Boiling coolant.....
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,109
Likes: 2
Boiling coolant.....
I know that this tread has come a lot and I have checked almost all of them.
My car is running hot, traffic and highway. Radiators have been cleaned, used good coolant with water at the proportions suggested by manufacturer.
125-130 degrees farenheight seems to be usual. ( 109 -120 degrees celsius.
When I shut the car I can hear boiling water. Fans do come on, could boiling water be caused by the coolant having a low boiling point, just like water?
What brand would you recomend? Suggestions to keep temperatures lower please!
My car is running hot, traffic and highway. Radiators have been cleaned, used good coolant with water at the proportions suggested by manufacturer.
125-130 degrees farenheight seems to be usual. ( 109 -120 degrees celsius.
When I shut the car I can hear boiling water. Fans do come on, could boiling water be caused by the coolant having a low boiling point, just like water?
What brand would you recomend? Suggestions to keep temperatures lower please!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,789
Likes: 8
From: Myrtle Beach SC
St. Jude Donor '05-'06
Originally Posted by GIJoe
Mine does this quite often too. What do you mean by "burping" it? Is there air in the hoses or something?
Large Impressive Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 65,811
Likes: 71
From: Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die
St. Jude Donor '04-'05-'06-'07
Originally Posted by Kinkajou
I know that this tread has come a lot and I have checked almost all of them.
My car is running hot, traffic and highway. Radiators have been cleaned, used good coolant with water at the proportions suggested by manufacturer.
125-130 degrees farenheight seems to be usual. ( 109 -120 degrees celsius.
When I shut the car I can hear boiling water. Fans do come on, could boiling water be caused by the coolant having a low boiling point, just like water?
What brand would you recomend? Suggestions to keep temperatures lower please!
My car is running hot, traffic and highway. Radiators have been cleaned, used good coolant with water at the proportions suggested by manufacturer.
125-130 degrees farenheight seems to be usual. ( 109 -120 degrees celsius.
When I shut the car I can hear boiling water. Fans do come on, could boiling water be caused by the coolant having a low boiling point, just like water?
What brand would you recomend? Suggestions to keep temperatures lower please!
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,793
Likes: 9
From: VA
Originally Posted by Kinkajou
My car is running hot, traffic and highway.
Most likely cause is loose or faulty pressure cap, or a leak.
Water, BTW, has a higher boiling point than antifreeze.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 40,156
Likes: 45
From: San Pedro CA
his is an LT1...
on the LT1, there are two bleed screws. The best one is on top of the tstat housing. Start the engine, let it heat, and open the screw a little. If there is air, it will get out.
And yes, 225 is actually a "normal" temperature.
Oh, and resist the desire to install a lower temp t-stat. It is not a cooling device, it is a heating device.
I agree, though, with the use of Water Wetter! That stuff WORKS!
I use a mix of 70% water, 30% coolant, for the most part, with a bottle of Water Wetter (made by Red Line). The cooling system is stock, and with the climate control on (which is pretty much all the time here in SoCal - the traffic makes the air icky after a while) and the temps stay between 195 and 200. No problemo.
FYI - when using the climate control, the fans come on everytime the compressor cycles.
on the LT1, there are two bleed screws. The best one is on top of the tstat housing. Start the engine, let it heat, and open the screw a little. If there is air, it will get out.
And yes, 225 is actually a "normal" temperature.
Oh, and resist the desire to install a lower temp t-stat. It is not a cooling device, it is a heating device.
I agree, though, with the use of Water Wetter! That stuff WORKS!
I use a mix of 70% water, 30% coolant, for the most part, with a bottle of Water Wetter (made by Red Line). The cooling system is stock, and with the climate control on (which is pretty much all the time here in SoCal - the traffic makes the air icky after a while) and the temps stay between 195 and 200. No problemo.
FYI - when using the climate control, the fans come on everytime the compressor cycles.
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 161
Likes: 0
From: fl
Originally Posted by Vis Croceus
109 oC is fine. 120 is too high.
Most likely cause is loose or faulty pressure cap, or a leak.
Water, BTW, has a higher boiling point than antifreeze.
Most likely cause is loose or faulty pressure cap, or a leak.
Water, BTW, has a higher boiling point than antifreeze.
Last edited by 95NOSvette; Feb 26, 2006 at 03:47 AM.
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Drifting
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,923
Likes: 0
From: GA
Originally Posted by bogus
the traffic makes the air icky after a while
"icky" 
Just had to..haven't heard "icky" in a loooong time.He may also want to replace his rad cap. The "boiling" noise may just be the expanding coolant blowing past his cap into the overflow. If the spring is weak it will let this go on for longer than it should.
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,793
Likes: 9
From: VA
Originally Posted by 95NOSvette
Water has much better cooling properties than antifreeze, but antifreeze (Eth gylcol, Pol Gylcol) has a much higher (almost twice over)boiling point than water.....
