot side of the coolant. In the pic that is the right way to install it. It looks like a genuine Motorcraft thermostat but the chinese sure make a good copy. Sadly the material is of poor quality and they break apart. Parking with the drivers tire higher may burp out some trapped air that may be in the heads.

Looking for your input on this ICanFixAll

 

[Idiforlife]

OP= original post(er)
I would look into replacing the water pump at this point.

Sent from my SM-T537R4 using Tapatalk

even though there no looseness in the pump fan ? how do they usually go bad ?

 

[79jasper]

Usually seal/bearings.
But even one that's tight can leak or be bad.
The impeller fins can wear down. Which would feel tight like a good pump.
I don't know if you could snake a bore camera in there to look without removal.

Some use dawn, cascade, etc for flushing.
Get some PETcocks to replace the block drains.
Sent from my SM-T537R4 using Tapatalk

 

[junk]

I still say that you need to make sure the recovery bottle is hooked up and has coolant. That top hose collapsing means the system has air in it. coolant won't allow a hose to collapse like that. Even if the water pump isn't moving fluid if the system was completely full of coolant you can't collapse a hose like that. The expansion tank gives hot expanded coolant a place to go until it cools down and sucks it back in thus keeping the system plumb full.

Also how have you been burping the system? I let them run with no radiator cap until the thermostat opens then fill it up and put the cap on. On these diesels that can take a while.

Good luck. Cooling system issues suck. Cause they take so much time to diagnose.

 

[laserjock]

I'm with OLDBULL on this one, you have a flow problem. If the top of the rad is hot and the bottom is cold, you aren't moving fluid. It's probably a real pain in the butt, but for diagnosis purposes, If I were going to trouble shoot this, I'd pull the thermostat. If it still gets hot then the water pump is clearly not pumping for whatever reason. The water could get that hot out to the top of the radiator probably by simple diffusion (heat soak) if the thermostat is in fact opening. It gives you another chance to verify the thermostat is functional and installed correctly. I've been down that road before where I just knew I did something right and then it would work. On re-teardown finding out I did something silly. It happens.

If the water pump is just really weak (I have hard time thinking of a reason why this would be but a worn out impeller or maybe impeller spinning on the shaft.... I'm not 100% sure how these are made) it may not completely answer the question but you ought to be able to open the radiator cap and see copious flow throught the radiator with the thermostat removed. If it isn't, then I'd say signs are pointing to the water pump.

Different perspective. Hopefully it's helpful.

 

[Idiforlife]

I still say that you need to make sure the recovery bottle is hooked up and has coolant. That top hose collapsing means the system has air in it. coolant won't allow a hose to collapse like that. Even if the water pump isn't moving fluid if the system was completely full of coolant you can't collapse a hose like that. The expansion tank gives hot expanded coolant a place to go until it cools down and sucks it back in thus keeping the system plumb full.

Also how have you been burping the system? I let them run with no radiator cap until the thermostat opens then fill it up and put the cap on. On these diesels that can take a while.

Good luck. Cooling system issues suck. Cause they take so much time to diagnose.

When the engine is running the hose is full, Hard and Hot

 

[Idiforlife]

I'm with OLDBULL on this one, you have a flow problem. If the top of the rad is hot and the bottom is cold, you aren't moving fluid. It's probably a real pain in the butt, but for diagnosis purposes, If I were going to trouble shoot this, I'd pull the thermostat. If it still gets hot then the water pump is clearly not pumping for whatever reason. The water could get that hot out to the top of the radiator probably by simple diffusion (heat soak) if the thermostat is in fact opening. It gives you another chance to verify the thermostat is functional and installed correctly. I've been down that road before where I just knew I did something right and then it would work. On re-teardown finding out I did something silly. It happens.

If the water pump is just really weak (I have hard time thinking of a reason why this would be but a worn out impeller or maybe impeller spinning on the shaft.... I'm not 100% sure how these are made) it may not completely answer the question but you ought to be able to open the radiator cap and see copious flow throught the radiator with the thermostat removed. If it isn't, then I'd say signs are pointing to the water pump.
then report back. Thanks
Different perspective. Hopefully it's helpful.

I am going to pull the new Radiator and thermostat flush the system then report back. Thanks