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Define refurb … Did you have the intake off ? You did didn't you.
Which way did you install the intake gaskets ?
Seem like there is a thread here where someone else had this exact problem and installed the intake gaskets with backwards.
If you drove this car and it didn't "burp" then I would pull the tstat out and pour coolant directly into the intake manifold, then put the tstat back in and test.
I experienced the same symptoms and the cause was a radiator cap that could no longer keep the cooling system pressurized. The coolant would boil after shutting the engine off just as yours does in the video. You can have the cap pressure checked to troubleshoot the issue.
Define refurb … Did you have the intake off ? You did didn't you.
Which way did you install the intake gaskets ?
Seem like there is a thread here where someone else had this exact problem and installed the intake gaskets with backwards.
top end reseal and cleaning with valve lash maintenance. i did not install them backwards but I DID REMOVE THE RESTRICTION ports at the back of the block. I do not think that is material however.
Originally Posted by MissileDoc
I experienced the same symptoms and the cause was a radiator cap that could no longer keep the cooling system pressurized. The coolant would boil after shutting the engine off just as yours does in the video. You can have the cap pressure checked to troubleshoot the issue.
i suspected this...and bought a new rad cap yesterday day by chance. i will install and see if its good.
Originally Posted by billschroeder5842
That is my guess too. Let it cool, burp it and make sure you get the heater to work. I bet you are good.
i think the heatercore not having coolant flowing through it yet is the true indication of the source of the problem. as the second vid showed, it sucked everything back in plus more after it cooled off.
Had 2 cars that had airlocks in the heater core that found a trick that worked in both cases. Car at operating temp, heater turned on full. Had a parking ramp with a high incline in it, drove the cars up several floors in low gear with a higher rpm. In both cases I was able to get the air bubbles to blow through to the radiator. Hope that helps with your heater issue.
I'm pretty sure 86's have a heater core coolant valve. Is it opening?
dogs i was looking at this and it appears the valves default position is actually open. it closes when u ask for ac or something like that. its possible its stuck closed for sure. i will try to raise the front end first.
one thing to note is that i recently added the factory kc4 cooler on this base car. it takes pressurezed coolant from the block and sends it back to the water pump via the return line from the heatercore.
so i see a situation where cars with this cooler circut have a harder time burping air from heatercores because the return line may end up being pressurized by the fluid in the kc4 circut.
put the nose waaaaaay up in the air tonight as i installed the air dam.
once finished the airdam, i wrapped a set of vice grips teeth in leather glove and pinched off the kc4 return line which comes in downstream of the heatercore on the heatercores return line.
ran the car with cap off for 5 min with heat on and i had heat. revved engine to 2500 poured in fluid to rad and sealed a new cap.
so id say im bled. i have heat now. no idea if clamping kc4 return line did anything but i didnt want the air pocket fighting block pressure which is what it does.
if i get no heat out for a drive, i think i need to install an orifice in the kc4 return line. i never thought to research if there was a restrictor in the factory solid lines.
i also removed the restrictors at the back of the intake manifold but later cars have that removed so id doubt if the steam crossover had anything to do with it.