Champange Bubbles
06-22-08 | 10:11 AM
#27
Old School
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 473
Likes: 0
From: Baldwin City, KS
I would suggest a coolant system pressure test. It's cheap and a good idea from time to time anyway. You could even buy a pressure tester as they should be less than $100. The ones I've seen consist of a radiator cap with a tube to a hand operated pump with a gauge like a Mity-vac. You put the cap on and pump up the coolant system to 15 psi or so and see if the pressure leaks off. If it does then you look for leaks and fix them. If your coolant system passes the pressure test then I don't know of any other way you could get bubbles in your coolant other than o-rings.
06-22-08 | 11:00 AM
#28
06-22-08 | 12:17 PM
#30
All four spark plugs were bone dry (they were white though which leads me to believe the engine may have been running a bit lean)
I did the champagne test once more 10 minutes ago and this is what the results were.
I had a friend start the car up for me so I could check the exhaust on startup, I saw a small white puff of smoke shoot out at the very beginning of the engine starting up (literally 1 puff and nothing after).
The exhaust has no sweet smell, and no white smoke coming out at idle.
Now that I have an accurate water temp gauge, I can see when the thermostat opens --- once the thermostat opened, I allowed the engine to idle for an additional 10 minutes, the water temp showed 85c. With the cap off the rad, I looked for champagne bubbles --- again, I got random tiny little ones that would pop up and emerge at the filler neck but nothing significant.
I haven't had to add any coolant to the system since I flushed it (about 200 miles ago), the buzzer light has not gone off, and I do not get the overflow of coolant in the overflow tank. It seems the system is holding pressure and the coolant is always about 1 inch down from the "top of the neck" ---> should it be "topped off" when I pull the cap off?
I did the champagne test once more 10 minutes ago and this is what the results were.
I had a friend start the car up for me so I could check the exhaust on startup, I saw a small white puff of smoke shoot out at the very beginning of the engine starting up (literally 1 puff and nothing after).
The exhaust has no sweet smell, and no white smoke coming out at idle.
Now that I have an accurate water temp gauge, I can see when the thermostat opens --- once the thermostat opened, I allowed the engine to idle for an additional 10 minutes, the water temp showed 85c. With the cap off the rad, I looked for champagne bubbles --- again, I got random tiny little ones that would pop up and emerge at the filler neck but nothing significant.
I haven't had to add any coolant to the system since I flushed it (about 200 miles ago), the buzzer light has not gone off, and I do not get the overflow of coolant in the overflow tank. It seems the system is holding pressure and the coolant is always about 1 inch down from the "top of the neck" ---> should it be "topped off" when I pull the cap off?
06-22-08 | 12:41 PM
#31
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 393
Likes: 0
From: Tbilisi
spoolage
with dry sparks, at least you know, the coolant is not making it into the combustrion chamber, otherwhise car would be hard to start and would stumble and run 1 rotor for some time.
People say, filler neck should be toped. I think you should burp your cooling system first. buy a funnel or manufacure your own one. mine is also inch low but stays that way no matter how much and hard i drive. last week i autocrossed it and coolant was on a same level next day. no overheating too, it never goes past 210 However i found that a hose on top of the AST, leading to overflow tank was lose. it was sucking air in the system after i turned the car off. i tightened it, refilled the system and got overflow after i stoped the car. it scared the **** out of me but since that, i didnt have any overflow.
I had a leak about a month ago. lower radiator hose was leaking. Untill i fixed it, i had to refill both filler neck and ast each time. now AST is always full. i want to burp my system with funnel too. My problems started when i forgot to tighten the filler neck cap and drove the car like that for several kilometers. it was cold and the car didnt overheat though.
with dry sparks, at least you know, the coolant is not making it into the combustrion chamber, otherwhise car would be hard to start and would stumble and run 1 rotor for some time.
People say, filler neck should be toped. I think you should burp your cooling system first. buy a funnel or manufacure your own one. mine is also inch low but stays that way no matter how much and hard i drive. last week i autocrossed it and coolant was on a same level next day. no overheating too, it never goes past 210 However i found that a hose on top of the AST, leading to overflow tank was lose. it was sucking air in the system after i turned the car off. i tightened it, refilled the system and got overflow after i stoped the car. it scared the **** out of me but since that, i didnt have any overflow.
I had a leak about a month ago. lower radiator hose was leaking. Untill i fixed it, i had to refill both filler neck and ast each time. now AST is always full. i want to burp my system with funnel too. My problems started when i forgot to tighten the filler neck cap and drove the car like that for several kilometers. it was cold and the car didnt overheat though.
06-22-08 | 12:49 PM
#32
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 393
Likes: 0
From: Tbilisi
spoolage
with dry sparks, at least you know, the coolant is not making it into the combustrion chamber, otherwhise car would be hard to start and would stumble and run 1 rotor for some time.
People say, filler neck should be toped. I think you should burp your cooling system first. buy a funnel or manufacure your own one. mine is also inch low but stays that way no matter how much and hard i drive. last week i autocrossed it and coolant was on a same level next day. no overheating too, it never goes past 210 However i found that a hose on top of the AST, leading to overflow tank was lose. it was sucking air in the system after i turned the car off. i tightened it, refilled the system and got overflow after i stoped the car. it scared the **** out of me but since that, i didnt have any overflow.
I had a leak about a month ago. lower radiator hose was leaking. Untill i fixed it, i had to refill both filler neck and ast each time. now AST is always full. i want to burp my system with funnel too. My problems started when i forgot to tighten the filler neck cap and drove the car like that for several kilometers. it was cold and the car didnt overheat though.
with dry sparks, at least you know, the coolant is not making it into the combustrion chamber, otherwhise car would be hard to start and would stumble and run 1 rotor for some time.
People say, filler neck should be toped. I think you should burp your cooling system first. buy a funnel or manufacure your own one. mine is also inch low but stays that way no matter how much and hard i drive. last week i autocrossed it and coolant was on a same level next day. no overheating too, it never goes past 210 However i found that a hose on top of the AST, leading to overflow tank was lose. it was sucking air in the system after i turned the car off. i tightened it, refilled the system and got overflow after i stoped the car. it scared the **** out of me but since that, i didnt have any overflow.
I had a leak about a month ago. lower radiator hose was leaking. Untill i fixed it, i had to refill both filler neck and ast each time. now AST is always full. i want to burp my system with funnel too. My problems started when i forgot to tighten the filler neck cap and drove the car like that for several kilometers. it was cold and the car didnt overheat though.
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