94ATX, Cooling system failure.

[SWM]

The other day I turned on the heat for the 4th or 5th time and blew up the cooling system(steam covered windshield,overheated). I figured to see coolant from the heater core but it was coming from the waterpump area. So I tore off the front of the motor and all gaskets were fine except there was a lot of coolant in between the heads, so I replaced the water outlet gasket and reassembled. Filled it up and it ran fine for 5or6 minutes then the driver side of the radiator started leaking a lot and then a hissing from under the intake and old faithful erupted for a second and overheated again. It's a 94 ATX with 129k, upper and front 60k at 122k water pump is all new as is thremostat,ect. Checked all hose connections etc. complete coolant fill. Is there a gasket on the other end of the connection tube? Also the coolant res. tank filled to the top.? The car has been running fine and the heat has worked well, any suggestions? Many thanks!

 

[SASHO91]

did you check the bottom heater hose line, the cupplling that goes to the hard line? its under the t stat, down to the right..

 

[SWM]

I checked all the connections and all are good except the water pump outlet is the one that blew. I can't seem to pull the connection tube apart, do I need to dissasemble from the thermostat side? Thanks.

 

[yamapowered]

I checked all the connections and all are good except the water pump outlet is the one that blew. I can't seem to pull the connection tube apart, do I need to dissasemble from the thermostat side? Thanks.

have to remove water pump to get to rubber gasket, is the coolant leaking on the thermostat side?

 

[SWM]

Hard to tell where it's leaking from, there is a lot of coolant in between the heads. Any ideas what would cause this problem, all gaskets are new. Does the cooling system have that much pressure? I filled the radiator with water to find the leak and it's pouring out the driver side about have way up the side. I don't have much experience with radiators can these be fixed? Removal looks difficult. Thanks.

 

[yamapowered]

the radiator is leaking? drivers side? I have had 3 new radiators all leaked same place, even the one I have now leaks, I dont see it but I smell it.
Javier

 

[SWM]

I removed the front of the motor again, replaced the o-rings, checked all connections and hoses carefully filled it up and it started no problem no leaks. 3 minutes in the radiator starts hissing then leaking, at 5 min the same hiss under the intake then the connection tube gasket at the water pump springs a huge leak. The water pump is correctly installed and the system is filled. No leak on the thermostat side or any of the hoses. The coolant recovery tank also filled all the way up again. Seems to be a back pressure problem, any ideas? Thanks!

 

[JATRAMMELL]

Any chance the thermostat isn't opening?

 

[SHOtimer]

Did you make sure the mating surfaces for the O-rings were clean? The radiator has an obvious leak: replace it. The O-ring leak, is weird - my only guess would be a faulty installation.

Doug

 

[dstig1]

And this might be a very good time for a new radiator cap. If it is bad and causing overpressurization of the system, that could be the root cause. They are cheap and easy to find.

 

[yamapowered]

I had a similar problem with the o-ring at the pump, I cheated and used a oring that I had in a kit that I bought, that leaked before I started it. I had to buy waterpump
gasket from felpro, that had the correct size rubber O-ring.
dont know if thats your case, like shotimer said check your mating surface where the o-ring goes, make sure its mechanically clean then lubricate with some light grease.
dump that radiator too, these cars arent nice to cooling systems

 

[SWM]

Thanks for all the help. All the connections and gaskets and surfaces were well cleaned and inspected. My assembly was good and the system was filled so I'm going to replace the rad cap and the radiator and the hoses. Also my A/C doesn't work at all, would now be a good time to fix this? Any thoughts?