Pink spray over engine

You still have air in the system. Top the rad off and fill the overflow tank to the top. You need to run it until the thermostat opens up in order to fully burp the rad.

 

You burped it with the cap off, engine running, and the heater on?

 

Fill the overflow tank to the top? Above full marker? You make a good point about the thermostat... I bleed it with the engine on for 5 mins or so... doubt it ever got hot enough to open the thermostat... I'll give it a shot.

I didnt replace the radiator cap either... could this possibly be the culprit?

 

Yes, for 5 mins or so.... may not have been long enough? I was kinda in a rush... going to try again later today but for longer

 

The reason for an overfilled overflow tank is once you actually get the air out it needs to suck in a ton of coolant to replace that air. It is my lazy way of doing it so I don’t have to keep doing this multiple times. Once the system cools it pulls coolant back from the overflow tank.

Just remember any air or coolant pushed out during burping will cause coolant to spill on the ground especially when overfilled. My procedure is burp as best I can with the cap off and keep working the hoses to push air towards the rad. Once you feel you have done as much as you can with the cap off then top off and put cap on and go for a short drive to get it up to full temp so the thermostat will open.

 

The temp sensor reads off of coolant. So if coolant isn’t hitting the sensor it can move around wildly as steam and then coolant hit it. Once you have more coolant in the system it will stabilize. You have to be careful because a low reading on your temp gauge may mean seriously low coolant and a high reading could mean steam is heating the sensor. Until you have the system fully burped you can’t really trust the gauge at all.

 

Ok thanks. One other thing that may be worth mentioning, is when i took it for that quick 3 min drive, i turned the heater on high to stress the system, yet there was never any heat coming out, granted 3 mins isnt a whole lot of time, but i would have expected it at least to warm up... is this helpful at all to diagnose my problem?

 

With low coolant levels you won’t get much heat. Essentially a radiator and heater core are the same thing. They are fluid to air heat exchangers. Fluid heats the aluminum which has a high thermal conductivity and the air flowing through exchanges cool air for the heat in the aluminum core. The aluminum cools only to be heated by the hotter coolant flowing through it. Same happens at the heater core end. Except you are directing this air into the passenger compartment.

Low coolant levels mean you aren’t moving coolant through and heating the aluminum core which in turn means you aren’t heating the air. This is why no heat from the heater core.

 

Run it/burp with the cap off, correct?

 

Fill radiator, leave cap off, crank engine, turn heater on max, run until upper radiator hose is hot, burp by squeezing upper hose, stop engine, fill radiator to top (if required,) fill overflow box to somewhere above the lower mark, cap radiator and overflow box, crank engine, check for leaks.

At least that's my procedure.

 

For the first while correct. The reason for running a rad cap is to pressurize the system which lowers the boiling point. When burping the boiling point is irrelevant. You need to be able to see the level and top off as much as possible. I keep mine right to the top or close to. As it burps you can easily see that it is purging air and the level of coolant is dropping.

 

Now when you get the thermostat to open it usually drops the level drastically as if you had hose come off. Keep topping it off and when topped up then close the rad cap and go for another short drive. When it cools it will pull coolant from the overflow tank.

 

Thanks guys! I'll give it another shot and report back later today.

 

My last rad replacement was a trail repair. It took forever to get the thermostat to open. That was years ago but if we can do this on the trails you will figure it out.

 

Be careful not to let it overheat. These engines are tough but their Achilles heel seems to be over heating. My radiator blew in march and now I'm dealing with head gasket problems.

 

I'm sure trying not to.. the temp gauge never actually got to the red, so hopefully I'll be ok.

 

Get yourself one of these for next time you are changing coolant or working on the radiator -

$34 Lisle 24680 Spill-Free Funnel, Standard Adapters, 11 x 7 x 7"es

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A6AS6LY

You might be able to find one at your local auto parts store as well. Invaluable for filling the radiator, makes it so much easier and not messy.

 

I'm showing that kit for $95 on Amazon, so I'd say you got a good deal...

 

Haha I saw & thought the same thing. I ended up going to Napa Auto and rented theirs.

 

I did it was in the "traded in" tools on the Matco Truck