scoarer

iTrader: (1)

I recently drained and removed my radiator to get to my crank pulley problem..after filling it back up and running the engine, it almost overheated(needly went up about 3/4 of the way)...It is now the 2nd week and i've had to constantly fill my reservoir as it constantly gets empty, when i do fill the reservoir and allow the cooling system to burp, it would bubble into the resevoir when my rad. cap is on, and fizzes in the radiator kinda like soda when the cap is off. The check engine light is also on now and the car jerks as i drive...I also noticed an increase in white smoke but this could just be the cold weather we've been having lately...No smoke when the engine is warm tho( good sign)...Where could my coolant be going? i have found to leakage so far and this problem is really depressing me ..I've read threads on this subject but not sure what to first...Please help..

vipsoarer

did you have your heater on full blast when you were burping the system? if not this is where it is leaking into. it is filling the heater core in the cabin which is causing a vapor lock in the system and is slowly letting it leak it....this is all ofcoarse if you didnt do this on the first go round.

scoarer

iTrader: (1)

I did...and today it died on me for the first time. And I still have to constantly refill the radiator
Could my thermostat be responsible for all these problems. The car drove fine until the day I fix my pulley..HELp

vipsoarer

its a possibility. have you checked for any leaks around that area?

scoarer

iTrader: (1)

Update: the overheating problem seemed to stop, but the car still vibrates at idle speed and the steady bubbles in the reservoir is still there when engine is warm...at least its kinda steady now and im not so scared to drive it long distances as long as i top off the radiator..*sigh*

97SC300

it could possibly be a head gasket leak into the cylinder from when you overheated the engine the first time due to the lack of coolant. that would explain the white smoke coming out of your exhaust, and the rough idle due to the lack of compression.

Tammy

Bubbles are usually a cause of a worn radiator cap seal... Cap replacement. is recommended.

scoarer

iTrader: (1)

i already got a brand new blitz rad cap last week...today i took it on a pretty far trip to see how it would perform. When i got home, my radiator needed about half a gallon more fluid!! but surprisingly the reservoir was full to the rim..it seems like the fluid is combining with air bubbles and the system is having trouble keeping air out and fluid in.Tomorow im going to get a leak down test tommorow so hopefully il get some answers..Thanks for all the info guys.

CLRH2O

Please forgive my ignorance - but where *exactly* is the "radiator cap".... I can find (and easily so) the cap to the overflow reservoir on my 1993 SC400. It's right up top on the big plastic reservoir that's bolted/attached to the top passenger side of the radiator..... But that's the "Reservoir" cap and not the "radiator" cap apparently?

Am I just having a headf&^k or what?

Streamline

Radiator cap is on top/attached to the radiator.

Reservoir/overflow cap is on top/attached to your coolant overflow tank.

CLRH2O

That was my point.... my Radiator has no cap on it. Maybe the SC300 and the SC400 (400 is what I have) are different? The only cap I can find is the one on the Reservoir.....

I know this must make me sound like a 5 year old who hardly even knows what a car is let alone a person who has replaced their own clutch in a 5 speed with their own hands before (amongst much other work with cars too).... it's just, this baffles me because I expect to find a cap to the radiator it's self.... yet I don't see one. Only the cap on the Reservoir which is attached to the radiator.

cal9126

thats the only cap there is which is on the resivoir tank.........you fill up the coolant throught the front of the engine on top of thermostat......theres a bolt you undo and fill it up there.......i dont think that you can fill the radiator up with out pouring it through that filler hole in front of the motor......this is ona 400 tho.......

an70n

Just for your info...

I am having radiator problems as well.

Had my radiator blow on me last August when going up to Santa Barbra.

Put stop leak in it till I got it into a shop. They replaced it and everything went fine.

That is UNTIL just this last saturday when driving around on the streets.

Noticed that the car was acting a little weird, and then noticed that the temp gague was ALL the way to the top. Guess I didn't notice it earlier b/c the backlight behind it was blown. Probably plus the fact that wearing sunglasses made it hard to see the needle in the first place.

Anyways, its currently in the shop and the guys are working on it. Hopefully I will get it back tomorrow.

The mechanic says that the radiator blew out due to bubbles in the system creating higher pressures than normal.

If you are having bubbles, you might want to think about taking it to a mechanic unless you are sure you can fix it yourself.

But DEFINATELY get rid of those bubbles ASAP.

I hope you don't end up in the same place as me right now.

Its my only car so I don't have the luxury of having a spare for myself, had to borrow my mother's car for the time being. I LOVE YOU MOM!!

GL on your car.

CLRH2O

THANK YOU cal9126... about time someone cleared that up!

So there we go, SC300's have radiators with a CAP on the radiator it's self (from what other's have said) and SC400's DO NOT have a cap on the radiator it's self, instead coolant is added to the system via a filler hole located on the mounting point at which the Thermostat housing attaches to the head.

I believe this is correct now.

Next up - where are the block drain plugs/ports for flushing the coolant system located on the V-8 (SC400) engine? From my searching here I've found that there are 3 drain locations (one on the radiator and two on the block) you have to open up to properly clear the system of old coolant for a flush before filling everything back up again. If this is right, where are those extra two actually located and what is needed tool wise to remove them for the drain?

cal9126

http://www.lexls.com

go there he has step by step insturctions for flushing and properly filling the coolant system on the 1uz......it also has tutorials for just about everything for the motor

check it out