BigRich

Ok, my 93 es overheated the other day. Antifreeze was gushing out of the overflow. No cracks or holes in the hoses; the fan worked(slowly). So I thought it was the thermostat. I changed it, which was a mission and a half, and thought prob was fixed...WRONG!! I noticed that a little water was comeing out of the radiator cap also, so I installed a new one. Pep Boys is around 12 miles away, and I drove about 90 the whole way back home. It didnt overheat. The A/C was off the whole way home. So I turned the A/C on and let the car run for about 10 mins and it still didn't overheat. So I'm wondering if a cap made the differance? It was also overcast outside. So I guess in the morning I'll take it for a longer drive with the A/C on and see what happens.. Any opinions??

steviej

iTrader: (1)

given that the boiling point of water is elevated due to two things in the coolong system:
1. In small part by the antifreeze (chemical elevation of the boiling point of water)
2. In large part by the system being pressurized.

So if you had a cap that was not maintaining pressure, YES simple replacement of the cap can be the fix.

But you replaced two variables (cap and thermostat). I'm curious if the bad thermostat caused damage to the cap....hence the leaking water even after the new thermostat was installed. You can find out if the old thermostat was really bad. If it is in the closed position, hang it over a pot of boiling water and see if the steam will cause it to open up. If it does open up, then chances are, the thermostat was ok and the problem was just the cap. Either way, you are not overheating now. Keep an eye on the temp gauge and see if it holds steady.

steviej

tech237

when bleeding air out of cooling system put your heater on ...recirc....( turn off a/c) radiator cap off until bubbles stop..

BigRich

Well I drove it all weekend and (knock on wood!) no overheating. Sunday morning before work (and a 37 mile drive) I checked my fluids and was a little low on water, but not much, and low on power steering fluid. I've also been slowly leaking power steering fluid lately. I took it to the shop and they ran it for an hour on the rack with a guy inside turning the wheel and found no leak. Or atleast thats what they told me! And I still had to pay the labor charge. What a jip.. They found nothing and I still had to pay...