Okay guys ready for the problem? The vechicle in question will start to overheat within 5 minutes of starting the engine. Gauge rises to hot and shortly there after coolant starts going into the coolant recovery tank in boiling spurts. Funny thing is the radiator never even gets warm.Both hoses are new (no chance of collapsing),thermostat was replaced with factory specified temp. thermostat (when changed the engine was still hot and the thermostat was still open but closed as it got to room temp.).also changed the radiator cap. So the question is why is the radiator staying cold but the engine itself is boiling? Next installment should include what my mechinic neighbor thinks is the problem vs. what I think is the problem.Just looking for as much input as to what everyone thinks the problem is before I start ripping things apart. Thank you, Bill M.
- Thread starter bill mart
- Start date
yallardeere
Member
water pump not pumping or head gasket
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Sounds like air in the system if you're lucky. But that is also what my older VW golfs would do when the headgasket was shot.
Some vehicles are a PITA to get all the air out unless someone knows a trick that I missed. Never really discovered a method myself, just kinda lucked into it....
Good Luck,
Dave
Some vehicles are a PITA to get all the air out unless someone knows a trick that I missed. Never really discovered a method myself, just kinda lucked into it....
Good Luck,
Dave
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Come to think of it, my worse case of this was a waterpump on the VW's....
rubberwrench
Member
water made for V belt not serpentine. They work opposite
Bryan inIowa
Member
might help if we know what kinda vehicle , what motor ?
Bryan inIowa
Member
if it's heating that fast I'd suspect a cumbustion leak into cooling systems , head gasket , crack etc . I have seen plugged radiator that would remain cool while car overheated , but takes whil efor engine temp raise
MarkB_MI
Well-known Member
- Location
- Motown USA
Blown head gasket. Engine is pumping air into the cooling system.
Ken Macfarlane
Well-known Member
Yeah its hard to find the water pump on a beetle.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
MOST cooling system problems fall into two categories: lack of flow, and leaks.
Lack of flow can be from a bad water pump impeller, slipping belt, low coolant level, blocked coolant passages in the block or head, faulty thermostat, or collapsed hose. Lack of airflow through the radiator can also be a cause of overheating, as well as blocked tubes/insufficient capacity of the radiator causing insufficient coolant flow.
Leaks can be external, as in coolant leaking FROM the cooling sstem. Leaks can also be internal, as in combustion gases leaking INTO the cooling system via a bad head gasket or a cracked head or block.
So take the information I've given you...then apply the information you already know to eliminate some of the POTENTIAL causes of overheating. What's left, then, are the POSSIBLE explanations for your problem. Long-distance diagnosis being an inexact science at best, I wish you well in your attempt at finding the cause and solving the problem.
Lack of flow can be from a bad water pump impeller, slipping belt, low coolant level, blocked coolant passages in the block or head
Leaks can be external, as in coolant leaking FROM the cooling sstem. Leaks can also be internal, as in combustion gases leaking INTO the cooling system via a bad head gasket or a cracked head or block.
So take the information I've given you...then apply the information you already know to eliminate some of the POTENTIAL causes of overheating. What's left, then, are the POSSIBLE explanations for your problem. Long-distance diagnosis being an inexact science at best, I wish you well in your attempt at finding the cause and solving the problem.
Allan in NE
Well-known Member
Had a little Ford car doing that one time.
Silly radiator was plugged tight and there was absolutely zero flow thru the darned thing.
Allan
Silly radiator was plugged tight and there was absolutely zero flow thru the darned thing.
Allan
glennster
Well-known Member
like buzzman said, if the radiator is cold but the engine overheats, check for coolant flow. try pulling the heater hoses off the firewall and start the car breifly. coolant should shoot out of one of the hoses. if not, something is plugged up or the water pump is bad. here is a picture of a water pump i took out of a ford taurus v-6. look closely at the impeller. electrolisys ate up the impeller causing the same type of problem you are experiencing. check if there is an air bleeder in the cooling system near the thermostat too. the impeller on this pump was worn paper thin
<a href="http://s121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/glennster_01/?action=view&current=DCP01844.jpg" target="_blank">
![DCP01844.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket](https://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/glennster_01/DCP01844.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket)
</a>
Untitled URL Link
<a href="http://s121.photobucket.com/albums/o234/glennster_01/?action=view&current=DCP01844.jpg" target="_blank">
Untitled URL Link
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Check the thermostat?
glennster, your picture reminded me of my waterpump failure on my 7.3 diesel. I kept hearing a squealing sound but couldn't figure out what it was. After a few weeks, I was driving on the freeway and noticed the temp gauge rising some. Stopped and saw some antifreeze spraying and since I was close to home I kept going. It never got hot, so all was well. After it cooled down, I grabbed the fan and pulled and it shook. No doubt about it, water pump had a bad bearing. After I got it off (that job is a pita) I realized what the squealing noise was I kept hearing prior to the leak. Fortunatly it didn't do anything to the front of the engine, just the pump itself.
.
.
.
.
.
.