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 40,156
Likes: 45
From: San Pedro CA
Originally Posted by Morley
"icky" Just had to..haven't heard "icky" in a loooong time.He may also want to replace his rad cap. The "boiling" noise may just be the expanding coolant blowing past his cap into the overflow. If the spring is weak it will let this go on for longer than it should.
eh... icky is a cleaner version of the "S" word that I really wanted to use.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,789
Likes: 8
From: Myrtle Beach SC
St. Jude Donor '05-'06
Originally Posted by bogus
I agree that the cap is the best first check.... it's also cheap!
.
.
If it is bubbling in the overflow tank this is the obvious check.If it is bubbling in the engine hoses than burp it.
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 96,443
Likes: 9
From: Fort Knox, KY
Cruise-In IV Veteran
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Yup. You need to burp that ****. Check your FSM or owner's manual and open the thermostat bleeder valves, but be careful of the one that's near the Opti. You don't water to leak out on it.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 24,337
Likes: 25
From: San Diego , CA Double Yellow DirtBags 1985..Z51..6-speed
Mostly the pressure keeps it from boiling, which is why the radiator cap is rated like it is. If you have air in the system, it won't pressurize enough as it heats up, and it can boil. This is a problem not because of the temperature, but because water vapor pockets will occur in the heads and block coolant flow and heat transfer.
Boiling point of the coolant mix should be about 105*C at amospheric pressure, and 125*C at 14psi.
Boiling point of the coolant mix should be about 105*C at amospheric pressure, and 125*C at 14psi.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,109
Likes: 2
Ok, I checked the boiling water sound and this is coming from the overflow tank. The sistem has been burped using the two screws and coolant escaped inmediately, no air. What is strange is that the hoses that go to the radiator feel like they are pressurized with air!
The vette is a 94 with a ZF6, and the sistem has been flushed entirely, even took the knock sensors to get the last drop off coolant out.
The radiators cleaned thoroughly (the first one seems to be used for the air condition, at the back is for the cooling sistem and a little bit lower there seems to be a little radiator for the oil.
Just intrigued by this.
I am planing on installing little fans to extract the hot air faster from the engine bay.
Maybe this will help a little.
There has been some electric superchargers ( which will not work as superchargers because they can not pressurize the air into the manifold), that are sold at ebay. This little electric motors with a fan are intended to be used in small rooms that get smoke inside and they remove this very rapidly.
Maybe this can work because they are capable of replacing the hot air with fresh air at an incredible rate.
Has someone tried something like this?
The vette is a 94 with a ZF6, and the sistem has been flushed entirely, even took the knock sensors to get the last drop off coolant out.
The radiators cleaned thoroughly (the first one seems to be used for the air condition, at the back is for the cooling sistem and a little bit lower there seems to be a little radiator for the oil.
Just intrigued by this.
I am planing on installing little fans to extract the hot air faster from the engine bay.
Maybe this will help a little.
There has been some electric superchargers ( which will not work as superchargers because they can not pressurize the air into the manifold), that are sold at ebay. This little electric motors with a fan are intended to be used in small rooms that get smoke inside and they remove this very rapidly.
Maybe this can work because they are capable of replacing the hot air with fresh air at an incredible rate.
Has someone tried something like this?
Team Owner
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 24,337
Likes: 25
From: San Diego , CA Double Yellow DirtBags 1985..Z51..6-speed
To purge system...
Remove rad cap.
Start car and let idle until it reaches tstat temperature.
Top off radiator with coolant.
Hold throttle open to ~2000 rpm.
While holding it open, top off radiator, and put rad cap on.
Fill overflow tank to the brim.
After one fully hot run and full cool down, the system should be good to go. If water overflows the first time it gets hot, don't worry about it, thats normal since it was overfilled on purpose. Technically you should never fill by the radiator unless youre flushing the system or let the overflow run dry. Only top off coolant by adding to the overflow tank.
Remove rad cap.
Start car and let idle until it reaches tstat temperature.
Top off radiator with coolant.
Hold throttle open to ~2000 rpm.
While holding it open, top off radiator, and put rad cap on.
Fill overflow tank to the brim.
After one fully hot run and full cool down, the system should be good to go. If water overflows the first time it gets hot, don't worry about it, thats normal since it was overfilled on purpose. Technically you should never fill by the radiator unless youre flushing the system or let the overflow run dry. Only top off coolant by adding to the overflow tank.
Intermediate
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Spent the first summer in Arizona with my '87. Asked a local what to do. It get's up to 120 here, as most know. This is when I learned that water is a better coolant than ethel glycol. He suggested dropping to a 10% ratio and it worked. Temp held in the 225 range. Stop and go traffic the worst. Any place to put in an aux. fan or tried an over ride switch on the current fan? Oh, the water thinner is universally praised here.
Intermediate
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Seems like spitting in the wind. Would be more effective to just paint entire engine black -- valve covers especially. This is an old racing trick. This aint gonna happen to our beauties. Would listen to all the other good advice here. If none of it works, it may be time to get out the wrenches. If you are not losing water, it is most likely your cooling system or your driving -- traffic -- that is. If those jerks would just get out of our way...