radiator cap hissing - Page 2

timguyli · 01-22-2005, 03:01 PM

Well fortunatly for me its still under warranty. i just bought it 3 weeks ago. I have no paid a cent for repairs and the dealership (small used car shop) so far has been great. Its a 95 with 3.1 with just 48k on it.

LMP · 01-22-2005, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timguyli

Well fortunatly for me its still under warranty. i just bought it 3 weeks ago. I have no paid a cent for repairs and the dealership (small used car shop) so far has been great. Its a 95 with 3.1 with just 48k on it.

That is a great car, worth keeping, even though it was said GM did it hastily. Front end a little fragile, but easy to maintain. I've got mine for 11 years now, have only about 80kmiles on it, and enjoy riding it. Composite body shows no age, and gaz mileage with the 3800 is great: most economical car since my '61 Studebaker.

timguyli · 01-24-2005, 08:16 PM

ok.. Dropped it off again today.. Checked the bubble theory... no Bubbles can be seen coming from the radiator...

timguyli · 01-25-2005, 05:49 PM

ok.. Got it back today, Now they say the water pump was shot... we shall see!

Montana Junk · 01-25-2005, 11:15 PM

I have had the same problem on a 1998 Trans Sport as follows. The engine started overheating but when checked the rad it was full of dex-cool. I had to stop vehicle as it heated up to the point where cylinders automatically shut down which is a built in safety response. Another sign was there was no heat. I could not drive the van a kilometer without getting the temp guage to red line. The rad was full of coolant, but coolant would overheat and shoot out of verflow, there was no heat inside the van and the van temp guage would red line if I continued driving.

I finally got it to a dealer and they told me I had an air pocket in the coolant system as a result of a blown head gasket. They found coolant spraying out of spark plug when removing plugs. I think you have a blown head gasket as this is common on these vans.

mrrob · 01-26-2005, 12:11 AM

I had a car not to long ago which had the same symptoms, the Head Gaskets were fine, it turned out to be the connector that goes into the intake manifold (LOCATED under the throttle body) which connects to a pipe going to the heater core, this connector was blocked, I since have replaced many of these when I have a customer complain of excessive pressure, erratic heating, or overheating.

These systems are very sensitive to air, and when bleeding,it must be done through the Bleed Valves on the cooling line.

Good Luck

Mr.Rob

Lic Mech Auto/Truck/Trailer...Ect..

timguyli · 01-26-2005, 06:17 PM

I picked it up yesterday. No more spraying from the radiator cap, But sometime theres no heat what so ever especialy at a long red light. it come out ice cold. The thing that worries me is that when i shut it off, it sound like bubbles coming from the overflow.. yet its not overheating.

LMP · 01-26-2005, 07:01 PM

OK after changing the pump, it is legitimate that some air could have been trapped, so remove the plug on top of thermostat housing to let any residual trapped air escape.
www.avigex.ca/xport/thermostat31.jpg
Keep radiator fully filled and maintain overflow tank half filled.
Any trapped air is eventually entrained with coolant and ends up at the top of radiator and is purged to overflow tank and coolant is siphoned back in the engine when it cools down.

If the condition does not clear within a few engine cycles, some other weird cause will have to be found.

Looking for anything, make sure hoses are OK (no peeled off skin from the inside that could block the flow) Check for visible coolant flow looking from the opened radiator cap (open before engine is warmed up) and feel the hoses for uniform temperature distribution.

timguyli · 01-26-2005, 09:27 PM

mrrob, i have a 3.1 does it have the same part?

mrrob · 01-29-2005, 11:21 PM

Yes, All 3.1 v6 engines have this connector, if you removed the Throttle body hose and look directly under it, you will see a Silver connector (coolant) with a black pipe connected to it, you will have to removed a bolt that holds the pipe in place.

I have replaced over 40 of these, and every complaint was either no heat or pressure in the cooland bottle.

If you have ABS you will have to unbolt the master,( unbolt at vacuum booster) do not remove any brake lines, you will have enough room to work once it's out of the way.

The connector uses a 15/16 wrench, be careful when removing , I have had a few break, (make sure you inform your customer in advance so there is no surprises, (if you end up having to removed the intake manifold.

This connector is only about $25-$30 bucks, you will want to inspect the heater hose and metal pipes which connect to the heater core, this is the time to change them.

Good luck.

Mr.Rob

LMP · 01-30-2005, 07:36 AM

EH.....photos of that operation are requested !!! If you change the part, photos of the old one and of the new one; experiences like that need to be documented and kept for others....
by the way, Rob, can you identify the part on any of those 2 drawings?

www.avigex.ca/xport/heaterinletpipe.jpg
www.avigex.ca/xport/heaterinletpipe2.jpg

According to your description, I would think of part 1 in figure 17 ??????? but then, I would not see the connection with the problem...so, I need some light..

BTW, mmrob, being harassed by a very cold January, I'm just ecstatic now to know Hawai is in Canada lol ! I just felt much better ! ..mmm if it could be...AHHH...

timguyli · 01-30-2005, 10:13 AM

well as of right now, its just sitting in the driveway. The radiator seems to be filling with air. The guage was bouncing all over the place. I checked the radiator and the top of it was ice cold. I slightly opened it and for the first 10 seconds all that came out was air.. then the hot coolant.

LMP · 01-30-2005, 11:04 AM

How much coolant do you need for make up? Just for a test, did you try to run it WITHOUT a thermostat? This would not solve any problem by itself, but this is a free test at least....Gaz (air, CO2..) is poor heat conductor and thermostat looses more heat through conduction that heat received from gas, so I think in the conditions that prevail at this time, it stays closed. Of course, I'd like to find some cheap cause, like an inverted thermostat (I've seen this before, while in fact it did not have any large consequences)...Frankly, and sadly, (and I'd like to be wrong), but I've never seen situations like that, these signs speak for themselves, to be anything else (short of a cracked block) but a blown head gasket...and 3.1's have written history of that, and if I evaluate your wording correctly, it seems to get worse and worse... I just say this so no chance is lost to exert your buyer warrantee if need be.

timguyli · 01-30-2005, 02:54 PM

The coolant level is down by about 3" when looking into the radiator. Theres no water in the oil and the exaust is good.

timguyli · 01-31-2005, 05:45 PM

just got it back again... and still when i shut it off... theres Bubles coming out of the overflow.

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