Bad radiator cap?
- Thread starter m_dogg
- Start date
This actually means the cap is working in exchanging fluid when the temp drops, not a guarantee that it holds pressure, but I'd look for a leak before spending time testing the cap
Check for leaks, Do you still have the plastic LIM gaskets? Check the oil(you can just look at what is on the dipstick) is it milky? Take a flashlight, and look at the ends of the LIM (below the throttle. and below the snout if you car is SC, below the MAP/PCV if you car is NA) do you see any coolant puddled? any wet spots or "trails"?
may or may not be residual, wet around the edge could be as well.
there are two gaskets and a backdraw valve in a radiator cap, primary system seal (outer ring) pressure reliefe seal (smaller ring on head of the pressure spring) and in the middle of the pressure relieve head is the backflow valve which opens when the radiator goes pressure negative at cooldown. any of these not sealing right and you replace the whole unit, it is def a wear item, moreso if you actually check it as often as you should
if yours is oem its good $ to throw at it, just like a system flush and swap to green
there's several possible leak points
has windshield fogged up more than usual on a cold morning (heatercore)?
elbows
orings at heater hose adaptors, most leak from corrosion from the dex sitting next to the oring going bad and the acids attack the aluminum
hoses (another of those pesky maint type things-ask euro
)radiator end tanks or drain petcock
if you havent checked the res level for a while (say it aint so) and you just noticed it low and the radiator is full, check your shit more often and add to the full HOT line when the engine is at operating temp and sealed (shine a flashlight downt he neck while you look at the outside of the resevoir at the molded in level nubs-they get pretty filthy with dex so have fun)
then keep an eye on it evaporation losses are normal, if people check their machine often enough you get the hang of its patterns and it makes it much easier to diagnose anything out of the ordinary (say you were adding a pint or qt of coolant a month then it shoots to 2 qts suddenly, etc)
soft upper hose when hot could be an air bubble or the inner and outter layers have seperated
take stock of the cooling system, chances are you need to drop some coin before winter hits and you get stuck doing it in the snow or paying for a tow haha i rhymed it
Heater hoses or radiator hoses? Either way, had motor swapped back in June but that started happening not too long ago. There's another thing I should mention, my fans are going of at 150* and stay on till u turn the car off (well they run about 2 minutes after shut off). Coolant temperature never goes over 179* Not sure if that's got anything to do with it...No low coolant light either.
incorrect, the stant cap with spring loaded vent is the best cap replacement for any similar application. 10230 is part number on the stant cap with a spring loaded vent.
The advantage to a spring loaded vent is that the vent will only open durring cool down or whenever there is a vacuum pressure in the system. The OEM cap had a vent that would open whenever there was no positive pressure in the system exposing the cooling system to the outside environment.
do you have a check engine light?
My car set a light on a cold day with a 180 t stat because the car was not warming up fast enough so the pcm thought the etc sensor had failed. It went into default mode and kick the fans on real early and they stayed on until key off. Cleared code fans worked as normal.
My car set a light on a cold day with a 180 t stat because the car was not warming up fast enough so the pcm thought the etc sensor had failed. It went into default mode and kick the fans on real early and they stayed on until key off. Cleared code fans worked as normal.
I'm gonna watch the overflow tank see if it's going low or not.Thread Info
-
Created -
33Replies
-
979Views
-
Participants list