No, it doesn't work that way. You do get the flow with a blown head gasket but that exaust heats up the sending unit saying it is boiling but it actually is not having the antifreeze yet warm, the only place it actually gets hot is at the sending unit and that is from the exaust gasses flowing by the sending unit and making a fals temp reaning and it is the exaust gases that are doing the pushing of the antifreeze out and not the antifreeze expanding. What you will see with a blown head gasket is if you take the cap off the radiator and then start the engine you will imedatly see small bubles in the radiator while you see the flow of the antifreeze and in 5 minuted time the exaust gas put thru the leak will be starting to displace the antifreeze in the block-head and that is what puts the flow over the top, the pump keeps trying to refill the block and that makes the exaust push out the antifreez over the top of the radiator that much faster. First time had a replaced head with new gasket installed, second time replaced with used engine and found out after it was installed that it had the same problem with a new head already on it and everytime at less than 5,000 mile it would happen again.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
a circulation flow problem.faulty pump or incorrectly fitted thermostat, blocked water passages , fan belt loose or there is insufficient water in the system.
Sounds like you are not holding pressure. From the description provided I would be looking for loss of coolant. I seen several GM 4.3 v6's get a pin hole in a freeze plug. It goes straight to hot and boils over. And no I didn't see any coolant leaking. It was evaporating as it came out. Actually it didn’t start leaking out until it was under some pressure. As it heated up it would push coolant out the pin hole and the coolant around the head began to boil putting air in the system. Straight from cold to boiling over in less than ten minutes. Radiator never even got warm.
I would fill it up, start it but shut it off as soon as it hit the normal running temp. Do not let it boil over. Let it cool back down and check the level. If you loosing coolant it should show up in this test.
I would fill it up, start it but shut it off as soon as it hit the normal running temp. Do not let it boil over. Let it cool back down and check the level. If you loosing coolant it should show up in this test.
Bob Huntress
Member
If the radiator cap is lifting, as quick as you say, it seems unusual that the radiator would be cool to the touch, not impossible as pressure, not temp lifts the cap, just unlikely. How old is this vehicle? Do the fins look dirty? Have you given the cooling system a flush? Is there any coolant going into the oil, or oil finding it's way into the coolant? Did you run straight water thru the system for a prolonged time? If you run the car's heater for a while does the engine temp come down? What maintainance have you done that would affect the cooling system?
Bob Huntress
Member
BTW, 5 minutes is a normal time that it takes my thermostat to start opening from a cold engine in roughly 70-80 degree weather with no load other than vehicle weight, thus what I am hearing is that the tempeture is rising at the same rate as normal, yet at the point that the thermostat should start opening, and you would see a notiable drop in temp, the temp continues to rise.
Is your coolant recovery tank an OEM part or an add on?
On my old TO-30 Ferguson, the top of the radiator is the expansion space for the coolant as it warms. many people fill the radiator up to the top and when they start and run for awhile the coolant heats up and then flows out the overflow. The proper way to fill these with coolant is about 1/4 inch above the radiator core. The rest of the space is for coolant expansion.
Have you checked the coolant temperature independent of the gauge to make sure that it really is that hot?
Start it up from cold with the cap off and see if the you get coolant flowing to the radiator as it comes up to temperature and the thermostat opens. If you don"t and the thermostat is good ( it"s opening at the corrct temp), your pump maybe bad. The impeller can corrode away over trime. Is the drive belt tight and not slipping?
Squeeze that lower hose when the egine is running if it doesn"t feel like coolant i flowing into it, then the rad core is most likely clogged or the pump is worn out.
Look for a collapsed hose on the pump suction side( lower rad hose). It doesn"t matter if it is new; they can collapse unless they have wire reinforcement in them.
On my old TO-30 Ferguson, the top of the radiator is the expansion space for the coolant as it warms. many people fill the radiator up to the top and when they start and run for awhile the coolant heats up and then flows out the overflow. The proper way to fill these with coolant is about 1/4 inch above the radiator core. The rest of the space is for coolant expansion.
Have you checked the coolant temperature independent of the gauge to make sure that it really is that hot?
Start it up from cold with the cap off and see if the you get coolant flowing to the radiator as it comes up to temperature and the thermostat opens. If you don"t and the thermostat is good ( it"s opening at the corrct temp), your pump maybe bad. The impeller can corrode away over trime. Is the drive belt tight and not slipping?
Squeeze that lower hose when the egine is running if it doesn"t feel like coolant i flowing into it, then the rad core is most likely clogged or the pump is worn out.
Look for a collapsed hose on the pump suction side( lower rad hose). It doesn"t matter if it is new; they can collapse unless they have wire reinforcement in them.
rlp in Co.
Well-known Member
Did you get the engine hot lately?
Like others have said, blown head gasket if you're lucky, cracked head if you drove it too long hot.
An easy way to check for blown head gasket- put the overflow tube in a glass of water and start the motor if you see bubbles, blown head gasket
The good news is that head gaskets are not expensive, just a lot of work to change.
Like others have said, blown head gasket if you're lucky, cracked head if you drove it too long hot.
An easy way to check for blown head gasket- put the overflow tube in a glass of water and start the motor if you see bubbles, blown head gasket
The good news is that head gaskets are not expensive, just a lot of work to change.
LOU from WI
Member
It's an add on part.Make sure the drive belt is turned the correct way so the water doesn't turn backwards.LOU
I remember seeing that one time. When I first started working at dealership, regular mechanic just got done putting a rebuilt engine in shop pickup. Started it up and with in a few minutes the coolant came pushing out of the radiator. I don't remember if cap was on but I think he left it off while warming it up. Boss says, thermostat in upside down, and it was. It just gushed out.
Similar threads
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.
Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.
Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy