Yeah, I sorta agree on both things.

You can *PROBABLY* put it off awhile so you can save up for the repair. Watch closely so you don't let it get worse.

Leakdown test will be a lot better than a compression test. The compression test isn't very sensitive for a SMALL headgasket leak.

 

Just a quick dumb question: Is the coolant resevoir supposed to be vented? Just asking because someone told me it was supposed to be and I want to find out from you guys. Thanks

 

resevoir is not preasurized like the rest of the cooling system is.. so yes, it 's kind of vented.. the cap is not sealed tightly.. but there is usually no "vent" that I am aware of but air can easliy bypass the fill cap on the resevoir.

Brian B

 

This time I drove my car on my newspaper route and NO antifreeze was pushed into the overflow tank. This was after I changed the radiater cap. I checked it right after I was done. Does that seem like that is the way it should be? The radiater was pretty full yet too. Thanks for all your help guys!! Does anyone have a picture on where exactly my Temp guage should be at when the car is warm??

 

Just keep a close eye on the level and make sure you do not overheat the engine. If you continue to have problems, there may be some other tests to verify a bad head gasket.

The gauge in the video link below is at the normal operating temperature.


If the needle moves towards H, turn on the heat full blast with the recirculate off. That will help remove heat from the coolant and prevent damage.

 

I have a similar problem.

New hoses all around. I just replace the cabin heater inlet hoses and valve (valve was leaking), and then filled and burped the system. The car runs fine, but when I park and let the system cool, the lower radiator hose collapses a bit from vacuum in the cooling system. If I open the cap, the air escapes and the lower hose returns to normal.

The level in the overflow reservoir does not appear to be raising or lowering at all.

I pulled the hoses from the reservoir to check for blockage. Free air flow all the way up to the neck of the radiator, but the nipple on the neck of the radiator seems like it is eiter blocked or has very restrictive airflow.

I've included some pics, and from this photo it looks like the overflow bleed should come from the outer ring inside the neck, and there should be a hole where I have drawn the red circle.



1) Is the airflow through the overflow nipple of the radiator neck supposed to be highly restrictive? Or should it be relatively free flowing?

2) Can you tell from the pics if I have the wrong type of radiator cap?

Thanks. John

 

Looks like correct cap to me. It should have a pressure release of 14-18 psi. If you get coolant overflow at normal operating temps, then cap may be out of spec.

Have you installed a new thermostat recently? Thermostat should have a bleeder to allow pressure equalization across the thermostat. It's a small pin that is positioned at TDC in thermostat housing. Absence of this bleeder pin might cause hose collapse on cooldown.

good luck

 

Another thing to look at is the very center disk on the underside of the radiator cap. It's a vacuum-break with a relatively weak spring. You should be able to easily move that disk to expose the center opening.

If that center disk is somehow stuck, or screwed up in a way to prevent it from opening, that would explain having a vacuum in the system on cooldown.

 

yes, new thermostat and hoses ... the system warms, circulates, burps as expected. Lots of heat inside the car. Temperature gauge always shows comfortably below the halfway point. On the radiator cap, the outer spring is resistant but gives when I push on it, and the center valve is easy to open and close.

There is just no airflow when I blow on the overflow nipple coming out of the radiator.

I edited my first post to point to the location where I think there should be an opening.

Is it possible that this is a manufacturing defect, that the hole was never drilled? !!

Can you pull the radiator cap off your car sometime and verify if you can see the hole there or if it's hidden?

Thanks. John

 

Yes there should be a hole where you put the red circle. It's not a very big hole, are you sure it's not there? (You can see it firsthand, better than the photo)

And the way you're holding the cap, the edge of that innermost disk is visible. That should open easily by pulling downward. But if there isn't any hole for the overflow hose, that would explain everything.