Troubleshooting cooling system?

[Ben-88Comanche]

Hey

 

After i bought a comanche all my friends were impressed, so one of them bought an 88 automatic I-6 comanche, exact same as mine, except his isnt working out too well

 

His coolant isnt being pumped through the system, and after running for a while it losens the pressure bottle cap by itself and squirts all over. He says he bled it, but when I go to take alook at it tomarrow I'm going to see how he went about that

 

Was wondering if anyone knows if theres a simple way to check if the thermostat or water pump isnt functioning? He thinks the water pump isnt pumping, and I'm just hoping its the thermostat since I replaced that on mine and it was easy.

 

So if anyone knows a good way to check it, let me in on it, tomarrow ill check here befor I head over to his house

 

Thanks in advance

[chicofuentes0224]

I think that if the coolant is squirting into the overflow bottle the waterpump should be working. He might have a clog in one of the lines or the radiator. I think you're supposed to run a garden hose into one of the lines to check. Don't quote me though because I'm definitely not a mechanic. If you run a search in the tech section a lot of posts have been put up about flushing the system and bleeding it. Good luck

[MiNi Beast]

:agree: Check hoses upper and lower for sure. The radiator may be pluged. I plug mine up by using those quick fix hole plug stoppers pellets. Yeah got new raditor for that one. But may not have burped it good enough too. Pull the temp sensor on top of engine and that should let the air out, if any. http://members.cox.net/wilsond/Fixes/di ... CPSdetails

[Wildman]

Being the 'closed' cooling system, the pressure bottle is part of the closed system. If the cap is coming loose, it could be a cracked cap. Might be best to just change out the pressure bottle first and see if that resolves the problem.

 

Also check the tension on the serpentine belt, it could be worn or loose, letting the water pump slip, and not "pumping" correctly.

 

If it the 4.0 engine, the water pump turns counterclockwise, and some one might have put a 2.5 water pump on there that turns clockwise, highly unlikely, but possible.

 

At worst, the radiator could be shot, after all it is 20 years old, and a replacement with all new hoses solves alot of problems. Easy check is to inspect the lower section of the radiator for corrosion, if the bottom is really corroded, almost a tale tell sign that the radiator is shot.

 

As mentioned above, you can flush the heater core with a garden hose, after removing both heater hoses, this will flush out the settlement that has built up in it because of the vacuum disconnect in the hose line. This will help with more heat output in the cap.

 

Here's a site that gives you a quick rundown on the cooling problems-

http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/Coo ... gnosis.htm

[BLHTAZ]

Sounds to me like it just needs a new bottle and cap. That bottle is under great pressure when the system is hot and they are the most common thing on that system to be replaced.

[Ben-88Comanche]

I will check the serp belt tension, But i don't think the bottle/cap is at fault. The bottle is getting to the point where its 100% full of antifreeze, and then its coming out the cap, so i wouldnt think the bottle is at fault.

 

First ill check the radiator lines to see if there clogged, after reading the replys i would lean towards that being the problem

 

Thankyou for all the replies, ill let you know what it was once I find out!

[Pete M]

I will check the serp belt tension, But i don't think the bottle/cap is at fault. The bottle is getting to the point where its 100% full of antifreeze, and then its coming out the cap, so i wouldnt think the bottle is at fault.

 

 

That makes me think that the cap or bottle is cracked and leaking. The bottle should be sealed and hold pressure, meaning it should hold in the air and never "fill up" with antifreeze.

[Ben-88Comanche]

Hm yea you guys were right i was wrong :chillin:

 

I guess he did a bad job explaining it, the threads and cap of the bottle were BLOWN off from the rest of the bottle, leaving a huge gap ontop. Went to Napa to get a new bottle, they said 42 Bucks. I bought mine around 4? months ago for 22 dollars at a junkyard (it wasnt used, they ordered it for me) so well get one there.

 

If the threads + cap were blown clear off of the bottle, hope just the bottle is the problem. When we put the new bottle on I guess well find out

 

Thanks for all the help

[BLHTAZ]

That bottle is the source of a lot of grief. ;)

 

Be sure to bleed the system thoroughly when you replace and refill. If you are unsure of how to do it...please ask. If it is not done properly you will end up with the same issue all over again. Air in the system causes them to over heat and blow that bottle apart very quickly... ( :oops: voice of experience) :mad: