Changed Coolant; Overheating Now
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From: Richardson Tx
Changed Coolant; Overheating Now
2003 C-5
Changed my coolant. Tried to change the thermostat too but the replacement from Autozone won't work (thermostat mounting won't fit in the block opening - piece of junk anyway) Put the old one back in. Now I'm having overheating issues. Can't get out of the driveway without pegging the temperature gauge.
I suspect I've got an air block somewhere due to opening up the system, but can't seem to get it working. No hot air through the heater either. Tried running it with reservoir cap off, then with it on to cycle it through. No luck. Fans work fine.
Everything was working fine before changing the coolant. Just figured it needed to be done at 100k.
Thanks
Changed my coolant. Tried to change the thermostat too but the replacement from Autozone won't work (thermostat mounting won't fit in the block opening - piece of junk anyway) Put the old one back in. Now I'm having overheating issues. Can't get out of the driveway without pegging the temperature gauge.
I suspect I've got an air block somewhere due to opening up the system, but can't seem to get it working. No hot air through the heater either. Tried running it with reservoir cap off, then with it on to cycle it through. No luck. Fans work fine.
Everything was working fine before changing the coolant. Just figured it needed to be done at 100k.
Thanks
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From: Richardson Tx
Yeah, I've been running through the bleed procedure - 1 minute cap off; 30 seconds cap on up to 3k RPM - several times. Guess I'll keep doing it unless someone has another idea.
Thanks
Thanks
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Not on either liberal coast.
Air in the system sounds like the most logical problem.
In addition to what you've already tried, you might try raising the front of the car and adding a couple of bottles of a water surfactant such as WATER WETTER...
http://www.redlineoil.com/Products.aspx?pcid=10
In addition to what you've already tried, you might try raising the front of the car and adding a couple of bottles of a water surfactant such as WATER WETTER...
http://www.redlineoil.com/Products.aspx?pcid=10
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air....you may have to pull a hose and let some drain....try again..
Burning Brakes
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From: Toronto Ontario
On my '02, the thermostat is built into the water neck...If it's the same on an '03, i'd give you 50 bucks if you could put it in backwards!
It sounds like you have mucho air trapped in the system. The pump by-passes thru the heater core while the thermostat is closed. Seems strange that you're not getting any heat either. Makes me believe that the coolant isn't circulating. If its cold now, try cracking loose the thermostat housing and see if anything comes out. If not, start the engine until the housing starts to weep. keep the overflow tank topped up. Once the coolant starts to circulate, the air should burp out quick enough.
It sounds like you have mucho air trapped in the system. The pump by-passes thru the heater core while the thermostat is closed. Seems strange that you're not getting any heat either. Makes me believe that the coolant isn't circulating. If its cold now, try cracking loose the thermostat housing and see if anything comes out. If not, start the engine until the housing starts to weep. keep the overflow tank topped up. Once the coolant starts to circulate, the air should burp out quick enough.
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cannot install it backwards...I had to pull a hose loose and let some coolant out..after that the bleed procedure worked.
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From: Richardson Tx
Still working it. Pulled the hose from the thermostat while running. More air than water. Didn't have much luck though. Will try the heater hose tomorrow.
Thanks for your comments.
Thanks for your comments.
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Try pulling the little hose loose under the throttle body filling sloowly until it comes out there. That is probably highest point in the system trapped air escapes reconnect the hose then finish the fill.
Last edited by Uglymarine; Nov 29, 2009 at 06:58 PM.
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From: San Diego CA
Good luck...
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Sorry Throttle Body...........Try pulling the little hose loose under the throttle body filling sloowly until it comes out there. That is probably highest point in the system trapped air escapes reconnect the hose then finish the fill. Life with Jim....Don't believe I did that! I know better I've done this! I copied the following from MYLS1.com.
'To bleed an LS1, reattach all of your coolant hoses except for the small one that runs to the coolant tube under the intake manifold. Place a small paper towel underneath the line and cap off the rubber line with your thumb.
Refill the coolant through the radiator. You will hear air rushing out of that tube, which is the highest point of the coolant system. Once a stream of coolant appears out of the tube, reattach the rubber line and start the car. From there you can top it off as necessary (should not need much more at all). '
If you are uncertain of what I'm talking about look at this Throttle Body Coolant Bypass link. It has pretty pictures and everything
http://www.ultimateresourceguides.co...-freemods.html
'To bleed an LS1, reattach all of your coolant hoses except for the small one that runs to the coolant tube under the intake manifold. Place a small paper towel underneath the line and cap off the rubber line with your thumb.
Refill the coolant through the radiator. You will hear air rushing out of that tube, which is the highest point of the coolant system. Once a stream of coolant appears out of the tube, reattach the rubber line and start the car. From there you can top it off as necessary (should not need much more at all). '
If you are uncertain of what I'm talking about look at this Throttle Body Coolant Bypass link. It has pretty pictures and everything
http://www.ultimateresourceguides.co...-freemods.html
Last edited by Uglymarine; Nov 29, 2009 at 07:27 PM.
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From: Richardson Tx
Epilog:
After many, many attempts to flush the air lok out of the system using all your suggestions, I finally gave up and limped the car a couple miles at a time to a friends Goodyear shop. They were convinced it was the thermo, but I convinced them it wasn't - mostly by explaining that I even removed the thermo and still had the same problem. They went ahead and did a complete drain and flush, replacing the Prestone with the DexCool (something about the head gaskets were used to the DexCool so don't mess them up with something else). What the heck - hundred bucks later and no more air. Mechanic started to tell me something about the next time I drain the coolant and I stopped him short and said at 100k intervals, there won't be a next time!
Thanks for all the help and suggestions!
After many, many attempts to flush the air lok out of the system using all your suggestions, I finally gave up and limped the car a couple miles at a time to a friends Goodyear shop. They were convinced it was the thermo, but I convinced them it wasn't - mostly by explaining that I even removed the thermo and still had the same problem. They went ahead and did a complete drain and flush, replacing the Prestone with the DexCool (something about the head gaskets were used to the DexCool so don't mess them up with something else). What the heck - hundred bucks later and no more air. Mechanic started to tell me something about the next time I drain the coolant and I stopped him short and said at 100k intervals, there won't be a next time!
Thanks for all the help and suggestions!
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Sorry. I thought about non-DEXCOOL being a possibility...But I thought no he knows that. I had read something about that somewhere....maybe Corvettemechanic.com or somewhere on this forum. Not sure it would make it run hot but seem to recall non-DexCool causing possible issues. These cars are great but they are so high tech that it all works together as a system. Things that used to not matter do now......I know if you comtaminate the system with non-DEXCOOL the 100000 mile interval is out the window. So, I'd check each season for degradation just to be safe......Do you have an owners manual? I always check there for the fluid spec requirements for everything I put in the car. I assumed that you had. I sometimes get info from C4C5specialist about changes to newer better GM specs...for example DEXRON 6 replaces DEXRON 3 in automatic transmissions. Oh Yeah corvettemechanic.com is back online!
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From: Richardson Tx
Epilog #2
Continued to have air lock problems every time I opened the system. Only way to clear it was to have a garage run the closed system flush. After the last flush I noticed that the resevoir bottle had a leak at the inlet tube and decided to change it out including a new cap. Guess what? Burped the system once and no more problem. Could it have been something as simple as a bad cap? Hmmm
Continued to have air lock problems every time I opened the system. Only way to clear it was to have a garage run the closed system flush. After the last flush I noticed that the resevoir bottle had a leak at the inlet tube and decided to change it out including a new cap. Guess what? Burped the system once and no more problem. Could it have been something as simple as a bad cap? Hmmm