Quote:
jrbrks2 wrote:
Thank you for your thoughts.
The radiator becomes very hot, within just a few minutes of idling, and coolant is being pushed out of the overflow in a somewhat steady stream. I have not permitted the engine to reach a full boiling over, but I believe I am quite close.
I will use the IR heat gum today to check temperatures at the locations you suggest.
A follow up question:
Is there a written procedure, or can someone describe, how to access and remove the coolant heat distribution tube? The manual provides little insight, and I am wondering how much of the engine and other components need to be removed, eg does the radiator need to come out and/or do any of the body components require removal?
If the tube is beyond repair, does someone sell a replacement?
Also, I am assuming a compression test may tell me if I have a blown head gasket? There is no obvious steam or smoke coming from the exhaust …..I have blown a head gasket in a modern car and I am familiar with the sea of steam/white smoke that results from this.
Thanks for additional insights.
Jim
Lots of good suggestions have already been shared, but I'll add my two cents. It would be good to have more details about how hot it's actually getting. For example, from cold, start your car and record times and temps at several points such as, top and bottom of rad and front and back of engine.
When did this start? What lead up to this becoming an issue? Did it slowly get worse, or appear suddenly? Do you think it's better since getting the radiator repaired? It may be hard to know without having measured temps before and after in a similar manner.
After reading your feedback, it sounds like a circulation issue to me. Considering what you have already done, it would seem that either the pump or distribution tube would be the culprit. And given that your rad had low flow issues, maybe the distribution tube is suffering the same. What did the rad shop find was plugging the rad? If the distribution tube is plugged maybe the flush you did wasn't able to clean it out? Did you find that the flush cleaned anything out? Rust? Calcium build up? Other?
If you have a flow issue caused by a plugged distribution tube I would expect the rear of your engine to get hotter quicker than the front. Once the thermostat is open and you can see coolant is flowing through the rad you should be able to increase rpm a bit and note some increased flow if the pump is pumping and things are reasonably clear.
If you're concerned it might be a bad head gasket you should be able to tell by pulling your spark plugs and inspecting them. One of them will be different, steam cleaned so to speak. There could also be signs of coolant in your oil and oil in your coolant.
Post some more info when you can.
This Post was from: https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=283388