need more help...bubbling rad????

joeman007a

Registered User
I thought i would post one more time before i spend tons of money at the mechanic. The rad fluid only bubbles when i turn the car off and i still have all the power as i did before. sometimes the check engine light will go on for a brief second when the temp guage seems to get high. besides that, i dont know what to check or how to check it. how can i tell what part it is that is causing the problem. should i check hoses, if so which ones? thermostat? how do i check if the rad is goin bad or the fan? Or if the water pump is needing replaced? need some help, thanks. i appreciate any input.
 
your fan has 2 speeds.if you turn on your air conditioning the fan should kick in automatically. When I lost my fan the fuel light even came on on the dash when I had a full tank. If your car is cooling but during a hot day and driving it for 15-20 minutes it is still running hot it should boil over if your fluid reserve is full. This is my 3rd problem with the cooling system in the car and it's not something that you want to play with. If you cannot figure out the problem then I suggest you bring it to a Mechanic as soon as possible before you do some serious damage. Good luck!!
just my 2 cents worth
 
Rad bubbling

Check your overflow bottle for bubbling when the engine is running. Warm it up 1st and then Rev the engine from the Throttle body and look inside the overflow. Fill it up a bit if you have too. If you see any bubbling at all while your reving the engine I would say - HEAD GASKETS.
If it's running hot and overflowing or bubbling after you turn it off then 1st of all check your fan. I had the exact same thing happen in my Camaro and the fan wasn't working. To check the fan, start the car and then turn on the A/C. The fan always should run when the A/C is on.
If the fans working then make sure there are no air bubbles in the rad, take off the rad cap and the cap on the Thermostat housing. Top off the antifreeze by adding some 1st in the thermostat housing, and then in the rad.
If that's ruled out then you could have a water pump problem or thermostat prob. By the way, have you flushed the system and put in 50-50 antifreeze and water.

JT
 
My water pump lasted about 70,000 miles and it was still working butt making a little noise. Replacing it in my driveway then was better than on the freeway or 100 miles from home when it does let go big time. Sounds to me that thermostat is not oppening up properly, cause engine temp goes up when you shut down and hot water is released into overflow tank. When it cools water is drawn in to radiator from overflow so good cap is required to fill system with coolant not air. So flush coolant system, replace water pump, thermostat, cap, and ill bet you will be fine ! if you have the headgaskets done by a shop they will require that you do this anyway to give you a warranty on their work. If you have a shop do the water pump they can do a test of the coolant that is in the car right now for sign of carbon and that means exhaust gasses in the radiator = headgasket bummer! so dont drain it yet ! test it first. when my headgasket let go it had same power as normal but smoke out ehaust. so do a cooling system service first besides its summer time and hot out, so keep you bird cool and running long as high engine temps kill em.
 
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