Well my motor is running kinda hot . when I'm in traffic after drving it for awhile it will just rise and doesn't seem like it's going to stop. This was a 75 degree day in vermont that it seem to keep on rising so it wasn't overly warm out. I let it run in my driveway today and the fan came on like it seems like it should . After doing some research on here It seems like I should clean out the outside of the radiator . I would like to do this project tommarow but can't seem to find out how much coolant will drain out of the car . I have a 10 quart drain bucket and I'm wondering if this is big enough . I just had the system flushed about a month ago so I want to just reuse the coolant.

Thank in advance ,

PatsFan

 

Not sure why you are draining the system to clean the outside of the radiator, but 10 qt container should be all you need. System holds more than that, but about 2 to 2 1/2 gl is most that will normally drain out.

 

So your temps keep rising? How hot do you let it get? Could be stuck thermostat, air in the coolant, leaves blocking radiator fins, if coolant is visible under car could be leaky water pump, leaky radiator, leaky hose(s). Just to name a few.

 

Well looking @ a few back threads it seems that the best way to clean your radiator is to pull it . I've read that allot of thing can get up and in between the fin's( Sand , Leaves , Wendys bags and u name it ) .

Thanks for letting me know about the drain pan being big enough .

Patsfan

 

I have a 91 so it doesn't give me the exact # but the gauge goes from 130 ( I think ) to 260 . It was getting up very close to the 260 mark ( almost touching it but not quite ) . It was happening while in traffic and would go down a bit after I started moving . Now you say that air in the coolant will make it go high. Last week I did the injectors on the car and had to drain some coolant to get the plenuim off. I drained it from the bottom drain area and when I was done I replaced the coolant I took out via putting it in the reservoir ( We're u check your coolant level ). Should I have done something while doing this to ensure air didn't get into it ? I also couldn't get the radiator cap off when I drained it ( I was able to move it a little bit but not able to get it off ) .

I have read when you have a new problem on these car's to go to the last thing you worked on and start there. Did i mess something up ?


Also this car id fairly new to me but I hadn't notice it getting warm before . I'll also throw out there that I have some catalytic converter issues from running rich ( why I replaced the injectors ) and I will be replacing them next week . I don't think the cat's would have anything to do with the running hot but just in case I figure I'll let you know that's going on with it also .


Thanks again for the help and sorry for rambling , Patsfan

 

I have a 91 so it doesn't give me the exact # but the gauge goes from 130 ( I think ) to 260 . It was getting up very close to the 260 mark ( almost touching it but not quite ) . It was happening while in traffic and would go down a bit after I started moving . Now you say that air in the coolant will make it go high. Last week I did the injectors on the car and had to drain some coolant to get the plenuim off. I drained it from the bottom drain area and when I was done I replaced the coolant I took out via putting it in the reservoir ( We're u check your coolant level ). Should I have done something while doing this to ensure air didn't get into it ? I also couldn't get the radiator cap off when I drained it ( I was able to move it a little bit but not able to get it off ) .

I have read when you have a new problem on these car's to go to the last thing you worked on and start there. Did i mess something up ?


Also this car id fairly new to me but I hadn't notice it getting warm before . I'll also throw out there that I have some catalytic converter issues from running rich ( why I replaced the injectors ) and I will be replacing them next week . I don't think the cat's would have anything to do with the running hot but just in case I figure I'll let you know that's going on with it also .


Thanks again for the help and sorry for rambling , Patsfan

 

Not sure about the L98 as I have the LT1, so these comments may not be relevant. There are bleed screws on mine that must be opened to purge the air out of the engine, passenger side at the throttle body. Also while pulling the radiator is most thorough way to clean it I have never had to. I made up an extension for my shop vac that fits right thru the passenger side shroud opening. I can easily suck all the debris out in a few minutes. Hope this helps.

 

Air could have and probably did get into the coolant system. You can get the car up on some ramps and take the radiator cap off. Idle the car but watch for temps and this will make the air go to the highest point (radiator). You can also try to get the air out by the bleed srcews on the TB, but I have never had to do this and the first suggestion always works for me. You might have to add some coolant to the system thereafter.

 

Per the FSM, are there bleed screws for the L98? Also, in my manual, in the OB section it lists about 14.5 qts., but as amminich said in his first post, probably quite a bit will be retained in the system.

I also read that someone used a piece of fairly rigid copper wire (probably with the insulation still on) to pull out stuff from betw. the two units. I gotta look at mine again to see if I can do something like a the thin attachment amm. described above.

Good luck. You may just need a new thermo, too, in addition to making everything clean and leaf-free.

 

Do you just want to pull the shroud and suck the crap out with a vac or actually pull the radiator?

There are no bleed screws on L98s.

 

I will try this in the morning . How long do you keep the cap off for and car running for while its on the ramps ? Do you put the cap on the car after you have turned it off or do you put it on while the car is hot and running ?

Thanks , PatsFan

 

Thanks for the info Bill

PatsFan.

 

I was going to attemp to pull the whole thing ( would be my first time attemping to pull a radiator ) . If i can get away with just pulling the shroud maybe i'll try that first .

 

You dont need ramps, youre just burping the system and the air will come out on level ground.

You leave the cap off and let the car warm up to the thermostat opening temperature, then hold rpm at 2000 while adding the coolant. Once its full put the cap back on.

L98's open at 195F, if stock.

 

Well I just tried to burp the system and I realized It a 2 man job . Air buble's were coming out of the cap area while the car was warming up . once it got to the point we're I would hold the idle @ 2000 and the antifreeze would go down so I could add some . So I would let go of the idle so I could pour the Coolant in and coolant would raise up over the edge ( all over the driveway )once I lowered the Idle . Is there another secret to this and can I add the Coolant after some how ?

Thanks , PatsFan

 

You don;t have to have the enigine revved up. Take cap off, let it run until the t/stat opens (might rev it up for that), then just add coolant until it won;t take anymore. Put on the cap and you should be good to go.

 

Yes you do need to have 2 people or hold your hand on the throttle lever at the TB, or you'll end up losing more coolant while letting it warm up. The rpm will suck it down, so you really have to keep it revved up some. You wont work out all the bubbles if you dont hold the rpm up.

I can do it by myself, but for me its old hat now. I've done it 100 times.

 

Well heres what I did . I was by myself so i let the car warm up and I turned the heat up as high as it would go . I let it run for about 20 minutes after it got warm . I then put the cap back on . I did this 2 days agao . i took the car out for about 45 minutes yesterday and drove it quite hard. It seem to take allot longer before it would get warm and it seemed to cool down quicker .

Heres a pic of when the fan turned on do all of the gauges look as they should ? Is this the temp that the fan should turn on ?




Heres a pic of after the fan was running for a minute or so . Do the gauges seem to be correct ?

 

Sorry if the pic's are to big but I still haven't figured out how to shrink them down .

I would also like to thank every-one agin for helping out . As members have stated before this place is like the brotherhood .

PatsFan