So.. recently had troubles with my cooling system, had a leak somewhere and after diagnosing and pressure testing the system I found out it was the throttle body coolant hose that was blown. So I replaced that and flushed the system really well.

Anyways, this was the first cooling system flush i'd done myself, and i've found a few odd things have been happening since then.

1) After driving around town for a little while I came home and just as I was pulling up my driveway I noticed my stock water temp gauge had risen past half.. immediately panic alarms were going off in my head, I thought that the system was burped well enough but I guess not.

2) After the last incident I re-burped the system using the same technique I did the first time. (Run car for 3 minutes, top off and pulse the hose just bellow the filler neck a few times) But when I got home from work today and pulled the car into the garage, there was some serious monkey business going on under the hood of my car. All sorts of bubbling sounds erupting from the AST. (Stock AST.. relax! I'm getting around to it) What's up with this?

I guess what my question here is... how can I make SURE the system has been burped enough and topped off to the max? I read something about removing that same throttle body hose that was blown on my car and pouring water into the filler neck until a little spilled over the TB hose. Does this actually work?

I think I'm just in a panic after seeing that stock gauge rise past half, it was shut down immediately after it started to do that but still.. can someone help me with this? I'm not really sure what to do here (Water temp gauge on it's way too, btw!)

Thanks in advance!

 

Water temperature readings at half should be considered "normal" and probably won't cause damage to your car due to over heating. Depending on how hard you drove your car, it is not impossible to get it to rise up past half. As long as its not in the red zone you should be okey. As for filling your coolant up to the approapriot level, have you tried turning your heater on max? cycling the coolant through the heater core also helps to circulate air out of the system. And I don't think I really need to mention but make sure you're mixing your coolant correctly to 50/50 with water unless its one of those pre-mixed ones.

 

Not to be a jerk Keinikaidoh, but you are pretty much totally wrong on your assessment about what is "normal" and what is not. Hold off on telling him not to worry about anything until you know a bit more about, and have actually gotten to drive, the car.


The stock temp gauge is weighed low, basically if you see anything above normal operating temperatures you should be worried. What I mean by that is that by the time the temp gauge will show a change and increase in heat it is often too late. My needle doesn't even start to raise until about 60 C, and is sittin in the midrange by 70-75 C. I have NEVER seen my needle rise past half way except for the one time I was on the highway and I burst my Block --> Throttle Body coolant hose. I lost ALL my fluid and pulled over as soon as I came to a layby.

For the OP, I would seriously consider getting a water temp gauge if you don't have a PFC. If you do have the PFC than I would keep the water temp up as one of the constant readings on your commander. The PFC is much more accurate and will let you know well in advance of your stock needle if you are having an issue with overheating.

 

Thanks for the replies!

My PowerFC actually just got here today so i'm planning on doing what you recommended FendaMonkey. I'm still a little confused as to what I should be doing about these damn bubbling noises though haha, what the best way to fully burp the system? Basically i'm asking what I wrote in my OP again haha

 

Get yourself a Lisle Yellow Funnel. Attach it to your coolant "fill" port, start the car up and let the car run while the coolant expands into your funnel. You will see the air bubbles coming through the funnel as your cooling system burps them out. After the car is fully warmed up (i.e., thermostat is open), shut the car down, add a small amount of coolant to the funnel and let it cool down overnight. Next morning, squeeze your lower coolant hose slightly, insert plunger into funnel and disconnect. You should be good to go, however you may need to repeat this cycle a few times. It IS a good idea to run your heater wide open first time to get the air bubbles out of your heater core as well. Good luck!

http://www.hechinger.com/web/catalog...406E643DE985AF

Oh, forgot to mention to check your coolant reservoir and make sure that you ONLY have coolant up to the "F" mark on the dipstick. If it's fuller than that, syphon some out until you get it down near the "F" indicator. For some reason, my experience has been that if the reservoir gets overfilled it inhibits the engine's ability to syphon coolant back into the engine.