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19 Posts
Sorry for the long post, but I'm really stumped everybody, please help if able. Here's some background: I've had my 2008 Super Bee for 10 years, since it had 18,000 miles. It has 172,000 now. I love it as much now as I ever did, although it's becoming old and crotchety.
In the spring, I did it's first cooling system flush, late I know. Following a "How To..." post on here, I put the front end on jack stands and drained the radiator but not the block, so I know it wasn't a complete flush. I was shocked at how pristine the drained fluid looked. I ran through 7 or 8 gallons of distilled water, flushed till clear, drained and used Zerex G5 HOAT to refill. I tested it and it's a bit light on the percentage, which I was going to adjust before winter. While I was at it, I changed out the thermostat and put a new coolant overflow tank from Rock Auto in to ward off any demons. I've never liked that tank. The cap and neck are cheap plastic and it never feels like it's going on properly, and it's hard to get off.
It's been running great with nothing unusual, other than some front end vibration and pulling left. I took it for an alignment about a month ago, and they rotated my tires front to back. There was still a bit of vibration at highway speed, so I assumed the tires need balancing, but I'm about to replace all of them.
After about a 30 minute drive on the highway the other night, I stopped at a store for 20 mins and came out to find a little coolant leaking under where the reservoir would be, along with a touch of steam, and that "uh-oh" smell. I only live a couple of minutes away, and the temp gauge was fine, and there were no visible leaks anywhere when I got home.
The next day, I rented a pressure tester, and while I was putting air in, I heard fluid gurgling, and was shocked to see the lower radiator hose was totally disconnected
I put it up jack stands, and pulled the bumper cover off (I had planned on repainting it this week). I also noticed while pulling the tires that a lug nut was missing from the right front (new owner's of Mickey's Suburban Alignment, I'm looking at you). I put the radiator hose back, and everything there looked well. It wouldn't hold any pressure after that, but I started it up and still saw no leaks. There's some staining up the right side of the intake manifold, but that's been there as long as I can remember, and there's no overt leaks there.
When I did the coolant flush prior, I had swapped out the existing coolant bleed plug for a brake bleeder valve. After it warmed up, I had the heater on full, and opened it to bleed the air, but got nothing but hissing and steam until the temperature gauge spiked, so I shut it down. There was also only cold air from the heater at this point. I let it sit overnight, and the coolant level in the overflow tank was only a bit lower, maybe an inch, in the morning.
I was convinced the new thermostat was a dud, the system built up pressure, but didn't overheat because I was on the highway, and that, combined with the recent vibration and pressure testing popped the lower radiator hose off. I excel at coming up with stories to explain things I don't fully understand.
Today, I put a new thermostat in and noticed there was no fluid in the upper hose or sitting in the intake. I warmed the engine up again after, and once more, got only hissing and steam, when I tried to bleed the air, and still only cold air from the heater. It started to overheat again, so I let it cool down, and tried pressure testing once more, only this time, it held pressure and I could see the upper radiator hose distend. Again, no signs of a leak anywhere. As usual, the cap for the pressure tester was a bugger to remove, and when I looked closely at the lip of the overflow container, I could now see that it was cracked.
I'm at the limit of my understanding at this point. Does anyone have any ideas before I have to have it towed to the shop? I guess it might not overheat while driving, but I have to put the bumper cover back on, and naturally, the support bracket stripped during removal, so a new one is due in tomorrow,
Thanks everyone, as always.
In the spring, I did it's first cooling system flush, late I know. Following a "How To..." post on here, I put the front end on jack stands and drained the radiator but not the block, so I know it wasn't a complete flush. I was shocked at how pristine the drained fluid looked. I ran through 7 or 8 gallons of distilled water, flushed till clear, drained and used Zerex G5 HOAT to refill. I tested it and it's a bit light on the percentage, which I was going to adjust before winter. While I was at it, I changed out the thermostat and put a new coolant overflow tank from Rock Auto in to ward off any demons. I've never liked that tank. The cap and neck are cheap plastic and it never feels like it's going on properly, and it's hard to get off.
It's been running great with nothing unusual, other than some front end vibration and pulling left. I took it for an alignment about a month ago, and they rotated my tires front to back. There was still a bit of vibration at highway speed, so I assumed the tires need balancing, but I'm about to replace all of them.
After about a 30 minute drive on the highway the other night, I stopped at a store for 20 mins and came out to find a little coolant leaking under where the reservoir would be, along with a touch of steam, and that "uh-oh" smell. I only live a couple of minutes away, and the temp gauge was fine, and there were no visible leaks anywhere when I got home.
The next day, I rented a pressure tester, and while I was putting air in, I heard fluid gurgling, and was shocked to see the lower radiator hose was totally disconnected
I put it up jack stands, and pulled the bumper cover off (I had planned on repainting it this week). I also noticed while pulling the tires that a lug nut was missing from the right front (new owner's of Mickey's Suburban Alignment, I'm looking at you). I put the radiator hose back, and everything there looked well. It wouldn't hold any pressure after that, but I started it up and still saw no leaks. There's some staining up the right side of the intake manifold, but that's been there as long as I can remember, and there's no overt leaks there.
When I did the coolant flush prior, I had swapped out the existing coolant bleed plug for a brake bleeder valve. After it warmed up, I had the heater on full, and opened it to bleed the air, but got nothing but hissing and steam until the temperature gauge spiked, so I shut it down. There was also only cold air from the heater at this point. I let it sit overnight, and the coolant level in the overflow tank was only a bit lower, maybe an inch, in the morning.
I was convinced the new thermostat was a dud, the system built up pressure, but didn't overheat because I was on the highway, and that, combined with the recent vibration and pressure testing popped the lower radiator hose off. I excel at coming up with stories to explain things I don't fully understand.
Today, I put a new thermostat in and noticed there was no fluid in the upper hose or sitting in the intake. I warmed the engine up again after, and once more, got only hissing and steam, when I tried to bleed the air, and still only cold air from the heater. It started to overheat again, so I let it cool down, and tried pressure testing once more, only this time, it held pressure and I could see the upper radiator hose distend. Again, no signs of a leak anywhere. As usual, the cap for the pressure tester was a bugger to remove, and when I looked closely at the lip of the overflow container, I could now see that it was cracked.
I'm at the limit of my understanding at this point. Does anyone have any ideas before I have to have it towed to the shop? I guess it might not overheat while driving, but I have to put the bumper cover back on, and naturally, the support bracket stripped during removal, so a new one is due in tomorrow,
Thanks everyone, as always.
