97 Cobra Cooling issues!

[YUNG VEEZU]

On my way back home, I noticed my coolant temp sensor slowly rise up to HOT. A few seconds later I park and check whats going on under the hood and there is coolant all over the overflow tank and it looks like the tank is empty. I haven't taken a better look because I don't have a garage and it is nighttime here.

I have to check tomorow morning but has anyone else had a weird problem like this? Last week all of my fluids were fine and I used the A/C everyday and it worked on. Any ideas whats going on? I've never had cooling problems before this so everything is new to me.

 

[GT Rob]

It happened to me I changed everything from water pump thermostat overflow tank radiator and it ended up being my fan the high wasn't working dose your a/c blow cold for awhile then stops blowing cold

 

[YUNG VEEZU]

It happened to me I changed everything from water pump thermostat overflow tank radiator and it ended up being my fan the high wasn't working dose your a/c blow cold for awhile then stops blowing cold

it still blows cold air

 

[GT Rob]

I would start with the fan and work from there

 

[YUNG VEEZU]

I will check that as soon as I can. How easy is it changing the fan?

 

[9646gt]

Start cheap, check fan, replace thermostat, replace radiator cap and properly burp the system. Replacing the thermostat and radiator cap is normal maintenance any way. It's suprising how many people replace the radiator cap last and find it was the problem.

 

[turbosnake281]

+1 on radiator cap but truly it's most likely your thermostat, if it dosent open it will cause the water to boil and once it passes 16 psi or w.e. Ur old cap is holding it will purge out the water, swap your thermostat first this should also really help you burp the system also, you can have your radiator cap tested most wear out to like 9psi and should be at 16. You should be checking that your ac blows hot not cold lolz GL

 

[YUNG VEEZU]

Start cheap, check fan, replace thermostat, replace radiator cap and properly burp the system. Replacing the thermostat and radiator cap is normal maintenance any way. It's suprising how many people replace the radiator cap last and find it was the problem.

thanks, i would have never even started with the cap

 

[turbosnake281]

thanks, i would have never even started with the cap

Don't start with the radiator cap, the only way a radiator cap can over heat the system is mostly loss of water and low pressure! , 1 fill and burp system proPerly while running heater (make sure blowing hot air), 2 let the car idle for an extended amount of time while watching endgine bay and temp gauge if it continue to overheat and bubbles from boiling water are present when you open the cap (u should feel something kicking through the resivour while it's idling and biggining to overheat), if this occurs then there is a blockage in the system not allowing water to surculate I'd start by changing the thermostat as it mostlikley will be bad.

This is all saying that your fans are working, you have no leaks in the system, and your burping properly.

Being said that this all happened directly after your intake swap I would say that you are not burping the system correctly as these motors are a little tricky to get all the air out. If the overheating thing isn't a fat occurring thing and is just happening after a day of driving then possibly your rad cap, you should beable to squeeze you rad hose and feel that it is pressurized (feel another cars to compare) you can have your radiator cap tested, it most likely won't hold to 16 psi but don't automatically think that's your problem!!

 

[YUNG VEEZU]

Don't start with the radiator cap, the only way a radiator cap can over heat the system is mostly loss of water and low pressure! , 1 fill and burp system proPerly while running heater (make sure blowing hot air), 2 let the car idle for an extended amount of time while watching endgine bay and temp gauge if it continue to overheat and bubbles from boiling water are present when you open the cap (u should feel something kicking through the resivour while it's idling and biggining to overheat), if this occurs then there is a blockage in the system not allowing water to surculate I'd start by changing the thermostat as it mostlikley will be bad.

This is all saying that your fans are working, you have no leaks in the system, and your burping properly.

Being said that this all happened directly after your intake swap I would say that you are not burping the system correctly as these motors are a little tricky to get all the air out. If the overheating thing isn't a fat occurring thing and is just happening after a day of driving then possibly your rad cap, you should beable to squeeze you rad hose and feel that it is pressurized (feel another cars to compare) you can have your radiator cap tested, it most likely won't hold to 16 psi but don't automatically think that's your problem!!

I just bought a new cap for $10 and topped the tank off. I let the car idle with the A/C on max with hot air, and the temp gauge slowly rose towards HOT, but i noticed the fan did not even turn on. I have the thermostat as well but i did not install that yet, I'll have to wait till the weekend.

Just for a reference I looked through my Chilton's book and it says the thermostat is at the bottom of the engine bay, I would probably have to drain the entire system when I change the thermostat correct?

 

[turbosnake281]

I just bought a new cap for $10 and topped the tank off. I let the car idle with the A/C on max with hot air, and the temp gauge slowly rose towards HOT, but i noticed the fan did not even turn on. I have the thermostat as well but i did not install that yet, I'll have to wait till the weekend.

Just for a reference I looked through my Chilton's book and it says the thermostat is at the bottom of the engine bay, I would probably have to drain the entire system when I change the thermostat correct?

lmao i posted this in the wrong thead sorry dude lol, but for you your fan should be turning on!, check your fuses first, yes you will have to drain coolant use water while trouble shooting and then switch back to coolant once issue is fixed.

 

[YUNG VEEZU]

lmao i posted this in the wrong thead sorry dude lol, but for you your fan should be turning on!, check your fuses first, yes you will have to drain coolant use water while trouble shooting and then switch back to coolant once issue is fixed.

lol no problem

 

[YUNG VEEZU]

So I checked all fuses, everything was good and the fan began to turn on and off again. However my gauges still reads:

Over time the needle continues to go up. Nothing seems funny but what is setting it off? I felt the hoses and they feel fine.

Any help is appreciated!

 

[YUNG VEEZU]

Just an update, installed a new thermostat and burped the entire system. She still runs good but the temp gauge still leans towards the hotter side but still within the normal boundary.

 

[the.greg]

Just curious what thermostat did you install? Also to rule out air in the system, what procdure did you use to burp the system? Sometimes air can take a while or several drives to work through the system and you may need to re-burp it.

 

[YUNG VEEZU]

I used a thermostat from the local Oreilly store, and when i burped the system i ran regular water from a garden hose in it with the heat on for about 20 mins till it got to operating temperature, drained it then refilled with 50/50

 

[the.greg]

I used a thermostat from the local Oreilly store, and when i burped the system i ran regular water from a garden hose in it with the heat on for about 20 mins till it got to operating temperature, drained it then refilled with 50/50

It sounds like all you did was flush the coolant system, not burp it. I bet if you burp it your problem will be fixed.

 

[YUNG VEEZU]

It sounds like all you did was flush the coolant system, not burp it. I bet if you burp it your problem will be fixed.

oh.......you wouldn't by chance have the exact steps to burp the system would you?

 

[the.greg]

I'll go ahead and throw out the proper coolant system burp procedure:
Remove radiator cap
Remove coolant crossover plug
Add 50/50 using a small funnel into the coolant crossover until reservoir is full.
Reinstall the radiator cap
Continue filling at the coolant crossover slowly using the small funnel to allow air to escape until coolant crossover appears full.
Turn heat on high through vents.
Start engine and leave it idling, and check for hot air coming from vents.
(if air does not get hot and/or the engine temperature does not rise shut off the engine. it could be too low coolant or possible air pockets)
Assuming engine reaches normal temperature, and hot air comes from vents, turn off engine and as engine coos down top off coolant as necessary to the COLD FULL level

This should take care of any air pockets!

 

[YUNG VEEZU]

Thanks man I really appreciate it, but when you say remove the cross over plug which one are you refering to?